Khudadad Khan, who was born in the village of Dab in the Punjab province of present day Pakistan, was a 26-year-old machine gunner in the 129th Duke of Counaught’s Own Baluchis when the regiment was sent to France to aid the exhausted troops of the British Expeditionary Force.
On October 31, 1914, two companies of Baluchis, outnumbered and outgunned, bore the brunt of a major German offensive in the First Battle of Ypres. The Baluchis fought in water-logged ground against German soldiers with far more effective weaponry than theirs, in order to help prevent the enemy from advancing towards the ports of Boulogne in France and Nieuwpoort in Belgium.
Amid devastating losses, only two machine gun crews, including Khan’s, managed to hold their position and continue to fire on enemy troops throughout the day.
When the second crew was killed as the result of a direct shell hit, the six remaining soldiers continued to fight, with Khan pressing on despite being wounded several times.
He remained working his gun until all the other five men of the gun detachment had been killed. When his position was overran, he was so badly wounded that enemy left him for dead.
That night, he crawled away and rejoined what was left of his regiment to continue fighting.
His actions earned him the Victoria Cross and became the first South Asian and Muslim to receive the award. He passed away in 1971 at the age of 82. #stayzero #zerofoxtrot #ww1 #balls #hardcore