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"At least he would have been pleased to see his actions were recognised.” The MBE citation lays bare in harrowing detail the torture suffered by its recipient after he was taken
prisoner by the Japanese forces occupying Singapore. He was held captive for three years until the end of the war and, as a senior officer, stood between his men and their captors. After
being moved to a concentration camp, he was beaten with sticks, made to carry heavy loads and ordered to clean latrines for eight hours a day. The camp guards also deprived the 45-year-old
officer of clean water and forced him to eat rice mixed with mud. However, according to his citation, he “counselled restraint, good discipline and steadfastness” from his men and “a
tragedy was averted”. The major saw his son Dishnu Bahadur Chhetri educated at Sandhurst before rising to the rank of captain in the Gurkhas. His grandson, who is married with two
children, said of the investiture: “It was a very emotional day. “I was happy that I finally got his medal and I was thinking of him all the time.” At the same ceremony, Prince William
joked that Tour de France winner Chris Froome was a “sucker for punishment” as he handed him an OBE. The Prince also presented 71-year-old TV newscaster Martyn Lewis with a knighthood for
services to charity.