One of only 13 Gurkha soldiers to have received the Victoria Cross will be forever remembered with a train named after him.

Tulbahadur Pun was just 21 and serving as a Rifleman in the 3rd Battalion of the 6th Gurkha Rifles when his heroism at Mogaung, Burma, led to him receiving the highest honour for gallantry awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

After several members of his platoon were killed during an attack on a railway bridge on June 23, 1944, Pun continued the charge alone, killing three enemy soldiers and forcing five more to flee.

He then gave accurate supporting fire, enabling the rest of his platoon to reach the bridge.

Later rising to the rank of Honorary Lieutenant, Pun, who died in 2011, was awarded 10 other medals including the Burma Star.

Great Western Railway, whose trains serve Oxfordshire, set out to mark last year’s 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War by naming seven of its Intercity Express Trains after heroes of the conflict.

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Pun’s son Arjun and daughter Megh Kumari were joined at London Paddington by actress Joanna Lumley OBE, whose father Major James Rutherford Lumley was Pun’s Commanding Officer.

Vice Patron of The Gurkha Welfare Trust Ms Lumley became the public face of the successful campaign to offer Gurkha veterans who served in the British Army before 1997 the right to settle in Britain.

She said: “I shall never forget the moment I met Lachhiman Gurung and Tulbahadur Pun, who fought so bravely as Chindits with my father in Burma.

“I believe we all owe brave veterans like this an immense debt of gratitude – for going above and beyond the call of duty to protect our freedom.”

Gurkha Welfare Trust CEO Al Howard added: “The Gurkha Welfare Trust is honoured that Great Western Railway is naming one of its Intercity Express Trains after Tulbahadur Pun VC.

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“Having served in the same regiment, I had the great honour of meeting him once. We should never forget the sacrifices, loyalty and immense bravery the Gurkhas have given to protect our freedom for over 200 years.”

Highly-decorated spy Odette Hallowes, D-Day veteran Harry Billinge MBE and ‘Cockleshell Hero’ Cpl George Sheard were added to the train operator’s list of #greatwesterners before the pandemic prevented ceremonies from taking place.

Last month it resumed its tribute by honouring Wing Commander Ken Rees, a pilot who played a vital part in the ‘Great Escape’ from a German prisoner-of-war camp.

Wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill and codebreaker Alan Turing will have Intercity Express Trains named after them in the coming months.