39:
141:
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them cleared by 02:30. Now the engineers started clearing a way through the minefield which was completed at 04:00, allowing the 14th armoured brigade to roll on to the Ruafa Dam. On 6 June at 07:00, the
Israelis attacked the Egyptian tank battalions and antitank battalions from two sides, with the Centurion tanks of the 14th from the east and the Super Sherman tanks from the west. After three hours of fighting, these Egyptian units were destroyed, after which remnants of the 12th Egyptian Brigade were cleared. At around 12:00, the road junction at Abu-Ageila was in Israeli hands and the road to the Sinai was open. The battle ended with 40
586:(much more modern than both types of tanks used by the Egyptians in this battle). On the other side, the best tank gun available for the Egyptians was the 100 mm cannon used by the 22 SU-100 tank destroyers (a late-WWII artillery piece overmatched by Centurion's frontal armor, although it posed a threat to AMX-13s). As a result, in addition to the IDF's numerical superiority, the Israeli tanks also had a greater effective range and firepower than their Egyptian opponents.
154:
775:
from the East. However, before this could happen, Um-Katef would have to be taken, a task given to Sharon's infantry brigade, held in reserve up till then. This infantry attack was to occur under the cover of darkness, following a secondary approach to Um-Katef through the sand dunes. Meanwhile, the
Israeli armour would provide support and all Israeli artillery would be used in support of this attack. This meant there would be no
814:
Israelis racing to capture abandoned sites, and obtaining significant amounts of abandoned tanks and equipment. So much was captured intact that after the war three mechanized and two armored brigades were created from this abandoned equipment. The withdrawal order effectively meant the defeat of Egypt. By 8 June, most of the Sinai area had been occupied by
Israeli forces.
754:
The
Israeli attack plan was based on intelligence gathered two days before the war started, which indicated Um-Katef was defended by only one infantry battalion. Based on this information, the Israelis planned a frontal attack by their reinforced independent tank battalion. After aerial bombardments,
745:
To the east in front of the 12th
Brigade positions on the ridge at Umm Tarafa was an outpost manned by an infantry company of 38th Battalion, a squadron of tanks from 288th Battalion, and two B-10 recoilless guns. At Position 239, south of Umm Tafara was a platoon of 37th Infantry Battalion, with two
791:
The attack started on 5 June, at 00:00 hours, after the
Israeli artillery had been firing from 23:30–00:00 hours with Israeli tanks moving into position under the noise of the artillery. After heavy fighting, the Israeli infantry battalions broke through the trenches at Um-Katef, with one-third of
774:
Now that strength and positions of the
Egyptians were known, General Sharon changed his plans. The independent tank battalion was ordered to drive through the sand dunes following a camel-path and attack the Egyptian armour at the Ruafa Dam. At the same time, the 14th armoured brigade would attack
787:
available, only a limited number of units could be used. Meanwhile, the independent tank battalion was engaged by the
Egyptian defenders in the sand dunes by 16:00 and were able to continue to their positions near Abu-Ageila and the Ruafa Dam at 18:00. The infantry brigade was in place at around
741:
Five kilometers to the west of the Um-Katef
Plateau perimeter was the Ruafa Dam. Dug in here were the 352nd Infantry Battalion, and the 332nd and 336th Artillery Battalions. Five kilometers to the northwest of Abu-Ageila, at the well and logistic center at Awlad Ali, the balance of the 6th Tank
813:
heard about the fall of Abu-Ageila, he panicked and ordered all units in the Sinai to retreat to the west bank of the Suez canal within a single day. There was no plan for the retreat, so the units left behind heavy equipment, and sometimes even outpaced their commanders. This resulted in the
534:. Sharon was tasked with the capture of the road junction at Abu-Ageila, in order to gain access to the central route into the Sinai Desert. The Egyptians had taken considerable preparations to prevent a breach there. Egyptian defences had focused on the
804:
The victory at Abu-Ageila meant the road to the
Central Sinai was open for the Israelis in general, Sharon and his forces in particular. Many of the Egyptian units remained intact and could have tried to prevent the Israelis from reaching the
734:. Every trench was defended by an infantry battalion, with the forward trench reinforced by a dug-in tank squadron. To the rear were two supporting artillery battalions (330th, 334th), behind them the balance of 288th Tank Battalion ready to
763:. New orders for the independent tank battalion were to break off the attack and to attack from the north, through the sand dunes. Now the 14th armoured brigade (two tank battalions Super Shermans and two armoured infantry battalions in
738:. To the north, blocking the Batur Track at Position 181, were 38th Infantry Battalion, 299th Artillery Battalion and an antitank company of ten SU-100. They were to protect the flank of the main position to the southeast.
