1st East Bengal Regiment

1st East Bengal Regiment
East Bengal Regimental Flag Unit Monogram
Active	15 February 1948 – present
Country	Bangladesh
Branch	Bangladesh Army
Type	Infantry Battalion
Size	Regular Infantry Battalion
Part of	10th Infantry Division
Garrison/HQ	Ramu Cantonment
Nickname(s)	Senior Tigers

1st East Bengal Regiment or 1st Bengal also known by its nickname The Senior Tigers of Bangladesh Army.

History

1st East Bengal Regiment is the oldest battalion of the East Bengal Regiment (the first of the two infantry regiments in the Bangladeshi Army, the other being the Bangladesh Infantry Regiment). The unit was raised in 1948, at Kurmitola in Dhaka in what was then East Pakistan from two Bengal Muslim Pioneer Corps (1256 and 1407) of British Indian Army Pioneer Corps from Bihar Regiments, the war raised auxiliary force created to support the war effort in engineering and infantry role. These two companies were mainly composed of Bengali Muslims who had fought bravely in the Burma sector during the Second World War and as such had been retained by the British Government with the mainstream of the British-Indian Army. These two companies immediately after the partition of India in August 1947 moved from Jalna the Indian Pioneer Corps Centre initially to Pelkhana then to Kurmitola which is now Dhaka Cantonment. The first commanding officer C.O. of the Senior Tigers was a British officer named Lieutenant Colonel V J E Patterson and the Officer Commanding O.C. of the Senior Tigers was a senior Bengali Officer Major Abdul Waheed Choudhury raised and commanded the regiment and lifted it to 1st Battalion with his relentless effort and sacrifices with limited resources and through adverse situations.

During the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, the unit, commanded by Lt. Colonel A.T.K. Haq, was deployed in the Kasur/Bedian sector. Members were awarded two Sitara-e-Jurat and six Tamgha-i-Jurat medals for gallantry.

The unit took part in the war of 1967, the 1971 liberation war of Bangladesh, the 1990 Kuwait war and has served in various peacekeeping roles. The unit is a proud recipient of red piping — a decoration for their gallant contribution in the liberation war of Bangladesh.

It includes a Bir Sreshtho (the highest gallantry award of Bangladesh) amongst its numbers and many other gallantry award recipients. The raising day of the unit, 15 February, is also known as Tigers Day in the Bangladesh Army.

Commanders

The regiment was raised and commanded by senior most Bengali Commander Major Abdul Waheed Choudhury. Officer commanding O.C. of the Senior Tigers was a WWII veteran and late of the British Indian Army and Pakistan Army. The unit has been commanded by some of the most renowned officers of the Bangladeshi Army. It is also unique in that it has been headed by an Air force officer for a very brief period during the war of liberation in 1971. The commander-in-chief of the Bangladeshi Forces during the liberation war, General M. A. G. Osmani, was the commanding officer (CO) in 1950 at Jessore. Colonel A T K Haq, Major General Sadeque, Major General A M Abdul Wadud BP, Brigadier General Hossain Mohd Sadeq, Brigadier General Shah Md Sultan Uddin Iqbal Bir Protik, Major General Ehteshamul Haque, Colonel Mohabbat have all left their mark on the unit. In addition, Major General Quazi Golam Dastgir, KAAO, psc was commissioned in the First Bengal Regiment and as a lieutenant colonel served as the commanding officer from 1969 to 1970 while the battalion was posted in Jessore.

Deployment

The unit has probably served in all the divisional formations of the Bangladesh Army. At present it is in the Order of Battle (ORBAT) of the 10th Infantry Division. The unit's former CO General Dastgir served as the Ambassador of Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War and was instrumental in the selection of the Senior Tigers as Bangladesh's contingent under the United Nations command during Operation Desert Storm—and this pioneered the way for Bangladeshi troops participating in future UN forces. The unit had been reorganized temporarily to serve the UN Mission as BANBAT 17 (Bangladeshi Battalion 17). The previous CO of 1st Bengal, Lt Col Shakil, had been transferred to SI&T while Lt Col Motlub Ahmed, afwc, psc had taken command of BANBAT 17. The Battalion was also commanded by Lt Col Salahuddin Khaled whose father was also the CO of the same Battalion. Lt Col Azaher Uddin Ahammed, psc being the 51st CO of the traditional Battalion has left his distinct footprint, when the unit made significant leap forward in various fields of professionalism through a renovation program. Lt Col Md Rifath Sayeed Chowdhury, psc, was the 53rd Commanding Officer of the Regiment. During his tenure, the unit achieved a lot of laurels. He was determined to reestablish the glory and fame of the regiment. He took a major renovation plan to overhaul the regiment. Under his dynamic command, the unit achieved 17 tropies in various games, sports, and administrative competitions. Under his able command, the unit was assigned the task of taking over the responsibilities of the Interim Response Force of Ruppur Nuclear Power Plant. The unit was deployed for 2 years. Lt Col Rifath prepared troops family accommodation in Ruppur by renovating 3 abandoned buildings of Pakshi Paper Mills. Lt Col Rifath was one of the longest duration commanding officers of the regiment. He handed over the command to Lt Col Mohammad Saiful Islam,psc, who being the 54th CO re-established the culture of connectivity and cohesion among the men, trust and open communication, learning and professional development. All these efforts resulted a highly motivated and tightly knit battalion. Under his dynamic command Senior Tigers completed the responsibility of Interim Response Force at Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant with excellence. Currently the battalion is being commanded by Lt Col Golam Kibria Khondokar, psc.

The unit was deployed to Liberia for its UN mission. Its first flight landed on 17 April, its arrival in Liberia was complete on 4 May 2009. The unit, after completing its tour of duty in Liberia, returned to Bangladesh and reorganized as a regular infantry battalion under the ORBAT of 9 Infantry Division. The battalion left a remarkable footprint at Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant construction site during 2021-2022. Presently the Battalion is under ORBAT of 10 Infantry Division.

Further reading

• The Detective. Vol. 10. Dacca: East Pakistan Police Co-operative Society. 1965. p. 197 [1]
• The Pakistan Review. Vol. 15. 1967. p. 42 [2]
• Pakistan News Digest. Vol. 15. 1967. Principal Information Officer, Press Information Department [3]
• The Tempest. Vol. 3. 1968. Tempest House. p. 82 [4]
• Siddiqi, Abdul Rhman (1986). "Bangladesh – The Military Factor". Defence Journal. 12 (4): 3–11.
• Kaul, Brij Mohan (1971). Confrontation with Pakistan. Delhi: Vikas Publications. p. 87. OCLC 212001.
• Musa, Mohammed (1983). My version: India-Pakistan war, 1965. Lahore: Wajidalis. p. 55. OCLC 566331043.
• Siddiqi, Abdurrahman (1996). The Military in Pakistan: Image and Reality. Lahore: Vanguard Books. pp. 7–. ISBN 978-969-402-282-6.
• Wilkinson, Steven I. (2015). Army and Nation: The Military and Indian Democracy Since Independence. Harvard University Press. p. 210. ISBN 978-0-674-72880-6.