Somerset woman recreates grandfather's World War Two trek across India

Charlotte Carty completed the walk with her three children

A woman has recreated a "gruelling" trek undertaken by her grandfather in India during World War Two.

Charlotte Carty, from Milborne Port in Somerset, walked 77 miles (124km) across jungle terrain from the village of Jessami, to the city of Kohima.

She completed the walk to retrace the footsteps of her grandfather, Lt Col William Felix 'Bruno' Brown, in 1944.

Ms Carty said the non-stop 36-hour journey was "challenging", but a "wonderful and joyous occasion".

Ms Carty said she thought her grandfather "was a very determined gentleman"

In April 1944, the Allied garrison in Kohima was besieged by troops of the Japanese Imperial Army.

Ms Carty's grandfather, Lt Col Brown, was commanding officer of the 1st Assam Regiment at the time, recruited from local Indian tribes.

After Lt Col Brown was ordered to withdraw from the battle of Jessami to provide help at the battle of Kohima, he led his troops for 39 hours to get there, without stopping.

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

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Accompanied by her three children, Ms Carty and about 20 others, many of them descendants of those involved at Kohima, set off on 1 April.

After climbing more than 17,388 ft (5,300m), the group reached the finish line at 10:30 BST on 3 April - marking 80 years to the day after Lt Col Brown and his regiment arrived in Kohima.

"It was thick jungle," Ms Carty said. "We were lucky because they would have been going on tracks, but now they have roads here.

Ms Carty followed in the footsteps of her grandfather, 80 years after he walked the route

"When you see the hills and jungle here, and consider all that they'd faced, I don't understand how they did it."

Ms Carty said to complete the journey in good time they had to trek through the night, taking in the "phenomenal skies".

"The locals were coming out and cheering us on, taking us from village to village and providing us with food, just as the people 100 years ago were supporting my grandfather and their men," she said.

"They remember it perhaps more than the British do. 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, which was so vital to the support of the allies."