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These soldiers were of the Assam Regiment – aka “the Assam” – raised in 1941 during WW2. Most of the soldiers were Nagas but there were also men from the other tribes of North East India: the Lushai, the Khasi, the Kuki.
Sampan’s 39 Hours to Kohima is a recreation of their exploit in 1944.
With Naga guides by your side, 39 Hours to Kohima is a unique opportunity to put mind, body and camaraderie to the test. Following the historic route of the Assam soldiers in 1944, from Jessami to Kohima you will trek over 100 kilometres through the dramatic landscape of the Naga Hills.
Lieutenant Colonel “Bruno” Brown was the Commanding Officer at Jessami. His granddaughter, Charlotte Carty, had the idea in 2023 to commemorate the bravery of the Assam soldiers, by recreating their journey from Jessami to Kohima on foot, 80 years to the day, that they had done so … in 39 hours.
“It’s about passing on the torch of remembrance,” Charlotte says. She completed this feat in April 2024.
In April 2025, we’ll be doing it again.
This journey is unlike any other. With Charlotte at the helm, from 27 March to 5 April 2025, we are offering the chance for a maximum of 12 “trailwalkers” to attempt the journey that the Naga soldiers made in 1944. With Naga guides and vehicles on standby, at midnight of 1/2 April, we’ll begin walking from Jessami … and attempt to reach Kohima … in 39 hours.
Sampan’s 39 Hours to Kohima is the first and only endurance trek of its kind in North East India. It is a bit like the Trailwalkers in the UK and Hong Kong. But longer. Harder. And with more Nagas … We hope you can join us.
Sampan’s 39 Hours to Kohima is one of the best endurance treks in India. It is certainly the most unique.
39 Hours to Kohima is a tough challenge that requires mental and physical preparation. But we shall support you in your journey towards the start line! Whether you sign-up as an individual or a team, the spirit of teamwork is at the heart of 39 Hours to Kohima. Naga guides will accompany your team and Naga villagers will cheer you on along your way, making it a truly unique challenge.
The goal is to try to complete the entire distance (124 kilometres) as accomplished by the Naga soldiers of 1944 – on foot and in 39 hours. Guests – or “trailwalkers” – can sign up for the endurance trek in their own “teams” or individually, and they will then be assigned to a team. A team is a minimum of two people. Each team will be accompanied by local Naga guides, as well as their own drivers and car arranged by Sampan. This ensures that each team can independently move at their own pace and return early to Kohima by car if they wish.
In addition to the teams of trailwalkers, there will be a Control Team, Forward Team and Sweeper Team. These management cars will be setting up the checkpoints, meal, campsite, and generally ensuring a safe and successful endurance hike for all.
The route we take from Jessami to Kohima War Cemetery covers 124 kilometres. There will be checkpoints throughout the trail. Each checkpoint will be located no more than 12 kilometres from the previous one. Most will be located much closer than that. The Control Team and the Forward Team will set up the checkpoints in advance of the trailwalkers. Light refreshments will be available at each checkpoint, while full meals will be available at some. There will also be a simple campsite set up just over the halfway point.
The route of our long-distance hike in Nagaland is mainly along empty tracks over the Naga Hills. It is mostly on quiet asphalt roads and very occasionally on forest paths. Your vehicles and additional emergency medical assistance will never be far away, and your guides will be in constant contact with the Control Team.
The 39 Hours to Kohima trail ends at the iconic Kohima War Cemetery. This is the site of the DC Bungalow and tennis court. Here at the Battle of Kohima in the spring of 1944, Allied and Japanese forces fought, lobbing grenades across the tennis court. Today, the lines of the court have been sketched onto the lawn of the Cemetery. Here, after completing the trek, you will receive a hero’s welcome! The following day there will be a small service at the War Cemetery, and that evening a celebratory supper.
Sampan’s 39 Hours to Kohima is the top endurance trek in Nagaland and a unique opportunity for endurance trekking enthusiasts.
Whether you’re looking for long distance hikes in India or specifically seeking hidden endurance trails in Nagaland, this trek promises a wonderful challenge and an unforgettable experience.
Please contact us for more precise details about the best multi-day trek in the world!
The Nagas are an ethnic group primarily inhabiting the hilly regions of North East India and northwestern Myanmar. Historically, the Nagas were known for their warrior culture and headhunting practices.
