Engineering the Victory March: Bangladesh Liberation War 1971

Engineering the Victory March, authored by Brigadier R.B. Singh, is an invaluable contribution to filling the void of bringing on record the contribution made by the Sappers (and the 235 Army Engineer Regiment in particular) during the Libera-tion War of Bangladesh in 1971. It is a collection of first-hand accounts by the Sappers holding various critical appointments during the 1971 war. Pub-lished for the first time and narrated with disarming candour and honesty, the book highlights their achievements and how they helped speed up the operation and wind it up in fourteen days. He has done well to briefly trace the political background, the overall strat-egy, the preparation for the battle at the theatre level, the personalities involved, the implementation stage and the rea-sons for the overall success. Against this backdrop, he has covered in great detail the performance of his Regiment, i.e. the 235 Army Engineer Regiment. In the author’s narration, one comes across emotional traces of his involvement with the men and the officers of the unit. It makes the writing more relatable for lay people not initiated in the art of soldiering. A compelling read for the young and the old alike.