Sher Jung Thapa

Brigadier Sher Jung Thapa (शेर जंग थापा) is the first Gurkha to win the Indian Army's one of the highest military decorations, Mahavir Chakra (MVC).

Birth place
Sher Jung Thapa was born in Abbottabad, Pakistan on 15 April 1907 and died at Army Hospital, Delhi on 25 February 1999. His ancestral home was at Tapke Gaun, Gorkha District, Nepal. His grandfather was Subedar Balkrishna Khundrung Thapa Magar (2/5 GR) who had settled at Dharmasala, Himachal Pradesh, India. His father was Honorary Captain Arjun Thapa (2/5 GR) and was a World War II veteran.

Personal life Brigadier Sher Jung Thapa was married to Dhan Shobha Thapa. The couple had eight children. While their ancestral house has been in a small village of Dari, Mrs. Thapa bought an English bunglow in Mcleodganj. Brigadier Thapa spent his last years in this bunglow. Brigadier Thapa has been a person of commitments and service. He was one of thr first families in the hilly town of Dharamshala to own a car. His mighty blue Ambassador would always catch attention of the passers-by.

His best friend was Mr. Nowrojee, a Parsi man whose family was the first one to settle down in Mcleodganj.

Military service
Thapa joined the army in 1928 and was appointed as a second lieutenant in 1930, joining the Jammu & Kashmir Rifles (J&K Rif). In February 1948, during operations in Kashmir during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, Sher Jung Thapa, while holding the rank of lieutenant colonel, commanded a force of about 100 men during a six-month-long siege in Skardu in the Ladakh region. Facing a force of about 600 men—mainly tribesmen and rebels from the State Forces that were equipped with 3 inch mortars and medium machine guns (MMGs)—Thap's men held out and he was later awarded the Mahavir Chakra (MVC). He was the first Nepalese to reach the rank of acting brigadier in 1954. Later, on 1 January 1960, this was made substantive in the regular Indian Army, although he retired six months later in June 1960.

Military decorations
Mahavir Chakra (1948), General Service Medal, 1947 Class J&K, Indian Independence Medal, War Medal, India Service Medal, Military Service Medal.