Battle Tales: Soldiers’ Recollections of the 1971 War

Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. The Planning and Conduct of the Air Assault Op atTangail – 11 December 1971/Lieutenant General Mathew Thomas, PVSM, AVSM,VSM (Retd). 3. Spearhead into Tangail: An Account of the Pathfinders and their Subsequent Operations/Lieutenant Colonel Ravindra Singh Bangari (Retd);Colonel TC Bhardwaj, SM (Retd); Colonel KR Nair (Retd). 4. With the Jangi Paltan in the 1971 War for the Liberationof Bangladesh/Lieutenant General Satish Nambiar, PVSM, AVSM,VrC (Retd). 5. Special Heliborne Operations (SHBOs) by Mi-4s in the1971 Liberation War/Squadron Leader Pushp Vaid, VrC (Retd). 6. Capture of Sylhet: India’s first heliborne operation/Major General Ian Cardozo, AVSM, SM (Retd). 7. A Field Gunner in the Bangladesh Operations/Major General SC Sabharwal, VrC (Retd). 8. Kaleidoscope of Memories: War in the East/Brigadier Ajit Apte (Retd). 9. Enemies Turned Friends/Lieutenant Colonel MS Minhas (Retd). 10. 1971: A Birds-eye View away from the War- Fighting Fronts/Lieutenant General Vijay Oberoi, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd). 11. In the Forefront: An ADC recalls the Battle of Chhamb/Colonel Mahesh Chadha (Retd). 12. The Chhamb Battle as experienced from Artillery Gun Areas/Lieutenant General Baljit Singh, AVSM, VSM (Retd). 13. Baptism by Fire/Brigadier Rajiv Williams, YSM (Retd). 14. Some Recollections: Western Theatre – Shakargarh Sector – I Corps/Brigadier Sukhjit Singh, MVC (Retd). 15. In Action: Shakargarh Sector, Pakistan, 1971/Lieutenant Colonel Rajendra Singh, SM (Retd). 16. Indelible Recollections: 4/8 Gorkha Rifles in the 1971 War/Major General Ashok Krishna, AVSM (Retd). Index.

The war clouds that had been gathering over the subcontinent for over a year burst forth in December 1971. The ensuing third Indo-Pak conflict which was fought on two fronts resulted in a resounding victory for India and the birth of a new nation: Bangladesh.

This volume is a modest attempt to record the first-person accounts and reminiscences of a few veterans of the 1971 war who saw action on either of the two fronts. Personal accounts add flesh to the dry bones of history, and it is hoped that this small anthology will serve to assist future historians of South Asia in their work when they examine the momentous events of 1971 through their own lens.