When 30 Taliban soldiers attacked a check point manned by acting Sergeant Dipprasad Pun, they had no idea of what a Gurkha soldier was capable of. 400 rounds of machine fire, 17 grenades, a mine and a whole lot of bodies later they figured it.

Left alone at his post and under attack, the Gurkha warrior fired his machine gun till it jammed and then beat an attacker with the tripod, finally setting off a mine and dispatching the final two 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."

When his commanding officer arrived on scene, the Gurkha death machine smiled and said, “I had no ammunition left.” Sergeant Dipprasad has been awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for his bravery under fire.
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