Jack Hinton won the VC while serving with 20th Battalion in Greece. In April 1941 he was amongst a large force of New Zealand and British troops awaiting evacuation from Kalamata. When the Germans attacked and a retreat was ordered, Hinton shouted, ‘To hell with this! Who will come with me?’, and charged two enemy field guns. After eliminating the gun crews with hand grenades he stormed two houses, bayoneting the Germans inside. Shortly afterwards he was shot in the stomach and taken prisoner. While a prisoner of war Hinton escaped twice and made several other attempts. He was told he had been awarded the VC as he lay in hospital recovering from a beating administered to him after one of these attempts.