In our previous video on modern warfare, we discussed the Yom Kippur War’s southern
front in Sinai, but this wasn’t the only arena in which the armies of Israel and the
Arab nations fought. The Golan Heights, a buffer zone between Syria and Israel gained
in 1967, was the site of a more urgent clash. Welcome to our second video on the Yom Kippur
War, in which we will cover the northern front. If you are interested in the history of this
era, don’t forget to check out our second channel – The Cold War – the link is in
the top right corner.
Territorially, Syria’s grievances against Israel revolved around the geographical region
known as the Golan Heights - a strategic high-ground in Israel’s northeast, which had been a
part of Syria before the 1967 war. Much like on the Suez canal, the Israelis had also built
a fortified defensive front on the Golan Heights, known as the ‘purple line’. It consisted
of anti-tank ditches, 17 evenly spaced strong points known as mutvazim, and other obstacles,
all of which cleverly used the inhospitable volcanic terrain as a force multiplier. Each
of the 17 fortifications were garrisoned by 10 to 30 men. High-elevation volcanic cones
were used as observation points and tank firing platforms, while debris from digging the anti-tank
ditches was reused to form embankments, shielding the strong points from direct enemy hits.
It’s also worth noting that while the northern part of the Golan Heights was extremely bad
terrain for tanks, the south was far more open. Movement of troops in this bulwark was
facilitated by a network of tracks and roads built by the IDF. Two of them ran north to
south, functioning as the main artery. Under the cover of their standard saber-rattling
rhetoric, Syria began to mass a large force on its border with Israel, whose government
was complacent. In total, around 40,000 Syrians were positioned against Israel’s northeast
flank - defended initially by only 200 Israelis. In terms of armour, Syria had 1,400 tanks
against 177 Israeli, and 115 artillery batteries against the IDF’s 11. Assad had also taken
the lead of his ally, Egypt, and possessed a formidable Soviet-supplied anti-aircraft
umbrella, which it would use to repel the overwhelming effectiveness of Israeli warplanes.
At 1:45PM on October the 6th, just as Egyptian forces were about to cross the Suez on the
southern front, spotters on Mount Hermon saw the Syrians removing camouflage nets from
their artillery. Minutes later, a 50 minute long preliminary barrage of shells began to
fall all along the Israeli front on the Golan Heights. It was particularly intense in the
sector between Rafid and Kuneitra in the south, where the main thrust was planned. This bombardment
was supported by airstrikes from Syrian planes - mostly Russian-made MiG 23s, which hit Israeli
command centres and defensive positions. By 3PM, IDF Centurion tanks had mounted their
firing ramps, preparing to engage the densely packed Syrian armoured columns now heading
towards them. Three of the Syrian divisions - the 5th, 7th and 9th - moved forward along
the entire line, under the cover of a creeping barrage. From the start, however, the central
and northern divisions became disorganised in unfriendly terrain. Israeli tanks were
ready and waiting for them to come across the entire front, firing accurately from their
ramps at ranges up to 2000 metres. They concentrated withering fire on the gaps that Syrian mine
clearers had made in the minefields, and inflicted horrific casualties on the funnelled enemy.
Worthy of particular mention was the initial fighting for a vantage point known as ‘Booster
Ridge’, from which the IDF’s 188th Armoured Brigade fired down onto the plains below.
Burned out Syrian T-55s slowly began to litter the battlefield, which would become known
as the ‘Vale of Tears’. Despite inflicting heavy casualties, head
of Israeli Northern Command, Major General Hofi, realised that his outnumbered armour
could not hope to hold back all of Syria’s weight along the front by itself. So, he began
to reorganise and reinforce them, while Lieutenant Colonel Kahalani’s infantry companies occupied
blocking positions in the area of Booster Ridge. He was facing a numerically superior
force which outnumbered him 15:1. Meanwhile in the northernmost sector, Syrian
mountain commandos managed to breach and eventually capture Israeli-held Mount Hermon. A subsequent
attempt to retake the station failed with heavy losses, when the attackers fell into
a Syrian ambush. The mountain rangers who had ascended the mountain and captured the
post would occupy it for almost the remainder of the war. All along the line, IDF forces
were by now under immense pressure. In the south, by 5pm it was becoming increasingly
clear that Syria’s 5th infantry division was going to break through the Rafid Gap towards
Juhader. That part of the line eventually crumbled as survivors from the region’s
strong points concentrated on slowing the Syrian push north up the TAP road, a push
which if successful could roll up the entire Golan defensive line.
The Syrian 5th infantry continued to make progress after nightfall, fanning into three
columns. The northernmost advanced along the TAP line before pushing west to Yehudia and
the Arik Bridge, while the southernmost moved down the road from Rafid to El Al. The third
split off and drove west from Ramat Magshimim. At this point, the purple line had been totally
bypassed - four of the strongholds in the region of the breakthrough were evacuated
in time, while the other half was encircled and isolated. Throughout the night, the three
columns exploited the gains they had made, particularly in the centre. Those forces advancing
toward Ramat Magshimim were pushing so quickly that they would soon descend unopposed into
Israel’s heartland. Victory in the south, it seemed, was almost near.
