ALDERSHOT: A Gurkha Memorial has finally been unveiled at Aldershot of Hamshire in South East England on the English Channel coast.
The statue was unveiled on Saturday (September 25) in the Princes Gardens at an official ceremony that took place exactly 110 years after the brave actions of the Gurkha depicted in the artwork.
The memorial depicts Kulbir Thapa, who was the first Gurkha soldier to receive the Victoria Cross.
In 1915, Thapa found a wounded English soldier behind the first-line German trench.
Despite being wounded himself, Thapa stayed with the injured Englishman all day and night, before dragging him through the German wire within shooting distance of enemy soldiers.
When he got the English Tommy to relative safety, he then returned and to get two wounded Gurkhas, one after the other. He brought them back in broad daylight, extremely dangerous over No Mans Land.
He survived the war and retired achieving the rank of Halivdar – the equivalent of a sergeant. He died in Nepal in 1956.
Amy Goodman, based in Andover, was commissioned to create the statue by Greater Rushmoor Nepali Community.
The sculptress has been the creative brains behind other notable Hampshire memorials such as the Romsey War Horse and the Aldershot Airborne Soldier.
(with inputs from HampshireLive)
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