asad71
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Senior Tigers/ 1 E Bengal in 65 War
1. Let me start with an overview to get the perspective right. PA had only 14 Div in the E. There was no hostilities here, but the public sentiment against Indian aggression was tremendous possibly more than in the W. This was remarkable phenomenon, and Gov Monem Khan was under pressure to ask Gen Musa to raise a local militia.
2. PA had 6xInf Divs and 1xArmor Divs in the W. In addition 6 Armor Div was under raising. There were possibly another Indep Inf Bde and another Indep Armor Bde. This latter was located in Ft Abbas/ Sulaimanki Headwork area.
3. Battles were fought in Divs, but a Corps HQ, possibly 4 Corps was raised in Kharian with Lt Gen Bakhtiar Rana, MC as the commander. Rana was a tested and a good soldier. Perhaps the Corps HQ would have been actually involved if the war had continued.
4. 7 Div ex Peshawar was launched into attack and had captured Akhnur. Although this should have been a show of 12 Div Commander Akhtar Husain Malik (AOR Azad Kashmir), then CGS Yahya was introduced to make him a hero. Akhtar grumbled a lot and after the war and was posted as ambassador to Turkey where he died broken hearted. Ayub Musa were to regret bringing Yahya into limelight because he, in collusion with Bhutto, began conspiring to overthrow Ayub immediately on appointment as C in C.
5. Op Gibraltar, the ill conceived, poorly planned insurgency in Kashmir was another conspiracy of Buhtto, then Forn Min. 12 Div had organized this from early 1965 just after the snow had melted in the mountains.
6. Coming downwards, next were 8 and 15 Divs at Sialkot. One was commanded by Tikka, but he was virtually acting as a Corps Comdr. Niazi was commanding a Bde here and was decorated.
7. Around Lahore were 10 and 11 Divs.
8. 1 Armor Div ex Kharian and under raising 6 Armr ex Multan were moved from location to location.
9. 1 E Bengal was under 106 Bde. 11 Div Comdr Gen Hamid was considered a good soldier and a good comdr till that point. Called Barmy Hamid because his mother was Burmese, he was COAS under C in C Yahya in 1971. Bde Comdr Nawazish was also a good officer and was later promoted to Maj Gen and became DGMT.
10. CO of the Bn, ATK Huq ( fondly called ATK)was an outstanding offr in his service group in PA. During the war he again proved his mettle and was awarded SJ. Later he was posted as Pak DA to Burma where he died.
11. Maj Maung Keow, a Rakhine old timer was the 2IC. ATK didnt like him much, and had him attached to Bde HQ as a Liaison Offr. Maung Keow, the only Buddhist offr in PA, died last year.
12. Lt Ziauddin was the Adj. He later commanded the bn in 71, got BU and became Dhaka Bde Comdr after Col Shafiullah was appointed COAS. Bangabandhu (BB, as Sk Mujib is called by us) dismissed him and he went underground joining the communist insurgent Sharbahara Party. He took over the Party after BB executed Shiraj Shikdar. Eventually Lt Col Zia surfaced during Ershads second tenure.
13. Lt Sadeq was the QM. For his exceptional performance he was specially awarded a civil honor TQA. He became a Maj Gen and is now deceased.
14. Capt Ziaur Rahman, later Prez, was A Coy Comdr. He had 2/Lt Mahmud as a Pl Comdr. Mahmud was the GOC during Rezupara raid by the Burmese. He had moved his Div to battle locations immediately this incident took place. However, politicos and bureaucrats were able to poison an inexperienced Begum Zia that Mahmud was Bonapartist. He was posted as ambassador to Turkey, ill treated by colleagues at home, and much like Gen Akhtar Husain post-65, he died a heartbroken man. His widow still insists he had been assassinated. The incidents connected to Mahmuds sacking and finally his death requires investigation. Such was the pressure on Begum ZiaK that she sacked him exactly one year to the day Mahmuds Bde had located Zias body in Rangunia. Mahmud had not forgotten to remind the Begum on this irony.
15. A popular Punjabi offr, Maj Qureshi was the B Coy comdr. A Bihari Lt was his Pl Comdr.
16. C Coy was commanded by a Punjabi Maj and had no other offr.
17. D Coy was commanded by Maj Butt, a Punjabi. Had no other offr.
18. SM was a Bengalee and a fine JCO.
19. A Bengalee Arty FOO did a fine job. He is now settled in USA. Cannot find his name.
20. ATK was in fact commanding a strong composite bn plus. There was a Troop of tanks and a Coy of R&S Under Comd. Because of his professional excellence and the high morale of his troops, GOC and Bde Comdr had absolute faith in him.
21. Bn was deployed behind Bedian Headwork in Lulliani area. Bn remained in def all through and there were no detachments.
22. The bn, and particularly the RR crews performed marvelously beating back repeated IA armor assaults. Each time the Indians lost tanks. This was an unique location where IA could make no headway, although they were able to capture Barki PS.
23. The Senior Tigers received the highest number of decoration that any bn/regt received in '65 War.
24. As war trophy the Bn, when posted back to E Pak, brought back an IA tank they had captured. The PT-76 is on display at the entrance to The East Bengal Regimental Center, Chittagong.
