7. Lachhiman Gurung fought one handed after losing an arm to a grenade
Lachhiman Gurung was a Gurkha who joined the British India Army in 1940, despite the disadvantage of standing only 4’11” tall, below the height standards enforced before World War II. A rifleman, Gurung was positioned with his unit in Burma in 1945. His small force was the focus of a heavy Japanese attack on May 12, 1945, which carried into the following day. More than 200 Japanese infantry, supported with heavy machine guns, attacked Gurung and his comrades, who were dug into defensive positions. Three hand grenades landed in succession on Gurung’s position, and in the best Hollywood tradition he picked up the first two and returned them to the enemy. The third exploded in his right hand, blowing off his fingers and shattering the rest of his arm, as well as wounding him severely in the body. Two men sharing the trench with him were also severely wounded.
Though right-handed, Gurung continued to load and fire his rifle with his left hand, repelling repeated Japanese attacks through the night and into the following day. Thirty-one Japanese soldiers fell to his rifle over the course of the attack. When relieved the following day, Gurung complained to the soldiers who found him of the flies which were infesting his shattered arm. He subsequently lost the use of his right hand and his right eye, though he remained in the army until 1947. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions of May, 1945, and lived for another 65 years, succumbing to pneumonia in 2010 at the age of 92.