Bhandari Ram was awarded the Victoria Cross for outstanding gallantry while serving as a sepoy (private soldier) with the 10th Baluch Regiment in General Sir William Slim's Fourteenth Army in Burma in 1944. As with others who have received the highest award for valour, his action was a desperate individual effort to overcome enemy opposition at a crucial moment in battle - and very nearly cost him his life.

Towards the close of 1944, having been warned not to expect further reinforcement from Europe, Slim decided that he must release three of his own divisions from the Arakan Peninsula, where they were containing Lieutenant-General Sakurai Seizo's 28th Japanese Army between the Irrawaddy and the Bay of Bengal. Although Seizo had only two divisions they would be enough to threaten the right flank of Slim's planned offensive into central Burma.

Slim therefore ordered Sir Philip Christison's 5th Corps of two Indian and two West African divisions to clear Arakan, leave one division in occupation there and divert the other three to the main offensive. As a preliminary, the 25th Indian Division was given the task of clearing the route into northwestern Arakan through the Mayu hills.

Sepoy Bhandari Ram was serving with the 16th Battalion of the 10th Baluch Regiment in 51 Indian Brigade of the 25th Division. On November 22, during a company attack on a strongly held Japanese bunker position, he was in the leading section of one of the attacking platoons. To reach the objective it was necessary to climb a steep slope via a narrow, sheer-sided ridge.

Fifty yards from the crest, the leading section came under accurate enemy fire which wounded three men including Bhandari Ram, who was hit in the shoulder and leg.

Intense light machinegun fire from the Japanese positions then held down the platoon, holding up the entire attack. Undeterred by his wounds, Bhandari Ram crawled forward 15 yards towards the enemy machinegun position, intending to attack it with grenades. Before he could do so, the enemy hurled grenades at him, wounding him in the face and chest. In extreme pain from grenade splinters and spattered with blood, Bhandari Ram resumed his crawl forward and, when within five yards, threw a grenade into the enemy post killing the machinegunner and two others with him.

Inspired by his example, his platoon rushed forward and captured the complete position. As his comrades returned to him, Bhandari Ram asked: "Is the enemy position taken?" When told that it was, he replied: "Then I can die now, my work is done."

But he survived. His comrades dressed his wounds and carried him carefully to the regimental aid post. The citation for his Victoria Cross summed up his action with the words: "By his outstanding gallantry, determination to destroy the enemy at all cost and entire disregard for his personal safety, this young Sepoy enabled his platoon to capture what he knew to be the key to the whole enemy position."

Bhandari Ram was a Hindu from the Simla Hills. He was born in the village of Serunia in 1919 and enlisted in the 10th Baluch Regiment shortly before the outbreak of war. He had taken part in critical actions against the Japanese before the incident in November 1944, including the bitterly fought battle of Ngakyedauk Pass in northern Arakan, which lasted for 25 days during February 1944 and finally brought to an end the much-vaunted Japanese "March on Delhi" - their last strategic offensive against India.

Like so many of his fellow hillsmen, Bhandari Ram was a natural soldier. He served on after the end of the Second World War, but the Partition of India in 1947 presented him with a problem. Predominantly recruited from Baluchistan, which was to become part of Pakistan, the 10th Baluch was no longer the regiment for a Hindu. He therefore transferred to the Dogra Regiment in the new Indian Army.

He served for a further 22 years, took part in operations in Jammu-Kashmir and was commissioned. He was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva - Medal for Most Distinguished Service - before leaving the army with the rank of captain at the age of 50 in November 1969.

In retirement he farmed in the Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh until ill-health prevented him. Over the years he regularly visited London for reunions of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association, the final time being last year. The Baluch Regiment created a montage of his VC-winning action and of his army life, and last year this was presented to the Army and Navy Club.

Ram married Champa Devi in 1950. She survives him together with three sons and two daughters.

Bhandari Ram's death leaves 16 surviving holders of the Victoria Cross.

Captain Bhandari Ram, VC, was born in Serunia, India, on July 24, 1919. He died on May 19, 2002, aged 82