1. Let me start with an overview to get the perspective right. PA had only 14 Div in the E. There was no hostilities here, but the public sentiment against Indian aggression was tremendous possibly more than in the W. This was remarkable phenomenon, and Gov Monem Khan was under pressure to ask Gen Musa to raise a local militia.
2. PA had 6xInf Divs and 1xArmor Divs in the W. In addition 6 Armor Div was under raising. There were possibly another Indep Inf Bde and another Indep Armor Bde. This latter was located in Ft Abbas/ Sulaimanki Headwork area.
3. Battles were fought in Divs, but a Corps HQ, possibly 4 Corps was raised in Kharian with Lt Gen Bakhtiar Rana, MC as the commander. Rana was a tested and a good soldier. Perhaps the Corps HQ would have been actually involved if the war had continued.
4. 7 Div ex Peshawar was launched into attack and had captured Akhnur. Although this should have been a show of 12 Div Commander Akhtar Husain Malik (AOR Azad Kashmir), then CGS Yahya was introduced to make him a hero. Akhtar grumbled a lot and after the war and was posted as ambassador to Turkey where he died broken hearted. Ayub Musa were to regret bringing Yahya into limelight because he, in collusion with Bhutto, began conspiring to overthrow Ayub immediately on appointment as C in C.
5. Op Gibraltar, the ill conceived, poorly planned insurgency in Kashmir was another conspiracy of Buhtto, then Forn Min. 12 Div had organized this from early 1965 just after the snow had melted in the mountains.
6. Coming downwards, next were 8 and 15 Divs at Sialkot. One was commanded by Tikka, but he was virtually acting as a Corps Comdr. Niazi was commanding a Bde here and was decorated.
7. Around Lahore were 10 and 11 Divs.
8. 1 Armor Div ex Kharian and under raising 6 Armr ex Multan were moved from location to location.
9. 1 E Bengal was under 106 Bde. 11 Div Comdr Gen Hamid was considered a good soldier and a good comdr till that point. Called Barmy Hamid because his mother was Burmese, he was COAS under C in C Yahya in 1971. Bde Comdr Nawazish was also a good officer and was later promoted to Maj Gen and became DGMT.
10. CO of the Bn, ATK Huq ( fondly called ATK)was an outstanding offr in his service group in PA. During the war he again proved his mettle and was awarded SJ. Later he was posted as Pak DA to Burma where he died.
11. Maj Maung Keow, a Rakhine old timer was the 2IC. ATK didnt like him much, and had him attached to Bde HQ as a Liaison Offr. Maung Keow, the only Buddhist offr in PA, died last year.
12. Lt Ziauddin was the Adj. He later commanded the bn in 71, got BU and became Dhaka Bde Comdr after Col Shafiullah was appointed COAS. Bangabandhu (BB, as Sk Mujib is called by us) dismissed him and he went underground joining the communist insurgent Sharbahara Party. He took over the Party after BB executed Shiraj Shikdar. Eventually Lt Col Zia surfaced during Ershads second tenure.
13. Lt Sadeq was the QM. For his exceptional performance he was specially awarded a civil honor TQA. He became a Maj Gen and is now deceased.
14. Capt Ziaur Rahman, later Prez, was A Coy Comdr. He had 2/Lt Mahmud as a Pl Comdr. Mahmud was the GOC during Rezupara raid by the Burmese. He had moved his Div to battle locations immediately this incident took place. However, politicos and bureaucrats were able to poison an inexperienced Begum Zia that Mahmud was Bonapartist. He was posted as ambassador to Turkey, ill treated by colleagues at home, and much like Gen Akhtar Husain post-65, he died a heartbroken man. His widow still insists he had been assassinated. The incidents connected to Mahmuds sacking and finally his death requires investigation. Such was the pressure on Begum ZiaK that she sacked him exactly one year to the day Mahmuds Bde had located Zias body in Rangunia. Mahmud had not forgotten to remind the Begum on this irony.
15. A popular Punjabi offr, Maj Qureshi was the B Coy comdr. A Bihari Lt was his Pl Comdr.
16. C Coy was commanded by a Punjabi Maj and had no other offr.
17. D Coy was commanded by Maj Butt, a Punjabi. Had no other offr.
18. SM was a Bengalee and a fine JCO.
19. A Bengalee Arty FOO did a fine job. He is now settled in USA. Cannot find his name.
20. ATK was in fact commanding a strong composite bn plus. There was a Troop of tanks and a Coy of R&S Under Comd. Because of his professional excellence and the high morale of his troops, GOC and Bde Comdr had absolute faith in him.
21. Bn was deployed behind Bedian Headwork in Lulliani area. Bn remained in def all through and there were no detachments.
22. The bn, and particularly the RR crews performed marvelously beating back repeated IA armor assaults. Each time the Indians lost tanks. This was an unique location where IA could make no headway, although they were able to capture Barki PS.
23. The Senior Tigers received the highest number of decoration that any bn/regt received in '65 War.
24. As war trophy the Bn, when posted back to E Pak, brought back an IA tank they had captured. The PT-76 is on display at the entrance to The East Bengal Regimental Center, Chittagong.
