The Sydney-based 55-year-old, who hails from Nepal, has served in both the British and Australian armies.
For more than 200 years, the British army has recruited soldiers from Nepal for its Gurkha regiment. Gurkhas have fought as British soldiers in two world wars and other notable conflicts.
“When I served in the British Army, I was directly under the British crown, under the Queen,” he tells SBS Nepali.
Mr Gurung says the news of Queen Elizabeth’s death came as a shock.
“I am also very shocked to hear this loss of our Queen, just like any other [people]. But all I would like to say though is, 'rest in peace, Queen'.”
"It's very sad. I feel very sad that she has passed away,” he says.
“I know she will be given a very good place in heaven by God. And we have a very big loss."
Source: Supplied / Deb Bahadur Gurung
It was around 1996 when, as a section commander, Mr Gurung got the chance to get up close to the late monarch and other members of the Royal Family.
He says he was assigned guard duties in Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle during that time.
“I had a few opportunities actually to do the guard duties in Buckingham Palace as well as the Windsor Castle where the Queen and the family [lived].”
Mr Gurung also recalls seeing the Queen for the first time in 1988.
He was then a young soldier in the Church Crookham, Sixth Gurkha Rifle base.
“I had the opportunity to welcome the [great] Queen in our army base in Church Crookham; at that time, I was a very young digger, and I actually saw the [motorcycle] guard of honour for the Queen, which I remember... like [it happened] yesterday.”
Source: Supplied / Deb Bahadur Gurung
Mr Gurung, who came to Australia after serving in the UK for two decades, says he's always felt connected to the Queen.
"When I transferred from the UK to Australian Defence Force, I was still under the head of state, the Queen.
"I have always felt an attachment in the sense that I never left the Queen; I have never felt that I was away from the Queen.”
