The Assam Regiment

Kharasom, March 1944

Captain Jock Young stayed behind at Kharasom with the men who could not walk. He had A Company of the 1st Battalion, The Assam Regiment, about 120 soldiers, on a position 14 miles south of Jessami, under orders to fight to the last man and the last round. At dawn on 27 March 1944 he saw Japanese troops approaching with mules and elephants pulling artillery, and his company opened fire before they could deploy. Three assaults were beaten off that day, and the fighting went on in the same way for three more days.

By 30 March food, water and ammunition were running out and fresh Japanese troops had arrived. Young ordered the fit men to slip away after dark. He remained on the fire step of his bunker beside a wounded sepoy, with magazines and grenades piled ready. Gunfire was heard at dawn. Neither he nor his wounded were seen alive again. Of the 120 men, 56 reached Kohima two days later.

Jessami

The rest of the battalion, under Lieutenant Colonel William "Bruno" Brown, held Jessami in the path of the central column of the Japanese 31st Division. Accounts of the garrison's strength vary: 280 at Jessami in one, about 500 for the two positions in another. The leading Japanese appeared at 0855 on 28 March, and a Bren burst killed most of the first group of 25. Night charges followed and were beaten off at the wire. Soldiers of the Indian National Army called out to the defenders to surrender.

By 30 March Japanese guns had knocked out the mortars and the outer trenches had fallen. Brown told Lieutenant General Geoffry Scoones, commanding 4 Corps, that he could not hold much longer. Scoones replied, "Keep on hitting them & we will see what help we can give you from this end," and the line went dead.

The order to fight to the last had already been rescinded at Kohima, but the message could not get through. A dropped message missed the position and was picked up by the Japanese. On 31 March Lieutenant John Corlett crossed the enemy lines to deliver it in person and was fired on by the defenders before he could persuade them who he was. Brown judged it too late to leave that night and held for another day. The garrison broke out sector by sector on the night of 31 March and 1 April. Some positions never disengaged. The medical officer stayed with the last of the wounded and was captured within a mile of the village.

Jemadar Tonghen Kuki received the Military Cross for carrying food, water and ammunition to a forward bunker under fire, and was badly wounded in the head.

78 Miles to Kohima

The survivors crossed the Naga Hills, 78 miles in 39 hours, and were strafed in error by the RAF shortly before they arrived. They reached Kohima on 3 April. The Japanese attacked the next morning. Of the battalion, 260 men came in, many without boots, and those fit to fight joined the garrison. The garrison commander, Colonel Hugh Richards, wrote that they marched in "with their heads held erect."

JESSAMI became the regiment's first battle honour. The battalion's Second World War honours also include Defence of Kohima, Aradura, Mawlaik, Kyaukmyaung Bridge and Toungoo. All of them were earned by a regiment less than five years old.

Shillong and the Hill Recruits

The regiment was raised on 15 June 1941 at Shillong by Ross Howman, whose rank at the time is given variously as major and lieutenant colonel. The first battalion formed at Elephant Falls with a nucleus of 500 men from the Assam Rifles. Its first drafts came from undivided Assam, including Ahoms, Nagas, Mizos, Kukis, Garos and Manipuris. Adis, Nishis, Monpas and other Arunachal tribes, Sikkimese and domiciled Gorkhas came later. The regiment now recruits from the eight northeastern states, and its badge is a one-horned rhino.

Its regimental song, "Badluram Ka Badan," dates from 1946 and is set to the tune of "John Brown's Body." The popular story holds that the rations of a dead soldier named Badluram kept drawing supplies for his besieged comrades at Kohima. That story comes from later retellings rather than any documented record.

Chhamb, Batticaloa and Naugam

5 Assam fought at Chhamb in 1971, losing five officers and 19 other ranks, and received the battle honour. Second Lieutenant Rajeev Sandhu of 7 Assam was killed in Sri Lanka on 19 July 1988, during an LTTE ambush on a battalion convoy, and received a posthumous Maha Vir Chakra.

Havildar Hangpan Dada was born at Borduria in Arunachal Pradesh on 2 October 1979 and served with 4 Assam before his posting to 35 Rashtriya Rifles. On 26 May 2016, in the Shamsabari range above Naugam, he led his section against infiltrators and was killed after a long encounter. Reports differ on the count: the citation as reported says he killed three and that his actions led to the death of a fourth. His widow received the Ashok Chakra from President Pranab Mukherjee on 26 January 2017.

At a glance

• Raised: 15 June 1941, Shillong
• Regimental centre: Happy Valley, Shillong
• Motto: Asam Vikram (Unique Valour)
• War cry: Rhino Charge