East Bengal Regiment

1965 Indo-Pakistani War

At the end of the Indo-Pakistani War in 1965, a new battalion called the Lucky Tigers of the 6th Bengal was created. The creation of the battalion was not finished until 1966.^[4] The East Bengal regiment soldiers defended Lahore, West Pakistan during the war.^[5]

History of EBR in the Bangladesh War of Independence

In March 1971, in response to a crackdown on local populace in East Pakistan, the five battalions of the East Bengal Regiment, namely 8th EBR revolted, declared independence and actively organized and initiated the Bangladesh War of Independence . The East Bengal Regiment formed the core of the independence struggle forces, which became known as the Bangladesh Forces. The structure and formation of the Bangladesh Forces during the Independence War of 1971 was determined at the Sector Commander's Conference that was held from 11 July to 17 July 1971.^[6]

Colonel M.A.G. Osmani(promoted to General(post independence) was Commander-in-Chief of all Bangladesh Forces. Lieutenant Colonel M A Rab was appointed as Chief of Army Staff and Squadron Leader M. Hamidullah Khan was appointed Bangladesh Military Representative to coordinate Guerilla Training at the largest training camp of the war effort at Chakulia, Bihar. The decision of the formation of three separate brigades were formed with East Bengal Regiments.^[6] The East Bengal Regiments that participated in the war were as follows:

Z Force, under Major Ziaur Rahman, consisted of 1st, 3rd and 8th East Bengal Regiment. These regiments were formed during the war at Teldhala of Tura, Meghalaya, in 1971 by Major Ziaur Rahman. These three regiments principally constituted Sector 11, later commanded by for a brief stint Major Abu Taher, and subsequently by Squadron Leader M. Hamidullah Khan.

K Force, commanded by Major Khaled Mosharraf was created with 4, 9 and 10 East Bengal.

S Force, under Major K M Shafiullah, was created in October 1971 and consisted of 2 and 11 East Bengal. Further units were raised to replace those that remained stranded in West Pakistan. Following the foundation of Bangladesh, these units formed the core of the new army. However, the 7th Battalion was incorporated as 44th Battalion, Frontier Force Regiment in the Pakistan Army, which led to the raising of the 10th Battalion in 1971.

Today, The East Bengal Regiment is made up of around 70 battalions, and it plays a key role in safeguarding the sovereignty of Bangladesh through its traditional role as an infantry force. It is the 2nd largest regiment in the world. In 2000 Bangladesh Government on the recommendation from Army Headquarters formed Bangladesh Infantry Regiment out of some of the units of East Bengal Regiment to start with, and currently the key fighting element of the Army exceeds seventy strong regiments.