Lieutenant Guy Boisragon led a very courageous attempt to storm Nilt Fort in the Hunza-Naga Campaign. It was a well-positioned defensive fortification, high on a ledge surrounded by steep precipices. The walls were 8 ft thick and 14 ft high, so entry was confined to a single gate. The outer gate had been blown, but Boisragon led his men through heavy fire from the defenders to attempt the blowing up of the inner gate. The sappers did good work and managed to blow the gate but the defenders were too numerous. He went back to bring reinforcements and found that his men had held the enemy back so that with the extra men they were able to fight their way into the fort. The attack happened on 2 Dec 1891 and Lt Boisragon was awarded the Victoria Cross, gazetted on 12 Jul 1892.
Guy Hudleston Boisragon was born in Kohat, Punjab, on 5 Nov 1864. His father, Major Henry Boisragon, from a Huguenot family, was the founder of the regiment, originally named the 25th Punjab Infantry or Hazara Goorkha Battalion, raised during the Indian Mutiny in 1858. Guy was commissioned into the 5th Goorkhas in April 1877 and saw much action in Kashmir. Boisragon rose through the commissioned ranks to Brigadier. He died in Biarritz on 14 July 1931. His grave is in Kensal Green Cemetery.
