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{{Short description|Recipient of the Victoria Cross}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Ganju Lama
|birth_date=22 July 1924
|death_date=1 July 2000 (aged 75)
|birth_place= [[Sangmo]], [[Kingdom of Sikkim]]
|death_place= [[Gangtok]], [[Sikkim]], [[India]]
|placeofburial=
|image= Ganju Lama VC.jpg
|birth_name=Gyamtso Shangderpa
|nickname=
|allegiance=
{{flag|British India|23px}}<br/>{{flag|India|23px}}
|serviceyears= 1942–1968
|rank= [[Subedar Major]]
|branch= {{plainlist|
*{{army|British India|23px}}
*{{army|India|23px}} }}
|commands=
|unit= {{plainlist|
* British India - [[7th Gurkha Rifles]]
* India - [[11th Gorkha Rifles]]}}
|battles=[[World War II]]
*[[Burma Campaign]]
|awards= {{plainlist|
*[[File:UK Victoria Cross ribbon bar.svg|30px]] [[Victoria Cross]]
*[[File:UK Military Medal ribbon.svg|30px]] [[Military Medal]]}}
|laterwork=
}}

'''Gyamtso Shangdarpa''', {{post-nominals|size=100%|VC|MM}} (22 July 1924 – 1 July 2000) better known as '''Ganju Lama''' was born in the [[Kingdom of Sikkim]] on 22 July 1924 to Shangdarpa parents of the [[Bhutia]] Community. The [[etymology]] of the name "Ganju Lama" tells us that during the [[Chogyal]] period, sons of the Shangdarpa clan were expected to serve as monks. He enlisted in the British Indian Army in 1942 at the age of seventeen, as a rifleman in the 1st battalion, 7th Gurkha rifles. The Gurkha regiments were in dire need of manpower and would accept anyone who closely resembled a Gurkha. He is the only Bhutia recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]], the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces.

==Enlistment==
Ganju Lama was born in Sangmo, southern [[Sikkim]], [[India]], on 22 July 1924. He enlisted in the Army in 1942 at the age of seventeen. His parents were both of Sikkimese Bhutia descent and lived in Sikkim, which made him unusual, as he was neither an ethnic Gurkha nor a [[Nepal]]ese subject.<ref name="Parker 2005, p. 201">Parker 2005, p. 201.</ref> At that time, however, Gurkha regiments were prepared to accept any recruit who closely resembled a Gurkha and lived near the border of Nepal.<ref name="Parker 2005, p. 201"/> Ganju Lama's tribe lived in the kingdom of Sikkim. His name was '''Gyamtso Shangderpa''', but a clerk in the recruiting office wrote it down as "Ganju", and the name stuck. After leaving the regimental depot in 1943, he joined the 1st Battalion, [[7th Gurkha Rifles]], near [[Imphal]].<ref name="Parker 2005, p. 201"/>

==Victoria Cross==
Ganju Lama was nineteen years old, and a [[rifleman]] in the 1st Battalion, [[7th Gurkha Rifles]], in the [[Indian Army during World War II]].

On 12 June 1944, near [[Ningthoukhong]], [[India]], 'B' Company was attempting to stem the enemy's advance when it came under heavy machine-gun and tank machine-gun fire. Ganju Lama, "on his own initiative with great coolness and complete disregard for his own safety", took his [[PIAT]] anti-tank weapon and crawled forward. Despite a broken wrist and two other serious wounds to his right leg and left hand he then moved forward, succeeded in bringing the weapon into action within 30 yards of the enemy tanks, knocking out two of them (a third was taken out by an anti-tank gun). He continued forward and used grenades on the tank crews who were trying to escape. Not until he "had killed or wounded them all did he allow himself to be taken back to the Regimental Aid Post" to have his wounds dressed.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36690|supp=y|pages=4157–4158|date=5 September 1944}}</ref>

A month earlier, during operations on the Tiddim Road, Ganju Lama's regiment had surprised a party of Japanese and killed several of them. He was awarded the [[Military Medal]] for his part in that action.<ref>Parker 2005, pp. 201–202.</ref> This award was announced in the ''[[London Gazette]]'' after his Victoria Cross, appearing on 3 October 1944, almost a month later.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36730|supp=y|page=4572|date=3 October 1944}}</ref>

==Later life==

After India gained its independence, he joined the Indian [[11th Gorkha Rifles]], retiring in 1968, to become a farmer in Sikkim. He was appointed honorary ADC to the President of India for life.<ref name="Telegraph Obituary">{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/gurkha-obituaries/1346308/Ganju-Lama-VC.html | title=Ganju Lama, VC - Telegraph | access-date=11 January 2013 | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | date=3 July 2000}}</ref> He died at Gangtok following a battle with cancer on 1 July 2000, aged 75.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Tribute to World War II Hero|url=http://pibarchive.nic.in/archive/ArchiveSecondPhase/DEFENCE/2000-JULT-SEP%20DEFENCE-III/PDF/DEF-2000-07-05_006.pdf|website=Press Information Bureau of India - Archive|date=5 July 2000|access-date=7 February 2020}}</ref>

His Victoria Cross is displayed at [[The Gurkha Museum]] in [[Winchester]], England along with those of other Gurkhas.<ref>[http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/ccgurkha.htm The Gurkha Museum]</ref>

A memorial in his memory (Ganju Lama War Museum) has been constructed at Sherathang in East Sikkim district of Sikkim.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ojah|first=Oineetom|date=6 December 2019|title=Finally, a statue & museum to honour Sikkim's war hero Ganju Lama|url=https://www.eastmojo.com/sikkim/2019/12/06/finally-a-statue-museum-to-honour-sikkims-war-hero-ganju-lama/|access-date=28 March 2021|website=EastMojo|language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[List of Brigade of Gurkhas recipients of the Victoria Cross]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* Parker, John. (2005). ''The Gurkhas: The Inside Story of the World's Most Feared Soldiers''. Headline Book Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-7553-1415-7}}.
* Dominick Donald, Noah Price, Edwin King, Tom Bates {{Citation needed|date=January 2009}}
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3540828.ece Ganju Lama, VC], The Times, 3 July 2000. Retrieved on 10 October 2009.
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/gurkha-obituaries/1346308/Ganju-Lama-VC.html Obituary of Ganju Lama, VC, The Daily Telegraph, 3 July 2000]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020616033301/http://haynese.winthrop.edu/india/medals/VC/2GLama.html Ganju Lama]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041009235508/http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/aaholder.htm#lama Captain Ganju Lama]
*{{Find a Grave|8543298}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lama, Ganju}}
[[Category:Indian World War II recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:People from Namchi district]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Medal]]
[[Category:British Indian Army soldiers]]
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:2000 deaths]]
[[Category:Gurkhas]]
[[Category:Indian Army officers]]

Ganju Lama - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 09:38, 14 August 2023