Peace in the Middle East would not last in the aftermath of Israel’s decisive victory
in 1967, and the continued hostilities would lead to the Yom Kippur War of 1973, a conflict
which would have global implications for decades to come. Welcome to our first video on the
1973 Arab-Israeli War, and the Sinai clash with Egypt. 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.
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In the aftermath of the Six-Day War, victorious Israeli forces began to construct fortifications
along the Suez Canal in order to protect Sinai. Known as the Bar-Lev Line, it stretched around
100 miles from the Gulf of Suez in the south, to the Mediterranean in the north. Along the
Line were 30 strategically placed strong points, known as Maozim, each screened by a sandbank
several metres high. To the east of the canal, two roads - the ‘artillery road’ and the
‘lateral road’ - permitted easy transport of forces throughout the front.
The Egyptians responded to this construction by launching sustained artillery strikes on
the new Israeli positions, and sending commando raids into Israel, beginning the so-called
‘War of Attrition’. Israel responded with its own commando operations and an airborne
offensive directed at the Egyptian air defence system, an assault designed to pressure Egypt
into accepting a ceasefire. President Nasser realised the threat of Israeli
air superiority had to be solved, and flew to Moscow to obtain more advanced SA-2 and
SA-3 surface-to-air missiles, technicians and combat pilots from the Soviets. August
7th 1970 saw a six-month ceasefire brokered by the US, preserving the status quo in the
region. The War of Attrition had drained Israeli morale, and proved that the Israeli airforce
could be countered. Nasser wouldn’t live to see the results, as he died on September
28th 1970 and was succeeded by Anwar Sadat.
Sadat signed a 15-year treaty of friendship with the Soviets, and tried to make peace
with Israel, asking them to redeploy the IDF 32 kilometres east of the Suez canal, beyond
the strategic passes. The Israelis refused and Sadat settled on a war as the only option
left by May 1971. Though the Soviets continued to ship armaments to Egypt, including numerous
‘Scud’ missiles, the hesitance of Brezhnev to support Egypt, and relatively warmer relations
between the USSR and US in this period, resulted in the eventual expulsion of Soviet personnel
from Egypt by mid 1972. Sadat then turned to Syria’s President,
Hafez al-Assad, and persuaded him that the lands lost in 1967 should be returned. Pledges
of financial aid from oil-rich Saudi Arabia and Qatar were secured, along with promises
of troops and aircraft from the Saudis, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Sudan and Iraq, though most
of these contingents wouldn’t arrive in time.
Sadat was realistic and knew that his army wouldn’t be able to utterly defeat the IDF
in the field, and so wanted a limited war instead. He and his allies would launch a
surprise attack across the Suez Canal and Golan Heights, break Israel’s myth of invincibility,
and use diplomatic pressure to secure a favourable peace.
The Yom Kippur War was preceded by events on each front which adversely affected Israeli
perceptions of the military situation. On September 7th 1973, Syrian fighters were scrambled
to intercept an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft, and a battle developed 200 kilometres northwest
of Israel over the Mediterranean. The dogfight, which resulted in 13 downed Syrian planes
and no Israeli aircraft, allowed the Syrians to concentrate its forces on the Golan Heights
without suspicion - they appeared to just be showing force after the aerial skirmish.
In the south, Egyptian armies concentrated their forces along the Suez Canal under the
cover of a training exercise. The image of normalcy was also maintained in an attempt
to deceive the IDF. Soldiers walked along the canal without wearing helmets, they continued
to fish in the canal, and false criticisms of Egyptian-used Soviet equipment were planted
in Cairo newspapers. Nevertheless, IDF observation still noticed
unusual amounts of military activity in the area. When this situation was discussed by
Israeli high command on September 30th, intelligence chief, Major General Eli Zeira, assured the
government that the probability of war was low. After details of the Egyptian offensive
- known as Operation Badr - were received at 0400 hours on the morning of October 6th,
preparations began for mobilisation, but it was far too late.
Just before 2PM on Yom Kippur - the holiest day in Judaism’s calendar - more than 200
Egyptian aircraft flew low over the Suez canals, launching strikes on Israeli Hawk surface-to-air
missile batteries, airfields, command posts and other infrastructure in Sinai. The attacks
were successful, but Egypt lost 40 aircraft to air combat and ground fire. At the same
time, two Tu-16 bombers flew over the Mediterranean and launched AS-5 Kelt missiles at Tel-Aviv
to show the Israelis any attempt that strategic bombing would be met in kind.
In Sinai, 14 more Tupolev bombers successfully attacked targets in the Sinai desert. The
bombardment on land began at the same time as over 2,000 artillery pieces, including
howitzers, heavy mortars, and even Katyusha rocket launchers, began to hammer the Bar-Lev
line, supplemented by specially placed tanks atop the sand ramparts. During the first minute
of Operation Badr, it’s estimated that around 10,500 shells hit the first line of Israeli
defence.
