The 6 October 1973 War was an epic confrontation between Egypt and Israel, in which the Egyptian army restored the Sinai Peninsula. The October War demonstrated the ingenuity of planning and accuracy of execution of battles by the Egyptian army.
The Egyptian Army launched a surprise attack against Israeli forces in the occupied Sinai on 6 October 1973. Supported by the Air Force, the army pushed across the Suez Canal and dislodged the Israelis on the other side of the international water pathway.
Tactically, the canal crossing was bold and ingenious. The Egyptian army had to destroy a giant defensive sand barrier “Bar Lev Line” along the eastern bank of the Suez Canal with high-pressure water hoses, and install pontoon bridges to transfer armoured vehicles, tanks, and soldiers to the other side of the canal.
On the 48th anniversary of the glorious war, Daily News Egypt touches on the most important books that documented the war and aftermath.
“Ala Khat El-Nar” by Jamal Al-Ghitani
For five years, from 1969 to 1974, late Egyptian writer Jamal Al-Ghitani worked as a war correspondent on the battlefront.
Among the fighters, Al-Ghitani used to record war diaries in a literary language that combines accuracy and sweetness, in order to gain the attention and admiration of readers.
This book has three chapters of the war diaries, the first entitled “After June 1967”, then “Egyptians on the Line of Fire”, and concludes with the chapter “The Epic of the Great Crossing”.
The book is a witness to the greatness of the Egyptians, an army and a people, and includes between its covers messages, investigations and press reports about the battle, and the experiences.
“October 1973 – Arms and Politics” by Hassanein Heikal
The book, written by late journalist Muhammad Hassanein Heikal, was about the Egyptian army’s destruction of Bar Lev Line.
The book completes his quartet of books on the wars of Egypt, which began with the book “The Suez Crisis” and followed it with the book “The Years of Boiling” and then “The Explosion”.
The book reviews the preparation for the battle, narrating, with documents and deep political and military analyzes, the scenes of the war, ranging from weapons in the hands of fighters to politics at the negotiating table.
“October 1973 War” by El-Gamasy
Before the October War, Field Marshal Mohamed Abdel Ghani el-Gamasy was the leader of the Armed Forces Operations Authority. During the war, he was promoted to be the Chief of Staff, succeeding Lieutenant-General Saad Al-Din Al-Shazly.
Therefore, this book is recorded by one of the commanders of the battle, the man who is known to have drawn up the detailed plan for the pre-war called “el-Gamasy’s Kashkul” (el-Gamasy’s Notebook) in which he studied the military and environmental conditions of the battle, which paved the way for choosing the appropriate timing for the attack.
In the book, el-Gamasy links between the 1967 and 1973 Wars, as he believes that they are inseparable, and that the mistakes of the first war helped in developing the appropriate plan for the battle of liberation.
“War of Battles on the Egyptian Front” by Jamal Hammad
It is one of the most famous and influential writings about the October War.
In his book, the author provides a technical analysis of all the events and situations of the war with impartiality and honesty, in detail explaining the strengths and weaknesses, as well as the strategic mistakes of this battle, and how they could have been avoided, as well as how the Egyptians could avoid this in the future.
Behind the enemy lines by Osama Al-Manduwa Brigade, How did the Egyptian “reconnaissance group” led by Captain Al-Mandowa, succeed in stationing behind enemy lines and in the heart of his gatherings, near his main approaches to it, and his main command centre in “Umm Marjam” and “Al-Meliz Military Airport”, about 100 km east of the Suez Canal, behind enemy lines.
In this important book, the author documents details of an Egyptian heroship, as the reconnaissance group led by “Mandawa” worked to monitor the movements of the Israeli enemy, and sent those details to the leadership west of the Canal, with the help of the Sinai Bedouins’ aid.
