Lt George Knowland VC......retrospective portrait of a Hero

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At this time of year my thoughts always turn to my father Bob Mewett and his part in that now legendary battle of Hill 170 Kangaw 1945.

In commemoration of all who fought this most ferocious engagement I reprint below an introduction from an article I authored for The Victoria Cross Society Journal on Lt George Knowland VC.

Lt George A Knowland VC No 1 Commando 4 Troop

A portrait in retrospect of a true Hero

The awarding of the VC from an outsider's point of view seems to be a controversial affair for who is to say which act is braver than the other or which danger is more real.

And it is true many deserved VC's have probably not been awarded and many brave acts have gone unnoticed and un-noted.

But from the soldier's side things are more straightforward. Comrades who were there recommend VC's others who saw the action and appreciated the danger.
The VC winner is a soldiers 'Soldier' the one every raw recruit aspires to when they first enlist.
He stands as their mentor and self-image of a supreme fighting man.
The VC is earned in the soldiers dream but won in his worst nightmare

The medal winner is proudly claimed by his regiment and fated as an example of what a soldier should be.
But this, for those who are interested in such matters such as 'what it is like to win a VC', is where confusion sets in

For many have won the ultimate award and have lived to tell the tale and on enquiry these recipients have proved to be on the whole ordinary and self effacing. Disarming the questioner with such answers as 'I only did what anybody would have done' or 'I don?t see myself as brave' or 'I was just doing my job' and this is the point. Bravery is seen from the perspective of those around the individual and is very rarely conceived by the individuals themselves.
Those VC winners who do survive seem to spend their future time eroding the event to a more manageable size. Rubbing the edges off and smoothing things over in order for them to shoulder the burden of this, the highest of military awards.
Strangely living VC winners do not seem to be the place to look for the answer of 'What It's Like'

But life and all the pressures of winning such an award is not bared down onto those who are awarded the VC posthumously.
Here we only have the citation. An individual and an action frozen in time and space never to be changed just read and interpreted by any one interested enough to want to.

A photo often accompanies or follows citations. Only those few where no image can be found are the individuals condemned to remain invisible heroes.
But some citations border on the mundane, again unintentionally, reducing the act to almost everyday.
It seems to depend on how long after the action the citation is written and how close the writer was to the original deed and their creative skill in reproducing the facts.
If you can have luck in such things, we have it in Lt George Knowlands' case.

His portrait shows a fresh-faced young newly promoted lieutenant resplendent in his jungle warfare cob hat. His newly gained 'Two Pips' are evident on his epaulets. And to top it all a stylish wispy moustache sitting above a wry proud smile.
And coupled with the photo the citation at last reveals the nature and the qualities that are needed in the VC winners' character.
As you read you are caught up in the action and images fill your imagination. You have a man possessed, in the white heat of battle. Powered by adrenalin. A man who sees only victory. This is a man high on emotion who does not countenance failure. You picture Knowland darting about encouraging his men 'come on men keep at it' firing all and sundry at the enemy. Knowland uses machine guns a Bren gun and even a 2inch mortar wielding the weapon about single handed from the hip against a tree stump all the time shouting to his men 'Keep at It'
The reader is swept along so much you almost expect Knowland to walk off of the page and accept your congratulations as you float over the words 'and was mortally wounded stemming this assault'
And then you realise Knowland was killed.

It comes as a shock but the image you are left with is strangely magnificent
You see a young British officer determined not to be beaten. Not willing to accept defeat. This is a man willing to stare into the face of incredible odds with a resolute defiance. To bare down on the enemy in a cause he sees as right being mindful at all times as to the welfare of the men under his command.

It is fitting that the battle of Hill 170 Kangaw is the place Knowland performed his show of magnificent courage. It was the wartime No 1 Commando units last great battle.

Lt Knowlands' action is a bookend reflection that puts you in mind of one of the early WW2 commandos to win a posthumous VC. That of Sgt Tommy Durrant at St Nazaire also of No 1 Commando.
What you see in Lt George Knowland at almost the end of the war is what you see in the actions of Tommy Durrant at the infancy of the Commandos. The epitomes of all the war time Commando soldiers. Those who answered the call 'For Duties of a Hazardous nature'. Men who were not prepared to go under to the threat of evil they faced. Men who were prepared to carry the fight to the enemy at all costs
Lt George Knowland stands as a monument of what all of this meant. He stands as an inspiration to all those who follow to wear the Green Beret.
In his final glorious moments, he handed over the baton of the ethos of the commandos to the next generation.

The final words are left to Brigadier Peter Young in his book 'Storm from the Sea'
The second in command of 3 Commando Brigade at Kangaw he writes

'Almost the first of our dead I saw was Knowland.
He lay on his back, one knee slightly raised, with a peaceful smiling look on his face, his head uncovered'

It seems that George Knowland had lived his soldiers dream and he remains now fixed in time as a glorious freeze frame salute to the war-time Commando soldier
An example of a true hero.

Notes:

Lt Knowlands quote 'Keep at it' was recited to me by Sgt Happy Jackson 4 Troop No 1 Commando who fought alongside George Knowland at Kangaw.

When talking to my old friend Sgt John Huntington 3 Troop No 1 Commando about this battle I asked John how he thought they survived the mass attack of the Japanese. His answer was.

'The Unit had trained hard in India. We were well drilled in the loading of weapons, Machine Guns, Mortars etc.
Everyone was on autopilot. There was no time to think we all just did the job we had trained to do. 'Nobby' Knowland was magnificent'

Both images used with permissions.