39 Hours: Walking in my Grandfather's Footsteps - Jessami to Kohima 

The Kohima Educational Trust is delighted to welcome back our trustee Charlotte Carty as guest speaker in conversation with Dr Robert Lyman for this webinar about her epic walk from Jessami to Kohima over 39 hours following in the footsteps of her grandfather, Lt Col William Felix 'Bruno' Brown.
In Charlotte's own words:
"My Grandfather, Lt Col William Felix ‘Bruno’ Brown, was the Commanding Officer of the First Assam Regiment at the time of the Battle of Kohima in 1944.
I became particularly interested in the withdrawal back to Kohima of the Assam Regiment from the village of Jessami, where fierce preliminary contact had been made with the invading Japanese. This withdrawal, on foot, was over a distance of some 29 miles as the crow flies, and some 60 miles along the paths and tracks, across sub-Himalayan terrain, in frequent contact with the Japanese. The Regiment achieved this in 39 hours, with some 260 men making it through to bolster the thin defences at Kohima. They started at midnight on 1st April and arrived at Kohima 39 hours later at 3pm on 3rd April 1944."
As part of the 80th anniversary of the battle in 2024, Charlotte, her family, together with Dr Rob Lyman and a team of supporters recreated this walk in April 2024. Their wish was to highlight the achievements of all of the forces who fought at Kohima, and to remember the local Naga people who were so vital in the campaign and in particular the fighting withdrawal of the Assam Regiment back to Jessami.