In the brutal battle around Hill 170 and Kangaw ridge in Arakan, Burma, British Army Lieutenant George Knowland of the Royal Norfolk Regiment serving with No. 1 Commando with twenty-four men heroically held off a heavy assault by at least 300 fanatical Japanese, killing many of the enemy virtually single-handedly, before a bullet struck him and he was killed. For his outstanding valour Lieutenant Knowland was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
