Sinai Front: Sudr Pass

In the opening minutes of the 73 War, over thirty Egyptian Commando platoons were dispatched by helicopter to various locations in the Sinai region. Most of the platoons were assigned to ambush Israeli tank columns on their way to the …

1973-10-06

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In the opening minutes of the 73 War, over thirty Egyptian Commando platoons were dispatched by helicopter to various locations in the Sinai region. Most of the platoons were assigned to ambush Israeli tank columns on their way to the canal or to attack Israeli installations. The other platoons were grouped into company size forces whose sole missions were to block the various passes in the Khatmia Mountains on the Sinai Peninsula. One such force blocked the Sudr Pass in the southern part of the Sinai. Upon landing in the pass, the Commandos quickly set up their positions and minetields and waited for the israelis to come through the pass. About 1700 hours an Israeli tank column proceeded on through the pass only to be held up halfway through by the hastily laid minetields. While trying to negotiate their way through the minetields they were hit by a barrage of Sagger missiles, RPG-7 rounds, and helicopter launched rockets. Though the israelis first tried to force their way through the ambush, heavy casualties forced them to pull back and proceed along another route towards the Suez Canal. Although almost all Egyptian Commando units were caught or killed in the first two days of the war, the Commando company at Sudr Pass successfully held out for sixteen days, finally being overwhelmed by an Israeli infantry brigade on the 22nd of October.

Sudr Pass, Sinai

The Operation Badr or Plan Badr was the code name for the Egyptian military operation to cross the Suez Canal and seize the Bar Lev Line of Israeli fortifications on October 6, 1973. Launched in conjunction with a Syrian assault on the Golan Heights, this attack marked the start of the Yom Kippur War. Operation Badr was preceded by training exercises starting in 1968, operational planning from 1971 onwards and a deception operation. In the opening stages of the attack, known as "the crossing", combat engineers used water cannons to rapidly clear numerous passages through the sand wall lining the east bank of the canal, laid bridges and operated ferries, allowing armor to cross. Egyptian infantry assaulted the Bar-Lev fortifications and were counterattacked by Israeli armor and infantry. The attack surprised the Israelis, and by October 7 the crossing was complete, and the east bank of the canal was occupied by five Egyptian infantry divisions. The infantry established defensive positions in bridgeheads spanning the 160-kilometre (99 mi) front. Following a lull in the fighting on October 7, Israeli armor reserves arrived at the front and launched a counterattack opposite the city of Ismailia. The Egyptian forces were successful in employing anti-tank weapons to repel the Israeli armor and advanced once more. By the end of October 8, Egypt occupied a strip of territory along the entire east bank of the canal to a depth of approximately 15 kilometres.

Wikipedia: Operation Badr (1973)

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