Victoria Cross winner Gurkha hero Tul Bahadur Pun dies at 92

Britain paid tribute to Tul Bahadur Pun, a Gurkha hero who won the Victoria Cross for saving dozens of lives including actress Joanna Lumley's father’s, after he died at 92 in Nepal.

Pun had won the highest military award for bravery for single-handedly charging a Japanese machine gun position in Burma in June 1944 under heavy enemy fire, where he saved Major James Lumley's life along with others.

General Sir David Richards, the chief of defence staff, led the tributes.

"The facts have not been, or needed to be, embellished, they stand bold as a report of selfless, steadfast and undiluted ferocious courage, no quarter expected and no quarter given," the Daily Mail quoted him, as saying. 

"His warrior spirit lives on in those young Gurkha soldiers who serve in our proud Gurkha Regiments of today's Brigade of Gurkhas, in the service of the Crown," General Richards added.

Meanwhile, Lumley's lawyer said the actress is abroad and unaware of the death of her father's saviour.

The actress would be 'devastated' by the death of a man she 'deeply respected', Martin Howe, added.

Pun died in his home village of Myagdi in Nepal on Wednesday. Officially his age was put at 88, but reports suggest that his real age was 92.