Bhandari Ram

Bhandari Ram, VC, (24 July 191919 May 2002) was an Indian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Details Ram was born on 24 July 1919, in a Brahmin family at the village of Serva Geharwin, which was part of Bilaspur State (now Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh). He was Sepoy in the 16th Battalion 10th Baluch Regiment, British Indian Army (now the Baloch Regiment, Pakistan Army), fighting against the Japanese Army in the Burmese Campaign during World War II, when he performed deeds during the Third Arakan Offensive for which he was awarded the VC.

The citation reads:

He continued to serve in the post-independence Indian Army, receiving promotion to subedar on 13 May 1958, and to subedar major on 30 March 1967. Bhandari Ram retired from the army in August 1969 with the honorary rank of captain. He died in 2002.

Awards