conventional infantry. Beginning on 6 June, the 77th Brigade advanced the final to Mogaung with the intent of capturing it. Amid monsoonal rains and suffering heavy casualties from the fighting as well as tropical diseases, the advance took a heavy toll on the Chindits; they were facing over 4,000 Japanese and by the end of the first week the brigade, having started with over 2,000 men, was down to just 550 and each battalion was at company strength. Initially, Allmand was given command of a platoon; however, later he was promoted to acting captain and took over command of a company. On 11 June, two days after 3/6 GR had reached the outskirts of the town, Allmand's platoon was tasked with capturing a road bridge about away from the central railway station, close to where the Japanese had established their headquarters in a building dubbed the "Red House". During the assault, his platoon took heavy fire and the attack stalled; leading from the front, Allmand went ahead, rallying his troops as he attacked the defenders with grenades and his kukri. He was again in the thick of the fighting on 13 June when, having taken over a company following the loss of its commander, he led an assault to secure some high ground by singlehandedly destroying several machine-gun positions. On 23 June, during the final stages of the advance on Mogaung, Allmand's company was tasked with capturing Natyigon village and securing the railway bridge that spanned the Mogaung River. Attacking to the left of the "Red House", Allmand's company was held up by machine-gun fire from an embankment near the bridge, Allmand went forward again. His movement hampered by severe trench foot, which had set in due to the poor conditions that the chindits had faced since starting the campaign in March, he nevertheless fought his way "through deep mud and shell-holes" and knocked out the machine-gun with grenades before being wounded. A short time later, another member of 3/6 GR, Tul Bahadur Pun, charged the bridge singlehandedly, killing the remaining Japanese defenders and securing it for the Gurkhas. Both Tul Bahadur and Allmand were later nominated for the Victoria Cross. It was largely due to Allmand's bravery that Mogaung was captured. Although he was pulled out of the line of fire by another Gurkha – Sergeant Tilbir Gurung, who received the Military Medal for his act – Allmand subsequently