Arakan Operations - The Battle of Hill 170

DATE: 21/07/2024

TIME (GMT): 18:00

ERA: WW2

MAP(S): Henderson Field

TYPE: COOP

GAME: Arma 3

EVENT: Official

AUTHOR(S): Jarvis for Brothers in Arms

SLOTS: 50 / 74

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RATING: (21)

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The Battle of Hill 170 was a battle between the British 3rd Commando Brigade and the Japanese 54th Division as part of the Arakan Operations in Burma, taking place in January of 1945.

The 3rd Commando Brigade was deployed to and landed on the Myebon Peninsula on the 12th of January with the objective of securing and holding the dominant terrain around the Chin Hills. With these positions in British hands the supply routes to the frontline would be cut and escape routes for the Japanese to Rangoon would be severed. Commando forces were to seize control of Hill 170 before being replaced by troops of the 51st Indian Infantry Brigade.

Before the 3rd Commando Brigade withdrew from their positions on Hill 170 they were counterattacked by Japanese soldiers of the 154th Infantry Regiment whilst under bombarded from Japanese artillery. During the battle, the assaults by the Japanese were near suicidal with soldiers charging platoon after platoon and even saw Japanese engineers armed with explosive charges on the end of bamboo poles charging the Sherman tanks of the 19th Lancers, destroying two. The fighting was continually hand to hand and despite murderous casualties the Japanese advanced several hundred yards up the hill, however, once reinforcements arrived to support No. 1 Commando and their machine guns were brought to bare the attack was slowly driven back, ending with a Japanese retreat from the hill.

The next morning, once No. 5 Commando had secured the top of Hill 170 they met no resistance, with the hill completely abandoned by the Japanese. No. 5 Commando counted up to 340 Japanese bodies on and around the hill itself, with an unknown amount of wounded, with the true number of dead likely to be higher, whilst the 3rd Commando Brigade had suffered 45 dead, and 90 wounded. Overall, the defence of Hill 170 was a significant victory for British forces in Burma and effectively broke the morale of the 54th Division.