Product details
- ISBN 9781917837767
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 01 Oct 2026
- Publisher: Chiselbury Publishing
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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In the spring of 1944, as the Japanese army advanced toward India, 1st Battalion of the newly raised Assam Regiment was ordered to hold the remote Naga villages of Jessami and Kharasom. Outnumbered and isolated, Lieutenant Colonel William Felix “Bruno” Brown and his men fought for five days and nights, delaying the Japanese advance toward Kohima.
When they were finally ordered to withdraw, the battalion undertook an extraordinary feat of endurance: a 124-kilometre march through the mountains and jungle of the Naga Hills in just 39 hours. Harried by the enemy and racing against time, they reached Kohima only hours before the town was encircled. Their presence played a pivotal role in what was to become one of the most decisive battles of the war in the Far East.
Eighty years later, Brown’s granddaughter Charlotte Carty set out to follow in their footsteps. Beginning at Jessami at the exact hour the Assam Regiment had departed in 1944, she and a small group retraced the legendary route to Kohima.
Part history, part personal pilgrimage, 39 Hours brings to life one of the most remarkable episodes of the Burma campaign and honours the courage and endurance of the men whose march became part of the story of Kohima.
Charlotte grew up in Surrey and graduated in law from Christ’s College, Cambridge, before qualifying as a solicitor and practising both in the City and internationally. After a career break to raise her family, she returned to the UK to work in the education sector. Her grandfather, Lt Col “Bruno” Brown, commanded the Assam Regiment at the battles of Jessami and Kohima. Deeply connected to his legacy, Charlotte has visited the Naga Hills many times.
Charlotte is also a trustee of the Kohima Educational Trust, a charity founded by veterans of the Battle of Kohima to honour a debt of gratitude to the Naga people for the support they gave the Allies during World War Two. Never allowing a lack of experience or expertise to stop her from bringing the story of the Assam Regiment, and the wider Burma campaign, to a wider audience, Charlotte gives talks and presentations to a variety of audiences across the globe. She enjoys playing tennis, gardening and, thankfully, walking!"
