Battle of Hill 170

In late December 1944, XV Indian Corps—commanded by Lieutenant General Christison—went on the offensive, and on 29 December the 3rd Commando Brigade—then commanded by Brigadier Campbell Hardy—carried out an unopposed landing on the island of Akyab. Following this reconnaissance, operations were undertaken around the Myebon Peninsula and on the surrounding islands. During one of these patrols, a group of commandos from No. 5 Commando had a brief contact with a Japanese force during which they killed four Japanese without suffering loss themselves. On 12 January 1945, the commando brigade carried out a landing on the peninsula. Coming ashore in the second wave behind No. 42 (Royal Marine) Commando, No. 5 Commando carried the advance inland until they came under machine gun fire from a hill that had been named 'Rose' by the planning staff. across a number of waterways on the mainland, where Christison had decided that he wanted to cut the Japanese line of withdrawal. The terrain was difficult, with no roads and consisting of mangrove swamps and rice paddies that prevented tanks or artillery coming ashore initially. The whole area was dominated by a small wooded ridge known as Hill 170. ==Battle==

coming ashore during the Burma Campaign 3 Commando Brigade landed south of Kangaw. The brigade landed without any naval or air bombardment in an attempt to surprise the Japanese. The units of the brigade were given different objectives. 1 Commando in the lead would secure Hill 170, a long, wide and high hill codenamed "Brighton", supported by 5 Commando. 42 Commando would be responsible for the security of the beachhead between two tidal creeks which were codenamed "Thames" and "Mersey". 44 Commando's objectives were two valleys codenamed "Milford" and "Pinner" to the east of Hill 170. "Milford" was secured on 22 January and "Pinner" the following day. All the objectives were taken with minimal Japanese resistance. Over the night of 23/24 January, the Japanese attacked "Pinner" and an artillery barrage unprecedented for the theatre of war landed on Hill 170 and would continue for the next four days. An estimated 700 Japanese shells landed on the hill during the last day of the battle. Early the following morning, No. 5 Commando was able to move forward and found the hill abandoned, apart from over 340 Japanese dead. The British losses for the battle were 45 dead and 90 wounded. ==Aftermath==

The commandos' victory in the 36-hour battle for Hill 170 cut off the escape of the 54th Japanese Division. Further amphibious landings by the 25th Indian Infantry Division and the overland advance of the 82nd (West Africa) Division made the Japanese position in the Arakan untenable and they ordered a general withdrawal to avoid the complete destruction of the Twenty-Eighth Japanese Army. In recognition of the battle, the commandos were awarded the battle honour Kangaw. The men of 3rd Commando Brigade were awarded a number of decorations for gallantry, which included a posthumous Victoria Cross for Lieutenant George Knowland No. 4 Troop, No.1 Commando. His citation reads: == See also ==