The Nagas remained isolated from the world until the 1800s, when the British sent expeditionary forces into the hills. The Anglo-Naga Wars of 1879-1880, were bloody, and eventually led to the Nagas occupying a liminal space within the British Empire. American Baptist missionaries arrived and converted most of the Naga tribes to Christianity. By the time of WWI, relations between the British and the Nagas had improved, and by the time of WWII the Allies were able to lean heavily on the Nagas as allies.
The support of the Nagas was crucial for the successful withdrawal of Allied Forces from Burma and the subsequent victory over the Japanese at the Battle of Kohima. Many Nagas served with the Allied Forces in various capacities: as soldiers, guides and porters. Sergeant Fred Hazell of the Norfolks recalled: “There were young girls with boxes of ammunition on their head tripping along quite gaily. We were staggering along underneath our packs!”
At one point, during the siege of Kohima, the Nagas had the distinction of having captured more Japanese prisoners than the entire Fourteenth Army. They faced extreme danger and hardship due to their assistance to the Allies. Arthur Swinson, in his book Kohima, wrote: “How many lives were owed to the courage and skill of these remarkable hillmen will never be known; but the figure must certainly run into thousands.”
After WWII, the British left the Nagas under the new Indian and Burmese governments. Naga author Charles Chasie writes in his book The Road to Kohima.
“… the British Government left the Nagas under the new Indian Government without saying a single word about Naga sentiments of wanting to be left outside India. Across the board, regardless of village or tribal affinity, the Naga people felt let down by their British friends when they departed from India in 1947.”
The Nagas in India, initiated a bloody insurgency against the Indian Army. Ultimately they won statehood, and Nagaland state within the Union of India was carved out of Assam in 1963.
In 1941, the Japanese stunned the Allied forces with their rapid overland conquest of Southeast Asia. The chastened British Indian Army regrouped over the Burmese border in North East India. Confident in victory, in March 1944, the Japanese began their long-feared “march on Delhi”, following the Allies into Manipur and the Naga Hills.
In 1941, the Assam Regiment (“the Assam”) was founded, raised from the tough, hardy hill tribes of the area. Mostly Naga men and boys, but also men of the Lushai, Khasi and Kuki tribes. In March 1944 they were sent to the village of Jessami, on the Burma border, to patrol for information. With little experience in warfare of this kind, they were not expected to see action.
And yet, here, they came up against the might of the Japanese Army.
The Assam, despite being vastly outnumbered, held out against the Japanese, battling for five days, ordered to fight to “the last man and the last round”. This order was eventually withdrawn, but the message did not get through to Jessami as all communications had been cut. An aircraft was sent to drop the message at Jessami, landing by mistake on the Japanese.
Lieutenant Corlett, a young English officer of the Assam, was at the nearby village of Phek. He was ordered with the rest of the garrison there to head back to Kohima. Certain that the men at Jessami did not know their new orders, he asked permission to deliver the message personally, through enemy held territory. He set off with just his revolver. After climbing down and up the mountains in the dark, he arrived at the Jessami perimeter at 22:00, only to be fired upon by the Assam as they mistook him for a Japanese soldier. He called out to them to stop firing, which they only did when they heard his lisp and recognised him as one of their own. He delivered the new orders to Lieutenant Colonel William “Bruno” Brown, the Commanding Officer at Jessami.
At midnight on 1/2 April, Bruno Brown led the withdrawal from Jessami to Kohima, a distance of 96 kilometres as the crow flies. The men of the Assam arrived in Kohima in 39 hours at 15:00 on 3 April 1944. Two hundred and sixty men made it back to bolster the Allied defences in the town.
General Slim, commander of the Fourteenth Army was to later write of the 1st Assam: “The main weight of the enemy advance fell on this battalion, in the first battle of its career. Fighting in its own country, it put up a magnificent resistance, held doggedly to one position after another against overwhelming odds, and, in spite of heavy casualties, its companies although separated never lost cohesion. The delay the Assam Regiment imposed on the 31st Japanese Division at this stage was invaluable.”
39 Hours to Kohima, Sampan’s historical trek in Nagaland, commemorates the journey of the men of the Assam. This top historical hike in India for history buffs, recreates the accomplishment of the Assam soldiers, trekking from Kohima to Jessami, starting at midnight on the 1/2 April, and attempting to reach the Kohima war cemetery in 39 hours.