In contrast to their successes in the south, Syrian forces in the north - who had a technological
advantage in the form of night vision - were met with ferocious resistance during the previous
night. At 10PM, the Syrian 7th infantry division had launched another heavy attack in the Vale
of Tears, but this was driven away after three hours of brutal close-quarters tank fighting.
Despite the weight of Syria’s numbers, by dawn they were stuck, trapped in the Vale,
and could not advance further. As the sun rose on October 7th, Syrian forces
in the south thought that they had won. In the north the view was far more grim - over
100 burned out, damaged or destroyed T-55s. This 15 kilometre wide, 3 kilometre deep patch
of land would be held by the Israelis, who suffered heavy casualties but knocked out
500 Syrian vehicles, including 300 tanks, losing only 100.
Wanting to take as much advantage as they could as quickly as possible, Syrian High
Command threw its armoured weight to the south, ordering reserves to bolster their armies
in the form of the 15th Mechanised Brigade and 3rd Armoured Division. Attempts by Israeli
air power to make a difference during the first days on the Golan Heights were swept
away, with heavy losses inflicted by Syrian SAM batteries. During two attempted airstrikes
in the centre of the line, for example, the IAF lost six out of eight planes. By the third
day of the war in the north, 23 Israeli planes had been destroyed.
During subsequent fierce fighting for the town of Nafekh - where the IDF had a base
- commander of southern Golan, Colonel Shoham was killed. Only the hastily rushed in 679th
Reserve Armoured Brigade, whose men had been civilians just hours before, blunted the Syrian
assaults and protected the line’s integrity. Realising that the situation in the north
was far more urgent than that in the Sinai, the IDF high command decided to prioritise
the Golan front, and began transferring new tank crews and additional units to the north
from the battle against Egypt. These units gradually started to trickle in starting on
the afternoon of October 7th. At that point, there was only a thin screen of Israeli forces,
commanded by Brigadier General Laner, between the Syrians and Galilee, and they were almost
completely backed up against the slopes. Nevertheless, they managed to fight off enemy attempts to
push them further, destroying 150 Syrian tanks in the process. The outcome of the war in
the north hung by a thread, but Syrian high command realised that they had to reorganise
before any further push, and ordered their forces to halt at 5PM. In the southernmost
sector, armoured Syrian elements and parts of the 5th infantry division halted on the
road to El Al - and the way was completely open.
It proved to be a catastrophic decision, allowing Israel’s reserves to amass. On the evening
of October 7th, the 146th Reserve Armoured Division moved up the El Al road and prepared
for battle. Only 36 hours after the war had begun, Israel was ready to launch a decisive
counterstrike. Israeli forces in the south counterattacked through October 8th and, despite
being struck by an enemy counterattack on the morning of October 9th, managed to push
the Syrians back to their starting positions a day later. By nightfall on the 10th, there
was not a single Syrian unit on territory west of the purple line. With this knowledge,
Israel’s cabinet had to decide whether to exploit its success against Syria or to concentrate
forces against Egypt. Eventually, they decided to advance towards Damascus, hopefully close
enough for long range artillery bombardment, but not enough to provoke Soviet intervention.
Major General Hofi didn’t intend to give the Syrians any time to recover, and began
to quickly plan his assault. It would be launched as a concentrated thrust in the northern area
of the front, which he correctly predicted would be less heavily defended than the south.
The thrust’s left flank and spearhead would rest on the slopes of Mount Hermon, while
the right was just north of Kuneitra. In the centre and south, Israeli armies would remain
on the defensive, so as to focus all offensive strength in one area.
The Syrians were now facing a reinvigorated enemy with their own badly mauled army. Moreover,
the IAF was gaining advantage by destroying parts of the anti-air umbrella. The consequence
was dire, enabling Israeli jets to inflict heavy strategic damage on Syrian infrastructure,
hampering the Soviet effort to resupply its Arab ally. Other allied military support however,
such as that from the Moroccans, Saudis, Iraqis and Jordanians, was being hurriedly assigned
to sections of the front, in order to delay the predicted Israeli attack.
Two Brigades held the sector which was to come under the main assault, one Syrian and
the other Moroccan, supported by 75 tanks. Built under Soviet supervision after 1967,
the Syrian defensive zone across the front was around 15km deep, with closely integrated
concrete bunkers and trenches. It was anchored on the right to Mount Hermon and on the left
to the impassable basalt rock field known as The Lajat.
The northern division under Brigadier Eitan’s command began its attack at 11AM on the 11th
of October under artillery cover, with the 7th Armoured Brigade as its spearhead. This
force struck northeast beside the foothills of Mount Hermon towards the settlements of
Hader and Mazrat Beit Jan. Advancing a few kilometres to the south were remnants of the
Barak Brigade - which had been mauled in the prior Syrian advance. It pushed east through
Jubat el-Hashab and neared the operationally valuable heights of Tel Shams.
