Heroic Sergeant Dipprasad Pun HOISTED a giant
machine gun off its mount and HELD it as he blazed
away at a dozen attackers.
He is believed to have killed three and wounded several others
with the gun - weighing well over 30lb and hammering out 750 rounds
a minute.
A source said: "It would have taken a superhuman effort to
hold the gun and fire it. Apart from its weight, the recoil is
colossal."
The 15-minute stand came after Sgt Dip, 31, was left at a
checkpoint in Nahr-e Saraj, Helmand.
Spotting a Taliban attack, he ran on to a roof to man a 7.62mm
general purpose machine gun mounted on a tripod.
As the insurgents came over the wall Sgt Dip realised he could
not lower the gun enough to hit them. So he yanked out the pins
locking it down - CHUCKING the heavy tripod at the
enemy - and lifted it up.
He also beat off the attackers with grenades and an SA80 rifle
before reinforcements arrived.
Sgt Dip, of 1st Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles, would not
speak about the September 17 battle. And it is too early to
speculate if he will win a medal as citations have not been
written. But Army spokesman Lt Col David Eastman said: "He is a
credit to his unit."
j.