The Battle of Ismailia took place between the Egyptian Army and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the last stages of the Yom Kippur War during October 18–22, 1973, south of the city of Ismailia, on the west bank of the Suez Canal in Egypt. The battle itself took place as part of the larger IDF-launched Operation Abiray-Lev, in an attempt to seize Ismailia and thereby sever the logistical and supply lines of most of Egypt's Second Field Army across the Suez Canal.
Breaking out of their newly established bridgehead west of the Canal at the northern end of the Great Bitter Lake, the IDF launched an offensive from Deversoir toward Ismailia. A combined force of Egyptian paratroopers and commandos fought a delaying battle, falling back upon defensive positions further north under increasing pressure from IDF infantry and armor. By October 22, they were occupying a last line of defense, including positions along the Ismailia Canal. Though outnumbered, they repulsed a final Israeli effort to capture the city; a United Nations ceasefire was then imposed, bringing the battle to an end. The Egyptians registered a tactical and strategic victory in the defense of Ismailia, stopping an encirclement of their large forces on the east bank of the Suez Canal and ensuring their supply lines remained open.
Background
On October 6, 1973, Egypt launched Operation Badr, which started the Yom Kippur War. It succeeded in crossing the Suez Canal and establishing bridgeheads on the east bank in Israeli-occupied Sinai, and counter-attacks launched by Israeli reserves were unsuccessful. By October 10, fighting along the front had come to a lull. Following the collapse of the Syrian front and Israel launching an invasion into Syria beyond the Golan heights, the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat ordered an offensive to seize the strategic Sinai mountain passes and expanded the war goals beyond the western banks of the suez, despite protests and objections by his senior commanders against such an offensive. Sadat hoped to divert Israeli pressure from the Syrians. The October 14 offensive was ill-planned and ill-executed, and culminated in heavy Egyptian losses without achieving any objectives.
The failed Egyptian offensive gave the initiative to the Israelis, who immediately launched Operation Abiray-Lev, aiming to cross the canal between two Egyptian armies in order to encircle Egyptian forces on the east banks and cut their supply lines. Optimistically planned, the operation began smoothly, but quickly ran into problems. The Israelis faced difficulties in establishing a corridor to the canal due to unexpectedly determined resistance by Egyptian defenses, in what became known as the Battle of the Chinese Farm. After several days of heavy fighting, they were able to secure the roads to the canal, and by October 18 had two bridges laid down at Deversoir, at the northern end of the Great Bitter Lake. By the next day there were three Israeli armored divisions across the canal. Two advanced south toward Suez City, while the 143rd Armored Division under Major General Ariel Sharon advanced north to seize Ismailia, hoping to sever the supply lines to three Egyptian divisions of the Second Field Army across the canal.
Prelude
The west bank of the canal was lined with a series of ramparts up to 30 meters (98 ft) high, which the Egyptians referred to as "strong points". These were used during the opening days of the war to allow Egyptian forces to directly fire on the Israelis on the east bank. There were five strong points between the Great Bitter Lake and the Ismailia Canal, from north to south: a pumping station at Deversoir, the village of Serabaeum, Touscan, Heneidac and Jebel Mariam. The area was largely agricultural, intersected with dikes and irrigation ditches, although these did not present significant obstacles. There were several villages and numerous farms, especially orchards of mango and orange trees. The density of foliage made the terrain unsuitable for vehicles. The Israelis called it the "jungle" or "Vietnam". West of the Suez Canal, and running parallel to it, was the Sweetwater Canal, which distributed freshwater to the inhabitants of the canal zone and its cities. It branched from the Ismailia Canal, running east from the Nile River near Cairo to Lake Timsah at Ismailia. There were four bridges across the Ismailia Canal. The first was the Abu Gamus Bridge at Ismailia. Two bridges, one railroad and one vehicular, were located at the village of Nafisha, on the western outskirts of Ismailia. Further west was the Upper Bridge, as it was called. Engineers had wired the bridges with demolition charges for destruction should they fall to the Israelis. Second Army's reserve included the 10th and 118th Mechanized Infantry Brigades, with the latter occupying a series of fortified defenses on the northern bank of the Ismailia Canal.
The 182nd Paratrooper Brigade, comprising the 81st, 85th and 89th Battalions (each composed of three companies) under the command of Colonel Ismail Azmy, was assigned responsibility for defending the area south of Ismailia against an Israeli offensive. Azmy arrived at Nafisha with the bulk of his brigade at midnight on October 17, where he was briefed by Brigadier General Abd el-Munim Khalil, commander of Second Army. Khalil identified the west bank strong points as objectives for the paratroopers to secure, as the ramparts could be used to provide fire support to Egyptian forces on the east bank. The paratroopers would also hold Serabaeum and the bridges there over the Sweetwater Canal.
The 85th Paratrooper Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel 'Atef Monsif, had been involved in a recent counter-attack against Deversoir. Despite breaking through in certain areas and even seizing part of the airstrip at Deversoir, the paratroopers and their supporting armor were greatly outnumbered and the counter-attack failed. The battalion suffered around a hundred dead, missing or wounded, and by dawn on October 18 it had been pulled back to Inshas Military Base for reorganizing. The only other Egyptian forces in the area were commandos, the 73rd Battalion of the 129th Sa'iqa (lightning) Group. The Sa'iqa had also been engaged in heavy fighting at Serabaeum, Deversoir and the nearby military base of Abu Sultan. By late October 17, the battalion's two companies had been ordered to withdraw from the vicinity of Deversoir northward to defend Serabaeum.
