He was at the age of 18, and serving as Naib Subedar in the 9th Jat Regiment, British Indian Army during World War II, when he performed the deeds for which he was awarded the VC.

On 6 April 1944, during the Battle of Imphal, Naib Subedar Rao Abdul Hafiz Khan was ordered to attack with his platoon a prominent position held by the enemy, the only approach to which was across a bare slope and then up a very steep hill.

In Burma, in the early hours of the 6th April, 1944, in the hills 10 miles North of Imphal, the enemy had attacked a standing patrol of 4 men and occupied a prominent feature overlooking a Company position.

Naib Subedar Abdul Hafiz Khan sustained several casualties, but immediatetly [sic] ordered an assault, which he personally led, at the same time shouting the Mohammedan battle-cry.

On reaching the crest Naib Subedar Abdul Hafiz Khan was wounded in the leg, but seeing a machine-gun firing from a flank, which had already caused several casualties, he immediately went towards it and seizing the barrel pushed it upwards, whilst another man killed the gunner.

The complete disregard for his own safety and his determination to capture and hold the position at all costs was an example to all ranks, which it would be difficult to equal.His VC is on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum, London.