roving,
Nice pic ! Two points: they are wellies (which disposes of my "puttee" idea) Did we have wellies in Burma ? (must've had but can't remember, but recall our "monsoon capes").
And they are on pierced steel planking which we mistakenly used to call "Sommerfelt tracking" (something quite different - see Wiki). Laid on mud, this PSP Meccano-like covering allowed aircraft to operate from forward "kutcha" strips in the monsoon. I found the clatter and vibration scary: sounded as if something had dropped off your aircraft when moving about on it.
Over on the R is a wheel of a "chore-horse" (ground battery back for starting).
Danny.