About completing this historical Nagaland hike in 2024, Charlotte Carty said: “The locals were coming out and cheering us on, taking us from village to village and providing us with food, just as the people 80 years ago were supporting my grandfather and his men. For them, the battles that took place were where they live; it’s important history for them. They are delighted that people are coming from all across the world to recreate and commemorate the lives of their ancestors, and to recognise what the locals did here.”
After commanding in and surviving the bloody battles of Jessami and Kohima, Bruno Brown was killed by a Japanese sniper near Shwebo in Burma, on 4 January 1945. He was scheduled to relinquish command of his battalion upon reaching Shwebo in Burma, after which he planned to take leave in Scotland following 11 years away from home. During his three-year command, Lt Col Brown was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
Noticeable as an interesting quirk of history, Major Mohammad Ayub Khan, the senior most company commander in the battalion, succeeded Lt Col Brown as Commanding Officer of 1 Assam. However, he was soon removed Ayub Khan from his position for displaying ‘tactical timidity.’ Ayub Khan, also from the Punjab Regiment, later became the Army Chief of the Pakistan Army, declared martial law in the country, and became its President, eventually awarding himself the rank of Field Marshal. Ayub Khan was in charge in Karachi leading up to the bloody Liberation War of 1971 when East Pakistan broke away from West Pakistan and became Bangladesh.
Today, Nagaland has set aside its historic zeal for hunting, and prides itself as being one of the greenest and most eco-friendly states in India. The Naga Hills are renowned for their rich biodiversity, hosting a variety of flora and fauna unique to this region.
Nagaland’s forests are predominantly evergreen, with broad-leaved trees such as oaks, chestnuts and magnolias flourishing in the region. Rhododendrons, with their spectacular blooms, are commonly found at higher elevations. The valleys and foothills are home to various species of orchids, over 350 in total, and add a vibrant splash of colour to the landscape.
The state is a haven for birdwatchers, with over 490 species of birds recorded, including the Great Indian Hornbill, the critically endangered White-winged Duck and the elusive Mrs Hume’s Pheasant. The Amur Falcon, a migratory bird, makes an impressive annual journey from Siberia to Nagaland.
The forests of Nagaland are home to various mammals, including the rare clouded leopard, Asiatic black bear, and the Indian bison (gaur). Smaller mammals such as the Malayan giant squirrel, Hoolock gibbon, and several species of deer also inhabit these forests.
Charlotte grew up in Surrey and, upon graduating in Law from Christ’s College, Cambridge, qualified as a solicitor and pursued a career in the City. After a break to raise her family and time spent abroad for her husband’s postings, she started work once again back in the UK, this time within the education sector.
Charlotte’s grandfather was Lt Col William Felix Brown, CO of the Assam Regiment at the battles of Jessami and Kohima. He was killed on 4 January 1945 in action near Shwebo in Burma. Charlotte has visited the Naga Hills multiple times. In 2024, in honour of her grandfather, she led a group trekking 124 kilometres, through the night, from Kohima to Jessami … in less than 39 hours.
Charlotte is a trustee of the Kohima Educational Trust. When not walking, she can be found working in the garden or with her feet up, watching the cricket.
Follow Charlotte’s Instagram account about the 39 Hour walk here.
39 Hours to Kohima incorporates the work of the Kohima Educational Trust & Society.
The Kohima Educational Trust & Society (KET/KES) was founded 60 years after the Battle of Kohima by veterans of the battle as a debt of honour to the Nagas in order to provide educational assistance to the young people of today, many of them descendants of those who had so ably assisted the British and Indian forces.
In collaboration with the Kohima Educational Society (KES), a charity formed in response to the formation of the Kohima Educational Trust, many projects are achieved, principally the making of several hundred scholarship awards every year.
KET runs regular webinars looking at the history. Here is the recording of one about the two Victoria Cross recipients at the Battle of Kohima.
Trek from the plains of Dimapur up to Kohima in the hills. Stay overnight in Naga villages.
Tracing Bill Slim’s reconquest of Burma, we explore how WW2 led to where Myanmar is today.
In conversation with Grammar Productions, hearing the stories of forgotten allies of WW2.
Seeking veterans in Myanmar who fought beside the British in the Second World War.
A small British charity continues to work for the sake of forgotten allies from WW2.
Saw Tun Thein worked with the Royal Engineers up until the Japanese invasion in 1942.