779:
on the Egyptian artillery, making the Israeli infantry extremely vulnerable. It was decided that the Egyptian artillery would be taken out of action prior to the attack using the brigade of
746:
B-10 recoilless guns and two antitank weapons. Further east at Tarat Umm Basis near the Israeli border was the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, which was to give warning of any Israeli attack.
722:
Plateau – Ruafa Dam, with the 12th Infantry Brigade defending Um-Katef and the 10th Infantry Brigade Kusseima. Um-Katef made a good position, because it was bordered by an area of
538:(or Umm-Qatef) plateau to the east of Abu-Ageila, roughly 25 kilometers (16 mi) from the Israeli border. The defences were an important part of the overall defence plan, called
578:
Sherman tanks, considerably upgraded from their WWII vintage and armed with French 75 mm and 105 mm tank guns. The guns used by the Centurions here were the 105 mm
755:
this tank battalion started its attack on Um-Katef on the 5 June at 08:15. The attack came to a halt however, due to resistance from an unknown Egyptian formation and an unknown
392:
907:
742:
Regiment (one tank battalion) was positioned to block enemy forces coming from the northeast or against the positions of the 12th Brigade to the east or southeast.
387:
397:
354:
550:
Israeli troops numbered about 14,000. Egyptian troop strengths have been estimated at 8,000. More importantly, the Israelis had significant advantage in
295:
89:
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23:00, while the paratroopers, after being discovered and fired upon by Egyptian artillery, made it to their attack positions at 23:00.
288:
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937:
646:
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714:
The Egyptian defence was constructed as follows: the 2nd infantry Division prepared defenses in the area between
326:
38:
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to the north and rocky mountains to the south. On this plateau, the Egyptians constructed three parallel
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515:
382:
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of June 1967. The decisive defeat of the Egyptians was critical to the eventual loss of the entire
932:
600:
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and 19 tanks lost for the Israelis, and 2,000 killed and 60 tanks lost on the Egyptian side.
475:
952:
619:
413:
8:
890:
359:
882:
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with 100 mm guns, the Israeli forces fielded a total of 150 modern tanks: light
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224:
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Key to the Sinai, The Battles for Abu-Ageila in the 1956 and 1967 Arab-Israeli Wars
810:
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178:
44:
551:
487:
467:
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342:
878:
760:
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571:
220:
926:
886:
735:
614:
575:
523:
479:
104:
91:
542:, in the preparations for the expected war, later known as the Six-Day War.
780:
555:
527:
511:
491:
174:
83:
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483:
305:
30:
806:
715:
519:
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79:
894:
764:
756:
440:
771:, this attack commenced at 12:30, but was forced to a halt as well.
865:
Gawrych, George W. (1991). "The Egyptian Military Defeat of 1967".
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625:
535:
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says that the Israelis suffered "40 dead, and about 120 wounded."
809:. However, when the Egyptian Minister of Defense, Field Marshal
767:) was ordered to attack frontally further south. After a short
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of about five kilometers each, reinforced by concrete
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6 artillery battalions (105 mm & 155 mm
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tank guns, specifically designed to defeat the Soviet
490:
to Israel. Leading Israeli forces was Major General
570:with 75 mm guns, as well as a hundred British
855:published by Kinneret Zamora pavilion, 2016, p 183
718:and Kusseima, with the center placed at the area
924:
634:Force A-B, improvised brigade-size battle group
608:14th Armored Brigade (with Super Sherman tanks)
605:Divisional Mechanised Reconnaissance Battalion
611:63rd armored battalion (with Centurion tanks)
289:
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829:
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510:was part of the Israeli offensive into the
474:) was a military confrontation between the
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847:
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662:330th, 332nd, 334th Artillery Battalions
518:offensive consisted of three divisions:
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909:Ariel Sharon - Life Story, A Biography
838:
277:
759:, causing the loss of seven Israeli