On October 18, Sharon's division across the canal included the 243rd Paratrooper Brigade under Colonel Danny Matt and an armored brigade under Colonel Haim Erez. Sharon, wanting to expand the Israeli bridgehead northward, received permission to cross a third unit, an armored brigade under Colonel Amnon Reshef, to the west bank, and did so on October 19. The paratroopers and part of the armor had been holding the Israeli bridgehead since October 16, facing little resistance, while Reshef's brigade had been involved in heavy fighting at the Chinese Farm until it was relieved by Israeli reinforcements.
Battle
First day
On the morning of October 18, Israeli paratroopers began their first push northward. Sharon ordered the attack, even though he had not yet received permission to launch an offensive in that direction. An Israeli battalion moved toward Serabaeum, spearheaded by a company mounted in half-tracks. The village was then occupied by a company of the 73rd Sa'iqa Battalion, and the defenders received a platoon of reinforcements to make up their losses. The Israelis began coming under fire as they approached the town, but the battalion commander decided to push ahead. As they entered the village, they encountered heavy resistance, and the lead half-track was cut off. Fourteen men, including the company commander, Captain Asa Kadmoni, managed to take cover in one of the houses. Kadmoni took up a position covering several approaches and, with ammunition passed to him by others, held his position for over three hours, engaging the Egyptians at ranges of 10 to 15 meters (33 to 49 ft), hitting their positions with his LAW anti-tank weapon. Other paratroopers with armor managed to reach the unit and retrieve them, before the Israelis withdrew under Egyptian pressure. The paratroopers suffered 11 killed and 27 wounded in the attack. Kadmoni would be awarded the Medal of Valor for his performance that day.
The Sa'iqa Battalion's other company was occupying positions just north of Abu Sultan. Despite receiving the order to retreat during the night of October 17–18, the Egyptians were heavily outnumbered and the intensity of the fighting prevented them from withdrawing from their positions. Consequently, Heikal ordered artillery barrages on the area, including the Sa'iqa company's position, inadvertently leading to friendly-fire casualties. Soon after the firing subsided, Israeli paratroopers attacked in the morning, and severe fighting, including hand-to-hand combat, ensued. Both sides suffered heavy losses, but the Sa'iqa held its position. At night, both companies retreated. The 73rd Battalion sustained 85 casualties, including 11 officers, throughout the fighting on October 18, and subsequently was withdrawn to be reconstituted.
That morning, Azmy's paratroopers moved south to their objectives, reaching them with relative ease. The 89th Battalion occupied all five strong points between Jebel Mariam and the pumping station. The commander made the mistake of separating his forces equally among all five strong points, rather than concentrating his forces at the southernmost strong points. However, from the rampart at the pumping station, the paratroopers could clearly see the Israeli pontoon bridge at Deversoir, and corrected artillery fire being directed against the bridge. Second Army's artillery forces continued to fire almost unceasingly until the following day, sometimes scoring hits on the bridge. Egyptian artillery fire against the bridges would inflict heavy casualties on the Israelis until the end of the war.
The accuracy of the Egyptian artillery strikes alerted the Israelis, who attacked the strong point at the pumping station with armor and seized it. Instead of concentrating forces for a counter-attack, the battalion commander used only the forces originally assigned to the strong point in a counter-attack to regain it, which inevitably failed due to the paucity of forces. Meanwhile, the 81st Battalion reached Serabaeum where they established defenses, mainly at a position south of the railway station, at a hill called Orcha by the Israelis. At this point, only these two paratrooper battalions were positioned between Sharon's division and the Ismailia Canal.
During the afternoon that day, Egyptian Chief-of-Staff Saad el-Shazly arrived at Second Army Headquarters in Ismailia, at President Sadat's request. Shazly sought to assess the situation and to work with Khalil on a plan to counter the Israeli advance. They agreed to withdraw the 15th Armored Brigade from the east bank and keep it north of Ismailia as a reserve force, and to have Egyptian forces on the east bank attack southward to sever or at least narrow the Israeli corridor to the canal. Azmy's brigade meanwhile would continue defending the area south of the Ismailia Canal, and additional Sa'iqa units would be committed. Shazly also solved a major problem concerning anti-tank weaponry. Azmy's brigade was almost completely lacking anti-tank weapons; it had been stripped of its anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) battalion, equipped with AT-3 Saggers and RPG-7s, which was sent to the east bank to support the initial offensive. This battalion, and a second belonging to the 118th Infantry Brigade, were now withdrawn from the east bank throughout October 18 and brought back to their units. Shazly and Khalil carried out these orders in relative secrecy, as they were disobeying direct orders from Sadat and the Minister of War, Ahmed Ismail, not to withdraw any units from the east bank. Several measures decided upon were not implemented however.
Second day
Amnon Reshef's armored brigade completed its crossing that morning, and joined Sharon's division, just as the latter received actual approval to begin an offensive toward Ismailia. In the meantime, the 85th Battalion had completed reorganizing at Inshas Base and returned to Ismailia, where it was placed under Azmy's command once again. The 129th Sa'iqa Group retreated to Abu Suweir, north of Ismailia, to reorganize, and Heikal was also informed of his group's new area of operations, with the objective of defending the Upper Bridge, and the crucial Cairo-Ismailia Desert Road that incorporated the bridge.