Chapter 23: Pistol Competition with Subedar Mannan

During October it seemed that many changes were taking place. Two new battalions under S Force were being formed and they were undergoing training. Now, there were two types of organization. The first were the Battalions under S Force, and the rest were sector troops under the sector command. Our company led by Maj. Matin was in sector troops. The sector commander was also changed. Capt. Nuruzzaman became the new sector commander of Sector 3, while Major Shafiullah became the commander of S Force. S Force had two regular battalions: the Second East Bengal Regiment (2 Bengal) and the newly raised 11 East Bengal Regiment (11 Bengal).

Smith & Wesson .38 Service Revolver

Both 2 Bengal and 11 Bengal were formed by splitting the remnants of the original 2^nd East Bengal Regiment. The shortage of junior officers was supplemented by injecting officers from the first batch of freshly commissioned Bangladesh Army officers, who had just finished training. The shortage of troops was filled by recruiting from the pool of sector troops. Therefore, most of these fresh regiments contained both veterans and new injects; significantly compromising the battle effectiveness of these battalions.

We continued our regular patrols and occasional mortar raids. However, it felt like something was in the air. Maj. Matin was being frequently summoned to the Sector Headquarters. Occasionally, I used to accompany him but mostly he went alone, accompanied by his runner. I sensed that some serious business was underway.

One day as I was cleaning and oiling my pistol in the proximity of Subedar Mannan, he inquired if I knew how to use a pistol. Taking exception at his snide and desiring to restore my hurt ego, I challenged him to a contest. He smiled and accepted the challenge. I reassembled the pistol while he collected his revolver from his tent and we went to a nearby hillock. We improvised a target by shaping an empty cigarette packet and measuring twenty paces, we fixed the distance. Subedar Mannan invited me to shoot first. My confidence was founded on my proven skills with a rifle and I believed that using a pistol should be a similar skill. I took out the pistol from my improvised holster, pulled the slides to cock the pistol and took careful aim at the target, about the size of 4 square inches, only 20 paces from me.

I fired and missed. Embarrassed, I took careful aim, took the second shot and missed again. Now, chagrined and distressed by two consecutive misses, I became nervous. I continued firing and each miss weakening my self esteem—all eight shots missed the target. Completely embarrassed, my dignity shattered, and feeling ashamed at my haughtiness, I could not look straight at Subedar Mannan. How could I have missed a target at only 20 paces? I was so ashamed. Feeling my embarrassment, Subedar Mannan came near me and patted my shoulder but said nothing. Slowly he removed his .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver from its canvas holster, which he was carrying in his hand. Holding the pistol in his hand, he told me softly that shooting a pistol properly is a difficult thing and one needs lots of practice. “I was once a very good shot with a pistol but not sure how good I am today,” he added. He extended his arm toward the target, drew back the hammer, took aim, and fired. The first shot barely missed the target. He readjusted his aim and fired again. This time the bullet pierced the target just in the middle. He stopped firing and turned to me, saying, “I can teach you what I know about a pistol but you will have to practice if you want to be a good pistol shooter.” I nodded my consent to be a good student.

Throughout the month, Subedar Mannan taught me the secrets of the handgun. In that month alone, I must have fired at least 500 rounds at the target. I became obsessed with it. The good thing was that I became a reasonably accomplished pistol marksman and I could hit the target at 20 paces consistently with very few misses. I also need to confess that I never had the opportunity to use the pistol in any combat. The AK-47 was the weapon of choice for those occasions.

One day, a patrol went near Teliapara and lobbed a few grenades in a pond. The explosions stunned a number of big fishes and they came out floating on the water. I think they caught about 10-12 large fish, mostly Ruhi and Katla. The same evening the fish was cooked and we had a fabulous feast. The EPR had really good chefs and they knew the art of cooking. The fish was delicious. Sometimes, even after 36 years, I can still feel and smell the taste of that sumptuous meal with fish.

I remember another occasion; it may have been the Eid day, when the EPR chefs prepared 13 different dishes of dried fish (shutki). I think the idea was Subedar Mujib’s, who I suspect was a gourmet. What impressed me even more was the presentation of the 13 dishes. As we did not have proper serving bowls, they improvised them by hollowing out various types of fruits and vegetables, e.g., eggplants, pineapples, papayas, gourds, pumpkins, etc.

October was a relatively quiet month for us.