Shortly after the bombardment began, specialised Egyptian tank-hunter squadrons, armed with
RPGs and Malyutka anti-tank missiles, crossed the Suez canal and occupied ambush positions
at pre-planned Israeli tank emplacements. Behind them were two Egyptians armies - the
Second was in the north commanded by Major General Ma’amon, and the Third was to the
south, led by Major General Wasel. Together they were composed of five infantry, two armoured
and three mechanised divisions, along with a number of independent brigades. The infantry
formations especially possessed units with massive quantities of anti-tank weaponry,
designed to counter Israeli armour-heavy assaults. Assaults across the entire front began in
waves at 2:40PM, and the engineering corps breached the high sandbanks by utilising high
pressure water hoses. At the same time, deployment of Soviet-made folding bridges began in order
to facilitate the crossing of Egyptian armour and artillery. Over the coming days, Israeli
airforce jets would be bogged down constantly attacking these bridges, suffering massive
losses from the Egyptian air defence umbrella in the process. In essence, the Israelis’
greatest weapon was made virtually useless. The waves of infantry pushed several kilometres
inland and established a defensive front, while specially trained units dealt with the
Maozim strong points, which were gradually captured or surrendered. Along almost the
entire line, IDF armoured columns instinctively rushed to the front in order to relieve the
strong points, but were badly mauled and repulsed by the aforementioned anti-tank squadrons
lurking in ambush.
Israeli headquarters was in utter confusion at the startling Egyptian success and, by
dawn, faced tens of thousands of enemy soldiers, hundreds of tanks and vast quantities of both
land and anti-aircraft artillery batteries, as well as SAM sites on the eastern bank.
On the 8th, an armoured IDF counterattack by two tank divisions was launched under Major
Generals Avraham Adan and Ariel Sharon, but was again repulsed with devastating losses
at the hands of artillery fire and anti-tank infantry.
Although fierce fighting continued after the assault, the IDF managed to stabilise the
Sinai front by October 9th, with Ariel Sharon’s armoured division intelligently maneuvering
and destroying 50 Egyptian tanks a day later. Sadat’s armies had achieved their limited
objective and had repulsed an Israeli counterattack with massive losses, but pressure on the similarly
active Syrian front on the Golan Heights necessitated a further Egyptian offensive to relieve it,
as Israel had concentrated its forces there. The IDF high command had been paralysed with
indecision before this point, but knowledge of this upcoming Egyptian attack made the
course of action very clear - block it, crush it and counterattack. On October 14th, hundreds
of heavy guns opened up along the Artillery Road, while fighter-bombers attacked Israeli
ground targets in preparation for the attack.
In the northern sector, the Egyptian 18th infantry division and a brigade of T62 tanks
attacked from El Qantara to Rumali. Here, Adan’s division threw the Egyptians back
to their origin point, destroying at least 50 tanks. In the centre, Ariel Sharon’s
division bore the brunt of 21st Armoured Division’s assault leading from Ismailia [isma’ilia],
which met similar punishment to its northern counterpart. In this fighting, the 14th armoured
brigade destroyed 93 tanks of the Egyptian first armoured brigade, essentially destroying
it as a fighting unit. South of Sharon, an Egyptian armoured thrust
by the fourth armoured division and third armoured brigade was aimed at the Gidi and
Mitla passes, only to be turned back at the cost of 60 tanks, and was almost totally annihilated
by the IAF. The Egyptians were advancing and lost their anti-air umbrella, leaving them
dangerously vulnerable to air attack. Further south, an Egyptian task force consisting
of an infantry and tank brigade attacked towards Ras Sudar along the Gulf of Suez, but was
repulsed with ease by Major General Yeshaya Gavish. The attacks turned into a massive
armoured battle. In just two hours, the catastrophic Egyptian offensive had been decisively defeated.
Of the 400 tanks committed to it, 260 had been destroyed and the way was clear for a
massive Israeli counterattack. They had lost just 20 vehicles. The tide of the war had
shifted, and the Egyptians were hemmed back into their beachheads.
The Israelis now favoured the idea of crossing the Suez Canal and forcing Egypt into a ceasefire,
something which was made increasingly plausible because of US aid in the form of Operation
Nickel Grass. A broadly outlined plan named ‘Stonehearted Man’, or ‘Operation Gazelle’,
had been drawn up before the war for this very scenario. After it was tuned for the
situation, it called for laying two bridges across the canal near Fort Matsmed - a location
which was in a mile-wide gap between the Egyptian Second and Third Armies. When this was done
and the Israelis had crossed, they should capture a fifty-mile wide area between Mount
Ataka and the outskirts of Ismailia, before preparing a thrust on Cairo.