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692:1 Mechanised Antitank Battalion (22
654:37th, 38th, 39th Infantry Battalions
494:, later a prominent politician and
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13:
640:
589:
545:
14:
964:
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705:336th Medium Artillery Battalion
631:Divisional engineering battalion
227:with 105 mm guns, the rest were
152:
139:
37:
867:Journal of Contemporary History
303:
901:
858:
47:shortly before the Six-Day War
16:1967 battle of the Six-Day War
1:
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615:99th "Negev" Infantry Brigade
501:
799:
562:with 85 mm guns and 22
7:
193:16,000 - 8,000 participated
10:
969:
879:10.1177/002200949102600205
670:1 Anti-tank Rocket Company
783:. However, with only six
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702:299th Artillery Battalion
676:Attached to 12th Brigade
620:80th Paratroopers Brigade
313:
238:
184:
165:
132:
51:
36:
28:
23:
943:Battles involving Israel
699:352nd Infantry Battalion
667:2 Antiaircraft Companies
496:prime minister of Israel
938:Battles involving Egypt
659:51st Artillery Brigade
59:5–6 June 1967
680:6th Tank Regiment (66
651:12th Infantry Brigade
554:: Against 66 Egyptian
526:'s 31st Division, and
506:The Israeli attack at
406:Mediterranean Campaign
166:Commanders and leaders
647:2nd Infantry Division
601:38th Armored Division
476:Israel Defense Forces
239:Casualties and losses
460:Battle of Abu-Ageila
219:150 tanks (over 100
203:22 tank destroyers (
24:Battle of Abu-Ageila
851:Gavish, Yeshayahu:
464:Battle of Umm-Qatef
462:(also known as the
105:30.8389°N 34.2558°E
101: /
769:aerial bombardment
687:288 Tank Battalion
522:'s 84th Division,
516:Southern Command's
374:Jordanian Campaign
250:64 tanks destroyed
948:Conflicts in 1967
710:Egyptian defences
580:Royal Ordnance L7
472:קְרַב אוֹם־כָּתֵף
453:
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448:
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265:8 tanks destroyed
207:with 100 mm guns)
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960:
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914:1967 Six-Day War
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811:Abdel Hakim Amer
777:suppressing fire
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393:Augusta-Victoria
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247:2,000 casualties
231:with 75 mm guns)
200:with 85 mm guns)
179:Yeshayahu Gavish
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641:Egyptian forces
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590:Order of battle
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546:Opposing forces
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488:Sinai Peninsula
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426:Syrian Campaign
383:Ammunition Hill
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873:(2): 277–305.
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327:Waiting period
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736:counterattack
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576:M-50 and M-51
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532:38th Division
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524:Avraham Yoffe
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480:Egyptian Army
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912:, Chapter 6
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781:paratroopers
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558:-era Soviet
556:World War II
549:
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528:Ariel Sharon
512:Sinai Desert
505:
492:Ariel Sharon
463:
459:
457:
434:
415:
349:
343:
175:Ariel Sharon
133:Belligerents
84:Sinai Desert
29:Part of the
953:Six-Day War
785:helicopters
484:Six-Day War
306:Six-Day War
262:140 wounded
108: /
31:Six-Day War
927:Categories
818:References
807:Suez Canal
765:halftracks
761:Centurions
724:sand dunes
716:Abu-Ageila
520:Israel Tal
508:Abu-Ageila
502:Background
350:Abu-Ageila
221:Centurions
196:66 tanks (
96:34°15′21″E
93:30°50′20″N
80:Abu-Ageila
67:1967-06-06
63:1967-06-05
45:Centurions
887:0022-0094
800:Aftermath
757:minefield
626:Howitzers
574:and both
572:Centurion
441:Tel Faher
398:Bethlehem
365:massacres
259:42 killed
853:Red Flag
728:trenches
720:Um-Katef
536:Um-Katef
478:and the
418:incident
388:Old City
360:El Arish
355:Um Katef
185:Strength
75:Location
65: –
43:Israeli
732:bunkers
568:AMX-13s
482:in the
416:Liberty
229:AMX-13s
205:SU-100s
198:T34/85s
61: (
895:260792
893:
885:
750:Battle
694:SU-100
682:T34/85
564:SU-100
560:T34/85
552:armour
468:Hebrew
319:Israel
216:14,000
160:Israel
157:
144:
121:Result
891:JSTOR
540:Qahir
435:Focus
344:Focus
147:Egypt
883:ISSN
584:T-54
458:The
414:USS
223:and
56:Date
875:doi
794:KIA
530:'s
929::
889:.
881:.
871:26
869:.
840:^
826:^
684:)
514:.
498:.
470::
466:;
82:,
897:.
877::
696:)
628:)
297:e
290:t
283:v
69:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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