AFVOA Newsletter 03 of 2020

Section 5 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 03 / 2020 Page 135 of 167 my first firing from my Company Commander when he saw my guitar being unloaded – “You joker Joe – you’ve come to fight a war or play the guitar!! “My Regiment had developed the road and bridge infrastructure to help launch 4 Corps along multiple thrust lines into East Pakistan. A unique indigenous bridge was designed by our Regiment from local timber. It was called the Mar Boat bridge, and by joining several boats with a unique coupling, it was able to adjust to the large variations in water levels due to very heavy rain. This bridge was built along three major axes in the months leading to the war, along which our formations built up to cross the International Border. Another major task given to us was to operate several local ferries to cross the mighty Meghna river. The only road bridge across it had been demolished. The local ferries were already in use, for transporting local goods and vehicles across the river. The locals willingly gave the boats to us, and almost eight ferries were put swiftly put into operation. The fishing vessel was used as a tow for each ferry on which about 5 Tons could be loaded safely. I did about ten trips across the river with troops, light guns and vehicles. On one of my trips, due to an imbalanced loading, the jonga of Commander 95 Brigade, capsized. My tambies along with the locals dived in and were able to manually haul the jonga out of the river, restart it and load it on again, to be taken safely across. I was saved by the skin of my teeth that day from the wrath of that commander. The experience and confidence we gained during the preparatory phase and during the momentous 1971 war, was something we could not have learned any other way. We were fortunate to join the joyous victory celebrations at Dacca, and resounding calls of JOI BONGLA !! still resound in our ears. The veterans of 1971 of my Regiment along with our wives were able to make the pilgrimage to re visit our operational areas in Tripura and Bangladesh in 2018. It was truly memorable, since we were welcomed 49 years after the war, as if we were their