Battle of Hill 170 The Battle of Hill 170 was a battle between the British 3rd Commando Brigade and the Japanese 54th Division during the Second World War . The battle was fought in January 1945 , as part of the Burma campaign . The 3rd Commando Brigade were given the task of assaulting the Arakan Peninsula at Myebon . Here they were to take and hold the dominant features of the southern Chin Hills . If they could achieve this , they would cut off the supply and escape routes of the Japanese to Rangoon and secure the bridgehead . The battle for Hill 170 was the crisis of the Arakan operations , and its outcome broke the spirit of the Japanese 54th Division . Had the commandos ' positions fallen , this would have endangered all the Allied units that had landed on the Myebon Peninsula . After the battle , the commander of the XV Indian Corps — Lieutenant General Sir Philip Christison — stated in a special order of the day to the 3rd Commando Brigade , " The Battle of Kangaw had been the decisive battle of the whole Arakan campaign and that it was won was very largely due to your magnificent defence of Hill 170 . " Background . 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 of them 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 . The following morning , after air support was called in and tanks from the 19th Lancers were brought up , No . 5 Commando launched an attack on the position . In the end , the attack was successful and as a result of the defenders deciding to fight to the death , no prisoners were taken . For the next couple of days , No . 5 Commando carried out patrols throughout the peninsula as the enemy were cleared from the area , before they were withdrawn to the beachhead for a couple of days ' rest . After this , the brigade captured the village of Kantha as a preliminary move on Kangaw , 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 . At 13 : 00 on 22 January 1945 , the leading elements of 3rd Commando Brigade landed south of Kangow . 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 . No . 1 Commando in the lead would secure Hill 170 , a long , wide and high hill codenamed " Brighton " supported by No . 5 Commando . No 42 ( Royal Marine ) Commando would be responsible for the security of the beachhead between two tidal creeks which were codenamed " Thames " and " Mersey " . No . 44 ( Royal Marine ) 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 secured with only 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 . On 26 January , 51st Indian Infantry Brigade — supported by a troop of M4 Sherman tanks from the 19th Lancers — arrived from the beachhead and took over the positions of No . 44 ( Royal Marine ) Commando on " Milford " and " Pinner " . On the night of 28 / 29 January , 51st Brigade attacked Kangaw and two heights codenamed " Perth " and " Melrose " which dominated the road east from Kangow , but they only partially achieved their objectives as the Japanese resistance along their withdrawal route was hardening . However , they did secure Kangaw and occupied positions to dominate the main road . Japanese counter - attack . The plan had now called for the withdrawal of 3rd Commando Brigade on 30 January , but the plans were halted by a new Japanese counter - attack on the brigade ' s positions by the 154th Infantry Regiment . The next morning at 05 : 45 , the 2nd Battalion , 154th Infantry Regiment launched a surprise attack on Hill 170 under cover of a fierce artillery bombardment and heavy machine gun fire . The focus of their attack was the northern end of Hill 170 defended by No . 4 Troop , No . 1 Commando . The troop ' s position was ringed by gunfire in a preliminary to a major attack . Throwing grenades in front of them , the Japanese attacked at 07 : 30 on a front platoon by platoon . Hill 170 was now defended by No . 1 and No . 42 Commandos supported by a tank troop from the 19th Lancers . The tanks which were deployed at the northern end of the hill were attacked in a suicidal assault by Japanese engineers armed with explosive charges on the end of bamboo poles . The engineers destroyed two of the three Sherman tanks after a hand to hand battle by climbing on top of them and exploding their charges . The Japanese infantry continued to attack Hill 170 throughout the rest of the day , the brunt of these attacks falling on No . 4 Troop of No . 1 Commando , which came under sustained pressure . At 09 : 30 , a counter - attack was launched by W Troop , No . 42 Commando and No . 3 Troop , No . 1 Commando which had to be abandoned after advancing only against heavy sustained machine gun fire . The next counter - attack was by X Troop , No . 42 Commando supported by the remaining Sherman tank . This attack also failed in the face of the heavy Japanese fire . The Commandos now responded by bringing all available artillery and mortar fire down on the Japanese positions . At 14 : 00 , No . 6 Troop , No . 1 Commando put in a counter - attack but this attack also failed , with the troop losing nearly half of its men . To the east of Hill 170 on " Pinner " , No . 5 Commando was by then relieved by the 8 / 19th Hyderabad Regiment from the 51st Brigade and rejoined the 3rd Commando Brigade on Hill 170 , their machine guns adding to the weight of fire brought to bear on the Japanese . At 16 : 00 , the 2 / 2nd Punjab Regiment from the 51st Brigade managed to work their way around the left flank of Hill 170 and also engaged the Japanese from there . At the same time No . 5 Commando were moved forward to take over from the front line from No . 4 Troop , except for one section that had been cut off and overrun . Just after 17 : 00 , some Japanese were seen to be withdrawing from the hill and the 2 / 2nd Punjabi Regiment started a flanking night attack but this failed to drive the Japanese off their positions on the hill . The Japanese responded with a night attack of their own against No . 5 Commandos positions , which also failed . An estimated 700 Japanese artillery shells landed on the hill during the last day of the battle . In a day of continuous fighting , much of it hand - to - hand , the men of No . 1 and No . 42 Commandos had repulsed and counter - attacked the waves of Japanese infantry . Early the following morning , No . 5 Commando were eventually 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 decoration s for gallantry , which included a posthumous Victoria Cross for Lieutenant George Knowland No . 4 Troop , No . 1 Commando . His citation reads :