Indian Defence Review

The advent of frogmen

The task of the frogmen was to keep the Pakistan forces unbalanced by striking at vital communication and military installations. The waterborne guerrillas targeted the major seaports of Chittagong on the Kharnaphuli river and Chalna/Mongla/Khulna on the Pussur river. These ports were the main inlets for military hardware and oil particularly for the PAF units consisting of 18 Sabres, 2 C-130, 2 Foker Friendship and 8 helicopters as also for the tanks, trucks and other military vehicles.

Only four Brooke Marine patrol craft and two seaward defence vessels remained in East Pakistan. But, in addition, several river craft were fitted with small arms for patrol duties.

These initial targets were later extended to the vital inland waterway system which in turn forced the Army to deploy considerable fighting forces for extensive policing and internal security duties in ports and inland waterway system. Moreover, attacks on shipping increased war risk and insurance rates which in turn discouraged foreign shipping from bringing supplies to beleaguered East Pakistan. At this juncture, Naval Headquarters at Karachi recalled the destroyer, PNS Jehangir and the tanker Dacca thus leaving the defences of Chittagong and Chain a wide open. Only four Brooke Marine patrol craft and two seaward defence vessels remained in East Pakistan. But, in addition, several river craft were fitted with small arms for patrol duties.

The land-based freedom fighters continued with hit and run raids. The Mukti Bahini frogmen, on the other hand, planned coordinated attacks every month with the main incredible being surprise, secrecy, originality, rapidity, audacity and decep Hence, the frogmen had perforce to train for a longer before delivering heavy blows which sank or damaged 100,000 tons of shipping (a casualty figure from Lovu S Register of shipping) which no Navy had ever achieved in any ocean and in such a short period. The frogmen operated in a terrain of their own knowledge, very much like the Mekong delta in Vietnam and were likened to Mao’s metaphor of being ‘fish which must live in the sea and its water must be warm enough to facilitate its proliferation’.

The frogmen chosen for each target, generally belonged to that particular area and hence were familiar with the terrain, people and estuarine characteristics. The West Pakistan forces on the other hand were akin to stranded whale in this East Bengal environment.

They carried minimum arms and hence were able to merge in the locale near their targets until D-Day for the coordinated strikes which were dependent on tides and the phases of the moon. No sophisticated underwater breathing systems such as schnorkels or scuba-diving sets were used. Instead they utilized bamboo and papaya reeds for breathing when floating down stream just below the surface. Their apparel continued to be lungis and banians. Bengalis living abroad such as Doctors Momen and Zafrullah bought fins, wrist compasses and goggles from sports stores and had them smuggled into the country. They also set up medical outposts for the freedom fighters who only asked for more explosives to attack their targets. Local support was their sine qua non for not only obtaining intelligence but also to infiltrate into heavily guarded areas. The frogmen chosen for each target, generally belonged to that particular area and hence were familiar with the terrain, people and estuarine characteristics. The West Pakistan forces on the other hand were akin to stranded whale in this East Bengal environment.

The nucleus and habitat of frogmen

The nucleus of the riverine frogmen were initially built round the hard core of Bengali sailors who had deserted the third Pakistani Daphne class submarine Mangro which commissioned in France on 5 August 1970. They were Chief Petty Officer Rehmat, aged 35 years, a services footballer with a family of two children resident of Khulna, Petty Officer Musharaf from Faridpur with seven children residing in Dacca, and Petty Officer Amin from Com ilia with four children. Tnese intrepid sailors escaped from the submarine in France and proceeded to Spain from where they found their way to East Bengal. They were joined by able seamen Abdul from Dacca, Mechanic Mohamed from Noakhali, Radio Operator Choudhry from Chittagong, able seamen Badiul from Rangpur and Electrical Mechanic Aquib from Tangail. These eight submariners were reinforced by a dozen sailors who had been dismissed after the Agartala Conspiracy Case. In addition, three merchant seamen, who were all Hindus from Dacca, Khulna and Chittagong elected to merge with this group. Hence, these two dozen seamen formed the nucleus of the Mukti Bahini frogmen.

The few Hindus circumcised themselves as they felt they had a better chance of survival, if captured.

But the majority who joined later were young students mostly from Iqbal Hall and Jaganath Hall of Dacca University with others from Chittagong, Sylhet and Khulna. These young men had the stamina and swimming prowess to extract the maximum advantage from the fast flowing rivers of East Bengal. They were required to swim a dozen miles in complete darkness, breathing through a reed while manoeuvring neutrally buoyant limpet mines in murky waters and then swim away before the explosion, a daunting task even for a trained commando of the James Bond type. This called for men with extraordinary mental and physical endurance which fortunately the youth of East Bengal possessed in ample measure. Therefore, while initially the leadership rested on naval personnel, it was soon taken over by the highly motivated educated youth. They provided the leadership and courage as also the improvisation and ingenuity which became the cutting edge for their sledgehammer blows on the West Pakistan armed forces in East Bengal.

Chittagong provided 130 such frogmen while Chalna/Khulna region came up with 100 volunteers. 40 frogmen were recruited from Naryanganj and 30 from Chandpur and Daudkhandi. They had the raw courage and physical stamina to undertake such a task which is normally entrusted to highly trained Special Service Groups such as marine commandos or Seals as they are called in the developed navies. The majority of these volunteers were Muslims. The few Hindus circumcised themselves as they felt they had a better chance of survival, if captured. The Bengali naval officers continued under ‘mess’ or ‘house arrest’, mostly in Karachi. One Lieutenant who was on leave in East Pakistan and a Commander (E) who managed to escape in November 1971 were the only naval officers in the Mukti Bahini. Hence, the mantle of leadership fell on the young and physically tough educated youth from the delta region of East Pakistan.