Somerset woman's India trek to honour WW2 grandfather

A woman is heading to India to re-create a 39-hour walk undertaken by her grandfather during World War Two.

Charlotte Carty, from Milborne Port in Somerset, will walk 77 miles (124km) across hills and jungle from the village of Jessami to Kohima.

She said her grandfather, Lt Col William Felix 'Bruno' Brown, was "part of the forgotten army".

"It's about passing on the torch of remembrance for the next generation," she added.

In 1944, Lt Col Brown was commanding officer of the 1st Assam Regiment, a regiment recruited from local Indian tribes.

In April of that year, the Allied garrison in the village of Kohima was besieged by troops of the Japanese Imperial Army.

Lt Col Brown was told to withdraw from the battle of Jessami with his regiment to provide help at the battle of Kohima.

His efforts to lead his men through difficult jungle terrain contributed to him being awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

"They were running for their lives, effectively, with Japanese soldiers sweeping after them. I'm not sure they would have stopped," said Ms Carty.

"I think they would have tried to keep going and that's what we are going to do too," she added.

Lt Col Brown arrived in Kohima at 15:00 local time on 3 April 1944. The contribution of him and his men to the battle there has been described as "vital" by many historians.

Ms Carty said: "They had been fighting day and night for five days beforehand. The terrain they would have been facing was extreme.

"They must have been tired."

At midnight on 1 April, exactly 80 years to the hour after her grandfather made that arduous journey, Ms Carty and around 20 others, many of them descendants of those involved, will recreate the route of the withdrawal.

"I shall be in pieces. I shall probably be in crying quite a lot. It will be very emotional," Ms Carty said.

Dr Robert Lyman, a historian who is an expert on Kohima, is joining the walk.

He said: "How many officers would have fought for four days at Jessami, and then when given the orders to withdraw to Kohima would have done so without compunction, without argument? It's a very, very big task.

"He'd lost half his battalion men, dead and wounded in the battle of Jessami - yet he didn't give up. He helped save Kohima. He's quite a remarkable man."

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