The operation’s main thrust would be conducted by the maverick tank commander Ariel Sharon’s
143rd division which, at 1600 hours on the 15th of October, began its attack. Tuvia Raviv’s
600th reserve armoured brigade was sent on a frontal, diversionary assault along the
Tasa-Ismailia road, while Amnon Reshef’s 14th brigade approached the Tirtur-Lexicon
crossroad. From this point, sections of his force began experiencing fire at the hands
of stubborn Egyptian defenders, who were stalwartly entrenched at an agricultural facility known
as the Chinese Farm, just north of the planned corridor to the canal.
Israeli armoured columns, attacking from the front, flanks and rear, managed to briefly
clear the Akavish road, allowing a parachute brigade, commanded by Colonel Dani Matt, and
some bridging equipment to get through, but stubborn enemy resistance soon closed the
road behind Reshef’s unit. The secondary Tirtur road remained totally blocked by Egyptian
defenders, and Israeli logistics began to have problems. As a brutal, confused night
engagement began at the Chinese Farm, Ariel Sharon ordered his parachutists to cross the
channel in boats, which they did by 2:40AM on the 16th, having been delayed by logistical
gridlock on the only open road.
By 8am, Matt’s bridgehead stretched 3 miles north of the Great Bitter Lake, catching some
Egyptians on the other bank by surprise and securing some more canal crossings in the
process. This assisted in ferrying more tanks over to the bridgehead, with which the Israeli
spearhead began to launch raids west to destroy Egyptian SAM sites and punch holes into the
enemy’s air-defence web. Egypt’s high command was not overly concerned
about the crossing, but ordered a counterattack to snap the IDF corridor shut nonetheless.
It would be conducted in the north by the 21st armoured division, attacking from the
Chinese Farm, and in the south by the 25th armoured brigade, moving up the lake shore.
So, on the morning of October 17th, Egypt’s pincer was launched, but the Israelis already
knew they were coming. In the north, three concentrated IDF armoured
brigades blunted and smashed the Egyptian attackers, who withdrew after suffering heavy
casualties. Near the Great Bitter Lake, Colonel Reshef’s armour managed to ambush and encircle
the Egyptian 25th, pushing it against the water before annihilating it with intense
artillery and tank fire. By 5:30PM the same day, 85 of 96 enemy T-62s had been destroyed
and the counterattack repelled. By the 19th of October, even the battle at Chinese Farm
had come to an end when Reshef attacked the exhausted defenders, conclusively pushing
them north after heroic resistance.
Across the Suez, additional bridges were slowly brought to bear as the hours passed, including
a monstrous prefabricated roller-bridge, which had been painstakingly towed from miles away
by more than a dozen tanks. This increase in crossing points allowed multiple armoured
brigades to more efficiently reinforce the bridgehead - known now as the ‘agricultural
buffer’ due to the farms and irrigation canals in the area. Israeli armour also began
to mass for a breakout - Egypt’s high command had decisively underestimated the so-called
‘television operation’ that crossing the canal represented - it was instead a serious
strategic threat. At dawn on October 18th, three IDF brigades
under Major General Ariel Sharon, Brigadier General Kalman Magen and Major General Avraham
Adan burst out of the bridgehead from all angles, pushing northwest, west and south
respectively. By the point in the war, IAF jets were increasingly launching lethal support
missions as the Egyptian SAM sites were hunted by ground troops in the desert.
While Sharon’s northern thrust up the Sweetwater Canal towards Ismailia was slow going and
met with dogged resistance, the forces under Adan and Magen smashed through hostile lines
with relative ease. By midday on October 21st, Egypt’s Third Army in the southern sector
was cut off from its rear lines. The great powers were now beginning to take
note, and neither the Soviets nor the Americans wanted a major war to break out. Secretary
of State Henry Kissenger and Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev eventually reached ceasefire
terms under UN Security Council Resolution 338, which was set to go into effect at 6PM
on the 22nd. Hostilities came to a halt in the north relatively smoothly, with Sharon
capturing a series of bridges on the Ismailia-Suez road before it did. In the south however,
it took until the 25th for a solid peace to be achieved, by which time Adan had reached
the Port of Suez. While the war’s hostilities officially came to an end, skirmishes continued
unofficially for months.
Though final military victory had gone to Israel, its government and population were
shocked by early Egyptian successes. The so-called ‘Agranat Commission’, an Israeli governmental
body appointed to discover the failures which led to these defeats, eventually led to the
end of multiple political careers, including that of Moshe Dayan and Golda Meir, in addition
to many more military figures. To the Egyptians, Anwar Sadat had gained a famous victory rather
than a defeat, and his armed forces could hold their heads high in the knowledge that
their crossing of the canal on Yom Kippur had been a maneuver of great skill and bravery.
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We are planning to cover the Golan Heights front of this war both on Kings and Generals
and our second channel The Cold War – the link to which you can find in the description
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in the description. This is the Kings and Generals channel, and we will catch you on
the next one.