Sinai Front: Bar Lev Line

Constant Egyptian pressure during the War of Attrition (1967-1970) prompted the Israeli high command to establish permanent defensive positions along the eastern edge of the Suez Canal. This defensive system became known as the Bar-Lev Line after then IDF Chief …

1973-10-07

7

Constant Egyptian pressure during the War of Attrition (1967-1970) prompted the Israeli high command to establish permanent defensive positions along the eastern edge of the Suez Canal. This defensive system became known as the Bar-Lev Line after then IDF Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Chaim Bar-Lev. Positioned 5 to 10 kilometers apart, they were defended by crack infantry units, backed up with tank and artillery support. Never intended as a continuous defensive position, its purpose was to funnel the enemy into designated ñre zones. During its peak it was made up of 33 fortíñed outposts, called Maoz, and numerous second-line positions. However, by 1973, only 16 of the Maozim remained in service. On the eve of the war, the Maozim were occupied with little-trained reservists from the Jerusalem Brigade as the crack garrison units were on religious leave. Many of the Maozim fell on the first day of the war, but others held on gallantly as the Armored Brigades rush to fill the gaps. As it moved up from its staging area, the Israeli 460th Armored Brigaded was ordered to the southern sector, were it met the Egyptian 24th Armored Brigade in the process of expanding its bridgeheads over the canal. The Mazoim in this area were eventually overrun, and the 460th forces had to retreat.

Sinai Peninsula, Egypt

The Bar Lev Line was a chain of fortifications built by Israel along the eastern bank of the Suez Canal after it occupied the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt during the 1967 Six-Day War. It was considered impregnable and was a symbol of Israeli military perfection. It was overrun in 1973 by the Egyptian military during Operation Badr.

Wikipedia: Bar Lev Line

Israeli

Egyptain