The October War of 1973 The swift victory of Egypt

The October War of 1973 was a great victory for Egypt. As it began during the Holy Month of Ramadan, it was a great surprise that many people thought was impossible for Egypt to break through Israel’s Bar Lev Line and to retake the Suez Canal.

Only a handful of people knew about the plan before it happened. Most of the officers and lieutenants weren’t aware of what was about to happen and the history making battle they’d soon be part of.

Lieutenant Talaat El Ebshehey explains that “On the sixth of October, our leader said that during the fajr [first prayer of the day] to break your fast, as we were fasting at the time of war [and] so our leader said to break our fast because today there is military operations.”

He said that no one believed anything would happen. “At around 2 am, the Egyptian Air Force began to pass over the canal.”

One of the biggest obstacles of the war was to break through the Bar Lev Line, a series of defenses Israel built to protect its side of the canal, conquered along with all of the Sinai Peninsula six years earlier in the Six Day War.

Baki Zaki Youssef, who worked as a young military engineer in the Aswan Dam, planned to defeat the Bar Lev Line by using water sprayed by high-pressure hoses.  The plan was a major success..

The Egyptian soldiers were able to cross the Suez and hold it for more than a week before being pushed back.  The war ended after four weeks. Egypt was able to regain control of the Suez and the entire Sinai after a 1979 peace agreement with Israel, and the war became a decisive turning point in history.