Are you up for an exciting trip to the Brahmaputra, the Naga Hills and Imphal?

8-21 November 2023

I’ve just heard from Bertie Lawson that a space has opened up in the tour I’m leading to the Naga Hills between 8-21 November this year. Its going to be truly special. Among many other exciting things we’re travelling to the villages of Jessami and Kharasom where the gallant 1st Battalion The Assam Regiment (the ‘Rhinos’) defied Sato’s columns in late March 1944, holding up the Japanese attack on Kohima in a defence as important but far less well known than that of Sangshak to the south. It was here that Lieutenant Jock Young sacrificed his life, ordering his men back to Kohima to sound the alarm while he remained in his trench, alone, equipped with rifle and grenades, single-handedly to hold back the tide of enemy sweeping around him. He had been told to fight to the last round and the last man. He decided that he would be the last man, and would fire the last round.

On the tour will be Charlotte Carty, the granddaughter of Lieutenant Colonel Bruno Brown, CO of the Rhinos’ during that remarkable action.

And, despite some of the trouble in Manipur, we will be visiting Imphal, and visiting the mighty Brahmaputra at Guwahati, travelling by train from Dimapur. Now, that is fun! Seeing this mighty river just at the end of the monsoon season is spectacular, and will give you a very real sense of the massive logistical challenges facing Slim’s 14th Army in beating back the Japanese in 1944, and then reconquering Burma the following year.

This tour was booked out within minutes when advertised earlier in the year. To grab this remaining space, contact Bertie at Sampan Travel in Yangon asp. I look forward to meeting you in Kolkata in November!