In December 1971, IAF Mi-4 helicopters lifted IV Corps troops across the Meghna after the Ashuganj bridge was blown, opening a route to Dacca.
A blown bridge at Ashuganj
On the morning of 9 December 1971, Lieutenant General Sagat Singh, commanding IV Corps, flew in an Alouette to choose a landing area near Raipura. On the way back the helicopter was hit by ground fire between Ashuganj and Brahmanbaria. The captain was wounded, the co-pilot took over, and a pilot on board later counted 38 bullet holes.
The reason for the flight was the Meghna. The river could not be forded, Dacca lay beyond it, and Pakistani troops held Ashuganj, where they blew the bridge. Sagat Singh conferred with his air commander, Group Captain Chandan Singh, and ordered a battalion flown across. It was 4 Guards. Lieutenant General S.S. Mehta, then a major in that advance, records Chandan Singh's answer to concerns about ground fire: "I will be in the leading chopper."
Sorties from the diaries
Later on 9 December, ten Mi-4s of 110 and 105 Helicopter Units flew 27 sorties from Brahmanbaria to Raipura, carrying 309 troops and 2,200 kg. Overnight, eight helicopters lifted 347 more troops and 6,000 kg, landing in darkness on two sites about a kilometre apart. Squadron Leader C.S. Sandhu commanded 110 HU.
Two helicopters of 111 HU joined on 11 December, when the lift moved to Narsingdi. The task that day came to 99 sorties, 815 troops and 65,200 kg. On 14 and 15 December the helicopters crossed the river again, from Daudkandi to Baidya Bazar.
Two Mi-4s were lost to in-flight failures on the way to Kumbhigram, Z613 to an engine fire and Z640 to a transmission failure. Both crews escaped.
Totals that do not match
The published figures differ. Chandan Singh's Maha Vir Chakra citation gives nearly 3,000 troops and 40 tons for the crossing operations. Sqn Ldr Pushp Vaid's tally for all four heliborne operations of 7 to 15 December gives 5,913 troops, and he notes that he is unsure of the exact figures. His article elsewhere says over 6,000 soldiers and more than 202 tons. Daily diary totals on the same site are lower for some sectors.
Sandhu and Vaid received the Vir Chakra. On 16 December five Mi-4s flew dignitaries and correspondents to Dacca for the surrender ceremony.
Cover image: Shadman Samee from Dhaka, Bangladesh, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Resized for this page. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Z2401_India_Air_Force_Mil_Mi-4_Hound._(40492453450).jpg