Remembering the Fallen: on this day in 2012 Lance Corporal Gajbahadur ("Gaj") Gurung from the Royal Gurkha Rifles was fatally wounded when his patrol came under small arms fire. Serviing with 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment as part of of Combined Force Nahr-e Saraj (North), he was part of an ISAF foot patrol to disrupt insurgent activity in the Khar Nikah region of the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province.

He joined the Brigade of Gurkhas in 2004 at British Gurkhas Pokhara in Nepal, completed recruit training in Gurkha Company, 3rd Battalion, in 2005, then went on to serve three times in Afghanistan. He is remembered as being charismatic, intelligent, selfless and inspirational.

Captain Euan Waters said of him: "I met Lance Corporal Gurung in 2009 when I joined the company as his Platoon Commander. I immediately singled him out as someone who was going places. Although a Rifleman at the time, he stepped up on numerous occasions as a section commander and, as with everything, he did it with ease and an assured confidence. Lance Corporal Gurung was one of the most gifted soldiers I have ever seen. He took a huge pride in his job. I was so proud of him when he promoted to Lance Corporal and we joked that I would bump into him in years to come in the Officers’ Mess, once he had commissioned. In my heart I knew he would get there. I am so proud to have been able to serve with Lance Corporal Gurung, privileged to have known him and to count him as a friend. His thirst for life and energy was contagious. He touched all those that met him. I am a better soldier and person for having known him. A true Gurkha and one of the bravest men I have ever met."

Gaj, from Nepal, was 26 years old and married.