Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, or Ramadan War, was launched by the Arabs on October the 6th 1973. The conflict pitted Israel against a coalition of Arab armies led by Egypt. It ended on the 25th of October. This war paved the way to a permanent peace agreement between Israel and Egypt.
Share your war story
If you, or your loved one, actually took part in the 1973 war, then we appreciate if you could share your story. If you have photos, memorabilia, videos etc. please share these with us so we can include them in out Sagger historical simulation project.
In Sagger we present a comprehensive and accurate historical information. Sagger is considered by us as a both; entertainment and education. An “edutainment” system. This novel project includes a lot of research and in depth analysis of the Yom Kippur war. Playing Sagger will familiarize you with
the historical events, their importance and consequences for the Middle East and for the world at large.
At the moment, we have very little material from the Arab side of the conflict. If you are an Arab soldier that took part in this war, or have any Arab media material from these events, then please share these with us as well and/or tell us the actual war stories that you know.
We want to present to our players maximum amount of the real war information.
Background Of The War
Historical character profiles
Course of the war
THE WAR STARTS
At the start of the war, the Egyptians had an almost forty-to-one advantage in the Suez Canal Zone. The Egyptian attack started at 1400 hours with a massive artillery bombardment of the sixteen Israeli strongholds along the Bar Lev Line and the deployment of 4,000 troops by boats, to cross the canal. All in all, the Egyptians unleashed 100,000 soldiers against the meager IDF front line defenses.
THE EARLY ISRAELI DEFEATS
The Syrian assault came as a complete surprise for the IDF. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the IDF troops found themselves under heavy artillery and air attack. The Syrians coordinated their actions with the Egyptian attack. The thinly spread Israeli defenders had little chance to stop the onslaught. The manpower and equipment differences were huge. Loss of the Mount Hermon observation center was a major blow to the Israeli intelligence-gathering capabilities. In Sinai, IDF tried an unrealistic unrealistic plan to quickly crush the two Egyptian armies despite IDF lacking the necessary forces. The failed October 8 IDF attack has rattled the morale of the IDF. The situation appeared hopeless, and to some top officials, the survival of Israel and the Jewish people was in question. Moshe Dayan believed that victory was not possible, and IDF had to abandon Sinai and the Golan.
IDF COUNTER-OFFENSIVE
A successful IDF defense against the Syrians stopped them around the Valley of Tears. IDF decided to counter-attack by disrupting Syrian Command and Control logistics in Damascus by hitting at their center of power. This was followed on October 11th by IDF crossing the Purple Line border and capturing Syrian territory in the direction of Damascus. In Sinai, the IDF implemented a bold plan to cross the Suez Canal and cut off a big part of the Egyptian invasion force. Crossing of the Suez Canal involved a major challenge of negotiating the 160-meter-wide canal under the enemy fire. At first, the Egyptians believed that IDF’s crossing into Africa was a just a minor diversion. A Jewish “physiological warfare”. When they finally realized what was going on, it was too late to stop the IDF. The IDF plan was successful and by October 24th the Egyptian 3rd army got completely cut off.
IDF TAKE BACK THE HERMON
On October 21, late at night, the 1st Golani Brigade soldiers started climbing Mount Hermon. The Syrians defended the intelligence complex with great determination and self-sacrifice, but they were no match for the IDF troops. Mount Hermon was captured after some fierce combat. The Syrian losses were very large and included the downing of seven Syrian MiG planes and two helicopters carrying reinforcements.
FINAL CEASE-FIRE
On October 25, the UN issued resolution 340, which finally ended the fighting. The war was effectively over. The Egyptians and Israelis entered into direct negotiations. It was the first time in history that the two sides negotiated directly with each other. On November 11, a formal cease-fire agreement was signed that included an exchange of prisoners and plans for future diplomatic moves toward peace negotiations.
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