The outbreak of the Fifth War between Israeli and the Arab States at 2 PM on Saturday, October 6th, on the holiest day of the Jewish religion, furnished the conflict the name by which it was to be known, the Yom Kippur War, or the War of Atonement. The two Arab nations of Egypt and Syria managed to launch a full scale assault on Israel without giving the Israeli Defense Forces a chance to fully mobilize. Caught off guard though some units had already been called up, (the Israeli Air Corps was at full alert) the outbreak of war came as a shock to an Israeli military structure which had always assumed that they would have advanced warning of any possible Arab attack. The Golan Heights The Syrian Plan for the conquest of the Golan was simple and direct. Realizing that the terrain greatly favored the defender, and that if the Israeli reinforcements were given time to arrive the battle was over, they chose a strategy of going for an instant kill. Three reinforced infantry divisions, backed by two armored divisions and other elements, would cross the trip wire and bypass the Israeli positions, heading directly for the escarpment overlooking the River Jordan. The Israeli forces would be destroyed by sheer weight of numbers. Once the Syrians reached and held the escarpments edge, they would hold the upper hand and push the Israeli troops back across the Jordan River. On the Golan Heights, the Israeli units fought a desperate holding action from October 6th to October 9th, buying the time needed for Israeli reservists to mobilize and head for the front. With odds of over 10 to I in their favor in the opening attack, the Syrians fought hard in their attempt to clear the Golan. The Israeli 7th and 188th Armored Brigades effectively were destroyed in place as they managed to slow down the Syrian advance, while the Israeli observation station on Mount Hermon was lost. The Israeli Air Corps was thrown into action in the teeth of the Syrian SAM belt in an attempt to stop the Syrians, and the fate of Israel hung in the balance. An indication of how close the Syrians were to victory at this point in this engagement can be seen in the fact that commander of the 36th Mechanized Division, Brigadier General Raphael Eitan, found himself on the afternoon of the 7th defending his headquarters camp as a member of a bazooka team. Major General Dan Laner, the command of the reinforcing Israeli 240th Armored Division, set up his command post just past the Arik Bridge and found that he could see Syrian tanks within five kilometers of the escarpments edge. In an effort to get his unit forward as quickly as possible to counter the Syrian drive, Laner ordered the tanks of his division to advance from their depots as soon as they could be organized and equipped, and not to wait until either their parent battalion or even company had been formed. Upon arrive at Laner's headquarters, the arriving tanks were formed into platoons and sent into action, with Laner using them to plug the holes in his line. By the 8th of October, additional reinforcements reached the Golan in the form of the Israeli 146th Armored Division and the first counterattacks were launched in an attempt to regain the Purple Line. On the 8th, the reinforced Syrian 7th Infantry Division under the command of Brigadier Omar Abrash almost broke the Israeli 7th Armored Brigade on Booster Ridge. As Abrash, a graduate of the US Command and General Staff Collage, was preparing for a night attack on the Israeli position, his command tank was destroyed and he was killed. His death caused a cancellation of the attack, which purchased some precious time for the 7th Armored Brigade to regroup. On the morning of the 9th the Syrians once again threw themselves at their Israeli opponent, and were driven back as they reached their high water mark. That the Syrian drive can be said to have failed by inches can be best seen in the fact that the Israeli 7th Armored Brigade could muster seven (7) tanks still running at the end of the Booster battle. The period of the 10th through the 14th saw the Israeli forces driving on past the Purple line into Syria. The Iraqi 3rd Armored Division and the Jordanian 40th Armored Brigade arrived on the Golan in an effort to stiffen the Syrian defenses and drive back the Israelis, but to no avail. By the 14th, the Israeli government suspended its drive into Syria, and started to transfer troops south to the Suez Front. This decision was made knowing that any further advance would bring the Israeli troops into the outskirts of Damascus, and involve the Israeli Army in a city fight that would gain nothing. The Syrian Army had been defeated in the field From the 15th to the 20th of October, the Israeli forces went over to the defensive, defeating the Jordanians and Iraqi forces as they attempted to counter attack in turn. The lost Israeli position on Mount Hermon was recaptured on the 21st of October, and the cease fire went into effect on Golan Front on the 24th, leaving Israel still in control of the Golan Heights. Overall, the Syrians had proved in their first real test of arms since 1948 that they were well trained, well motivated and well equipped. The one area where the Syrians fell short was in experience. The Israelis on the other hand were outnumbered and holding on by a thread, but had that all important edge in experience. Again and again one finds Israeli officers who end up commanding ad hoc formations who made the right decision at the right time, and kept the Syrians held at bay. The Sinai Front The Egyptians plan on the Sinai was designed to cross the Canal, build up a strong bridgehead across the length of the front, drop troops into the rear of the Israeli positions to slow the arrival of reinforcements and then wait for the Israelis to counterattack. From October 6th to the 9th the plan worked far better than expected as five reinforced infantry divisions crossed the Suez Canal and took up their positions, repulsing the expected Israeli counterattacks. Though criticized for not leaving the security of their SAM belt and driving inland, the