By late afternoon, the 7th Armoured Brigade controlled the Hader crossroads and, on the
morning of October 12th, managed to swat away an armoured counterattack and resume its advance,
subsequently taking Mazrat Beit Jan after a six-hour long battle. The southernmost of
Eitan’s forces were making progress too, with the crucial Maatz crossroads being taken
at about the same time the 7th Armoured repelled the Syrian counterattack. An attack on the
heights of Tel Shams itself, by tanks under Yossi Ben Hannan, was repelled with heavy
losses after Syrian anti-tank fire knocked the commander out of his turret - he was only
rescued by paratroopers after darkness had fallen.
To the south of Eitan’s advance, Brigadier General Laner’s division - consisting of
the 9th, 17th and 679th Reserve Armoured Brigades - began its own attack on the 11th at 1PM
- two hours after their companions to the north. They advanced up the Kuneitra-Damascus
road, but ran into trouble due to Israeli overreliance on unsupported armour when it
encountered well coordinated Syrian defences. At the Khan Arnaba crossroads, the 17th Reserve
Armoured Brigade under Colonel Sarig came under a barrage of heavy artillery and anti-tank
fire. When tanks at the rear of the column left the road in an attempt to get out of
the way, they ran into minefields and suffered heavy losses. By the day’s end, the 17th
was down to a mere 5 tanks. Attempting to bypass the heavily defended crossroads, the
9th Armoured Brigade was ordered south through Jaba, but that night the units at Khan Arnaba
were briefly cut off by Syrian infantry, only to be saved by a battalion of Israeli paratroopers.
On the morning of October 12th, Laner launched a wide outflanking maneuver to the south through
Nasej and towards Knaker kanakir which would hopefully avoid the terrible lava-fields blocking
his armour’s path. His aim was to take Sasa from the south.
Laner himself was positioned at his headquarters at Tel Shaar - an elevated location which
allowed him to watch his division advance over the Syrian plain. From there, however,
he also noticed huge dust clouds being kicked up about 10 kilometres to the south. It was
clear to any experienced tanker that a major armoured formation was gearing up for action,
and it turned out that this formation was the Iraqi 3rd Armoured Division, two armoured
brigades and a mechanised brigade, totaling 180 tanks.
To counter this threat, Laner ordered the 679th Reserve Armoured Brigade to deploy south.
The 205th was deployed between Tel Maschara and Tel el Mal, while the 17th and 9th were
to return from Knaker and take up defensive positions facing south, at opposite ends of
a formation which would look like U-shape, with its points facing the Iraqis - it was
a lethal trap. At around 3am on October 13th, the Iraqi forces
advanced into the area between Maschara and Nasej, directly into the maw of Israel’s
armoured might - 200 tanks and 50 artillery pieces trained on them from three sides. As
light first dawned that day, devastating concentric fire from all sides of Laner’s so-called
‘open box’ formation utterly annihilated Iraqi’s 8th Mechanised Brigade within a
matter of minutes. 80 tanks were destroyed and the rest were sent reeling back in disarray,
while not a single unit of IDF armour was even struck. To take advantage of his flattening
of the Iraqi tanks, Laner then ordered his 9th Reserve Armoured Brigade to seize the
Tel Antar and Tel el-Alakieh hills throughout the 13th.
The next morning, a hesitantly deployed Jordanian 40th Armoured Brigade counterattacked after
crossing into Syria to help, but was repelled after losing 20 Centurion tanks in much the
same way as the Iraqis did. Nevertheless, the Israelis acknowledged that Jordanian armoured
units were far more technically sophisticated than their other enemies.
A series of attempted Arab counterattacks followed, but all of them were misconducted
or were cancelled before being launched. This, in combination with the IDF switching its
focus to the Sinai front, meant that a relative calm descended in the north beginning on the
17th. In that calm, Laner’s division was relieved in the salient by Moshe Peled, who
had been guarding the southern part of the front on the 1967 ceasefire line.
In the far north, Eitan’s units had managed to push doggedly forward despite increasing
Syrian resistance. Israel’s long-range M107 self-propelled artillery batteries began their
bombardment of a military airfield near Damascus on the night of October 13th, strikes which
would only intensify as the days went on. After a few days of stalemate, the Golan front’s
closing action was one designed to maneuver for position when the inevitable ceasefire
came into effect - the recapture of Mount Hermon, lost at the beginning of the war.
Men of the Golani Brigade, some in halftracks and others slogging up the slopes on foot,
managed to dislodge the entrenched Syrians by 1100 hours on the 22nd. At the same time,
paratroopers landed near the Syrian observation post at the summit, repulsed a Syrian heliborne
counterstrike, and then overran the station. Syria accepted a ceasefire proposed by the
UN on the evening of October 22nd, but low-intensity fighting would continue well into the next
year, as Israel refused to relinquish the Golan Heights. Finally, on May 31st 1974 the
two nations signed a peace agreement with Israel relinquishing a thin strip of territory
west of the purple line. Syria lost 3,100 dead and 6,000 wounded, while Israel’s losses
were around 772 dead and 453 wounded. Unfortunately, the wars in the region would continue.
We are planning to cover more modern conflicts both on Kings and Generals and our second
channel The Cold War – the link to which you can find in the description or in the
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This is the Kings and Generals channel, and we will catch you on the next one.