Thursday March 28th, 2024
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6 Facts About The 6th Of October War

In commemoration of the 6th of October War, we give you six facts you probably didn't know about the offensives launched…

Staff Writer

1. Egypt and Syria received assistance from some rather surprising allies during the war. For example, around 4,000 Cuban soldiers were sent to assist with the Syrian offensive, and North Korea sent 20 fighter pilots. In fact, the final aerial engagement was fought between the Israeli Air Force and Korean pilots.

2.The reason that the Syrian and Egyptian armies were able to make such sudden gains in Sinai and the Golan Heights was due to the fact that during Yom Kippur (the Jewish holiday during which the offensive started) all communications, including radio, are suspended, which meant that by the time the Israeli government was able to sound the alert, the offensive was already well under way. This was also compounded by the fact that most of the Israeli military was on leave for the holiday.

3. Nearly 78,000 tons of equipment was used by the Egyptian military alone, including 1,700 tanks, 2,400 armoured personnel carriers, 1,120 artillery units, 150 surface to air missile batteries, and between 650,000 to 800,000 assault rifles.

4. Over 200,000 tons of aid was dropped by the Soviet Union and the United States to their respective allies. The US had issues in getting their supplies to Israel due to many European countries refusing to allow their drop planes to refuel in their countries.

5. Private Nour El-Din El-Mola is considered by many to be the first man to plant the Egyptian flag in the, at the time, disputed Sinai Peninsula in the early days of the war.

6. And you’ll never guess what rank President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi had managed to reach at that point. He had managed to rise to the rank of... nothing. He was only 19 at the time.