Egyptian Army did well to follow the plan. The attempt of the 1st Mechanized Brigade to push south of the pocket on the 9th fell victim to the Israeli aircraft that were free to operate outside of the SAM belt. Local attacks were made by Egyptian forces all along the front in an attempt to gain the control of favorable ground. For the Israeli forces, the opening stages of the action were devoted to bringing up the reserve formations, and attempting to rescue those positions along the Bar Lev line that were still holding out. By October 9th the 143rd and 162nd Armored Divisions had reached the front, and were facing the Egyptian positions. Numerous Israeli armored attacks against Egyptian infantry were launched in an attempt to repeat the success of the "Six Day War" of 1967, but the attacks faltered in the face of Sagger and RPG fire. The 460th Armored Brigade, which was one of the Israeli forces on the Suez Front when the war broke out, was deduced in the first two days of the war to a single "battalion" of eleven tanks. Between the 10th and 13th of October the action on the Suez Front slowed down, though the local attacks continued by both sides. The Egyptians moved additional armored elements troops across the Canal, and started to shift the SAM belt forward. The Israelis, knowing that the main effort was to be made on the Golan Front, used the time to regroup and reorganize their forces, with the 440th Israeli Division being activated on the southern edge of their line. Both sides prepared for offensive action, with the Israeli's planning to drive into the Egyptian bridgehead and cross the canal into the Egyptian rear. The Egyptians, in response to calls for help from Syria, found themselves planning to drive east to the Sinai foothills before the new SAM belt was complete The Egyptians jumped off first, launching an unsuccessful series of attacks starting on the 14th of October. The Israeli riposte started the following day, as the 143rd Armored Division under Major General Axil Sharon hit the seam between the Egyptian 2nd and 3rd Armies and drove to the Canal. The Israeli plan called for Sharon to open the corridor, and for the 162nd Armored Division under Major General Abraham Adan to drive through the breach and cross the canal. Sharon was not willing to play a supporting role, and ordered elements of his division to cross the canal. The next two days became the "battle of the Chinese Farm", as Adan found himself fighting not only keep the corridor open, but to widen it so bridging materials could be brought forward. The irrigation ditches of the "Chinese Farm" gave the Egyptian 16th Infantry Division a natural strongpoint from which they could prevent Adan from carrying out his mission. The Egyptians were driven out of the position, but at a heavy cost. As the Egyptian troops realized that the Israelis had driven a wedge in between the two armies, counterattacks were ordered but not coordinated. The attack of the 21st Armored Division from the north, and the 25th Armored Brigade from the south were blunted in turn. Sharon's men continued to cross into "Africa", though their presence was not noticed by the Egyptian High Command at first. This last is not as implausible as it sounds. The area west of the Suez Canal is known as the "greenbelt", and is a network of small villages, fields, irrigated plots and woods. Most of the first Israeli troops to cross were parachutists on foot, who disappeared into the cover defending the bridgehead. Even when the first armored vehicles crossed the canal, and started to sortie out against Egyptian rear area positions, the reports were dismissed. The 2nd and 3rd Egyptian Armies each assumed that the other was responsible for guarding the area. The 162nd Division started crossing the Suez Canal on the 18th under orders to move west and south, while Sharon was to cover the north and the bridgehead itself. The Egyptian High Command realized the danger that the Israeli bridgehead presented, and began to try to assemble troops to contain it, but found that it was too late. The Israeli bridgehead began to expand on the 19th and 20th, with major elements of the SAM Belt being overrun. As the SAM belt lost its effectiveness, the Israeli Air Corps returned to the skies above the bridgehead, and interdicted the Egyptian units as they attempted to seal off the bridge head. By the 21st, the Israeli advance southward continued. Sharon was ordered to hold his position while Adan raced for Suez in an attempt to cut off the Egyptian 3rd Army. The Israeli 252nd Armored Division now crossed the Canal to boost Adan, while the Egyptian 4th Armored and 6th Mechanized Divisions attempted to block his advance. The first cease fire went into effect on October 22nd, with the Israel's unable to cut off the 3rd Army. A break down of the cease fire allowed Adan to move forward on the 23rd and cut the last supply lines to the 3rd Army. A last minute attempt to seize the city of Suez was repulsed by the Egyptian garrison there, though the city was part of 3rd Army's pocket. A new cease fire was imposed on the 24th, and the Yom Kippur War came to an end on the Sinai Front. Militarily, the Sinai Front was a clear cut Israeli victory. Caught off guard, the Israeli's had recovered their posture, counterattacked, and driven deep into enemy territory in a movement that would have caused the surrender of the Egyptian 3rd Army. Politically however the Egyptian government and by implication the Egyptian Army held the claim to the victory. They had succeeded in crossing the canal against all odds, and proved that under the proper conditions they could stand in the field against the Israeli Defense Forces. As a worthy enemy, the Egyptian Army laid the groundwork for the Camp David Accords, and a peace in the Sinai that has lasted since then. Back to Table of Contents -- Command Post Quarterly # 13 To Command Post Quarterly List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1997 by Greg Novak. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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