Gurkha hero honoured 70 years on
A GURKHA soldier collected an MBE on behalf of his late grandfather yesterday – nearly 70 years after it was awarded.
Warrant Officer Khadak Chhetri beamed with delight as he picked up the gong for Subedar-Major Kalu Chettri from Prince William.
The Second World War officer never received his award for heroics including bravery in the face of torture while a Japanese prisoner of war.
Shame
Even his grandson, a warrant officer in the Gurkhas’ staff and personnel company, is unsure how the citation got lost after the war.
The major died in the mid-1960s without realising he had been honoured by the country he served with distinction.
Warrant Officer Chhetri, 44, said after the Buckingham Palace investiture: “It got lost somewhere.
“The unit did not know, my grandfather had no idea, my father had no idea.
“It’s a shame after what he and his men went through. At least he would have been pleased to see his were recognised.”
The MBE citation lays bare in harrowing detail the torture suffered by its recipient after he was taken prisoner by the Japanese forces occupying Singapore.
He was held captive for three years until the end of the war and, as a senior officer, stood between his men and their captors.
After being moved to a concentration camp, he was beaten with sticks, made to carry heavy loads and actions ordered to clean latrines for eight hours a day. The camp guards also deprived the 45-year-old officer of clean water and forced him to eat rice mixed with mud.
However, according to his citation, he “counselled restraint, good discipline and steadfastness” from his men and “a tragedy was averted”.
The major saw his son Dishnu Bahadur Chhetri educated at Sandhurst before rising to the rank of captain in the Gurkhas. His grandson, who is married with two children, said of the investiture: “It was a very emotional day.
“I was happy that I finally got his medal and I was thinking of him all the time.”
At the same ceremony, Prince William joked that Tour de France winner Chris Froome was a “sucker for punishment” as he handed him an OBE.
The Prince also presented 71-year-old TV newscaster Martyn Lewis with a knighthood for services to charity.