--- title: "This lone Gurkha rifleman stopped three Japanese tanks in their tracks" date: "2019-01-28" modified: "2020-10-22" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/this-lone-gurkha-rifleman-stopped-three-japanese-tanks-in-their-tracks/" categories: - "History" - "War History" - "World War II" --- # This lone Gurkha rifleman stopped three Japanese tanks in their tracks ![]() It takes a Gurkha to save a village. --- In 1944, the Japanese were still advancing into British-dominated Burma-India theater. Their progress was slowed due to dense jungles, steep mountains, and the fact that they were trampling all over the backyards of the world's best soldiers. One of those was 19-year-old Ganju Lama. Lama was a Rifleman in the 1st Battalion, 7th Gurkha Rifles, an anti-tank unit. This training would soon come in handy. They were part of an effort to recapture the city of Imphal in eastern India, along the Burma border. The Japanese rolled into the area with 37mm guns mounted on Type 97 Chi-Ha tanks. ![]() *Early model Chi-Ha tanks, like the kind Ganju Lama used to eat for breakfast.* In his first contact with the Japanese outside of Imphal, he used a projectile, infantry, anti-tank (or PIAT) rifle to disable one of the tanks. The Gurkhas then fell back, with Lama covering their retreat. Three weeks later, Ganju Lama met another company of Japanese tanks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJPZX9QtXAQ That fight would go a very different way. Japanese artillery opened up on the Gurkhas in the morning of June 12th and rained death on them for more than an hour. As soon as the rain let up, enemy infantry supported by three tanks tore through the British lines near Lama's position. The Gurkhas counter-attacked but were soon bogged down. That's when Ganju Lama [picked up a PIAT and went to work](). Bleeding from one leg, as well as his left arm and right hand, he crawled within 30 yards of the enemy tanks. He took out the first tank and then the second, using one round apiece. ![]() *This is a photo of the actual destruction Lama wreaked on the Japanese tanks. (UK Army Museum photo)* As the tank crews abandoned their vehicles, he launched a furious grenade attack, using only his teeth to pull the pin and his good arm to throw. [According to the Guardian](), Lama wouldn't allow himself to be evacuated until he killed or wounded the last of the enemy crewmen. ![]() *Lama also earned the Military Medal for covering his unit's fall back three weeks prior.* Ganju Lama was awarded the Victoria Cross, the UK's highest award for gallantry, for his actions that day. He would survive his wounds and the war, living to the ripe old age of 77. ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()