George Arthur Knowland VC ( Eng. George Arthur Knowland ; August 16, 1922 , London - January 31, 1945 , Kangav) - British soldier, participant in World War II, lieutenant of the British Army ; Cavalier of the Victoria Cross posthumously.
| George Arthur Knowland | |
|---|---|
| English George Arthur Knowland | |
 | |
| Date of Birth | August 16, 1922 |
| Place of Birth | Catford , London , UK |
| Date of death | January 31, 1945 (22 years old) |
| Place of death | Kangav , Burma |
| Affiliation |  Great Britain |
| Type of army | infantry, commando |
| Years of service | 1940-1945 |
| Rank | lieutenant |
| Part | Royal Norfolk Regiment No. 1 Commando |
| Battles / wars | World War II :
|
| Awards and prizes |  |
Biography
Born August 16, 1922 in Catford (a district of London). He studied at Elmwood Elementary School in Croydon . In 1940, drafted into the British Army, served in the Royal Norfolk Regiment . At the age of 22, he rose to the rank of lieutenant and was transferred to the ranks of the British commandos , in the 1st division of the commandos .
January 31, 1945 near Kangav in Burma, a battle was fought for a height of 170 . Knowland commanded a platoon on the front line, which was under heavy shelling: 24 people held back the onslaught of 300 Japanese. During the attacks, Nowland led his soldiers, firing at the Japanese with rifles and throwing grenades at them. When one of the machine gunners was wounded, George personally grabbed his Bren machine gun and opened fire on the enemies: despite the fact that they were only 9 meters from Knowland, the density of fire made them stop. Knowland continued to shoot back while the wounded were taken out: he had to hold the position even longer, since the reserve machine gunners' team was also wounded, so the third was sent.
During a surprise attack, Nowland grabbed a 2-inch mortar and began to fire at him directly at the enemies, making short dashes to the trenches for ammunition. If necessary, he fired from a rifle. Despite the enormous losses, the Japanese approached, and George had to drop the rifle and take the Thompson submachine gun . He continued the battle and shot off any enemy soldiers approaching him. For 12 hours he had to keep his height: no more than half of the soldiers remained from the platoon, and they had to wait a long time for reinforcements.
From the wounds received, Nowland died, but did not allow the Japanese to occupy the heights, while destroying a huge number of enemy soldiers with well-aimed fire. Posthumously, he was awarded the Victoria Cross. His remains rest at the Taukkian military cemetery in Myanmar [1] .
Notes
- β CWGC entry
Literature
- British VCs of World War 2 (John Laffin, 1997)
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)