The Valley of Tears (Hebrew: ??????????? ?, Emek HaBakha ) is a name given to the area on the Golan Heights after becoming a major battleground in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, known as the Valley (or Vale) of Tears Battle , which fought between 6 and 9 October. Despite massively defeated numbers, Israeli troops managed to defend their position and on the fourth day of battle, the Syrians resigned, just as the Israeli defense was nearing its point of destruction.
Video Valley of Tears
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On the eve of Rosh Hashana, Israel's 7th Brigade was ordered to move a battalion into the Golan Heights to strengthen the Armored Brigade Barracks, under the command of Yitzhak Ben Shoham. Avigdor Ben-Gal's brigade commander concluded that something would happen to Yom Kippur. He ordered the artillery forces to survey the area and set up targets and fire the table. He convened a meeting with his battalion commander to discuss the main points of the operational plan previously held at the Northern Command of Israel. Without telling his superiors, he took them on a front-line tour. At 12 o'clock at Yom Kippur, 6 October, the brigade was concentrated in the Nafakh area. Nafakh is an important military base at the intersection of Jalan Minyak, which diagonally crosses the northern Golan Heights, and a road that leads to the strategic Bnot Yaakov Bridge over the Jordan River and into northern Israel.
Israeli intelligence estimates that Syria has more than 900 tanks and 140 artillery batteries just behind the Syrian line. Syrian 7th Division is one of the units ready to attack. The number of Syrian tanks is actually around 1,260. Each Syrian infantry division has one infantry brigade, one mechanical infantry brigade, and one armored brigade. Infantry and the modified infantry brigade each have three infantry battalions, one forty battalion tank, one AA artillery battalion and one battalion of field artillery. The armored brigade has three battalions of forty tanks each. The division also has a field artillery division regiment, a division of AA division artillery field, a reconnaissance regiment with companies attached to each brigade and a chemical company with parts attached to each brigade. The division's total strength is about 10,000 men, 200 tanks, 72 artillery pieces and 72 anti-aircraft guns and SAMs. The 7th Division, under the command of Brigadier General Omar Abrash, has about 80% of tanks and APC. There are also independent armored brigades with about 2,000 men and 120 tanks each. One of the independent brigades attached to the Abrash division was the Moroccan brigade. At the back is the 1st and 3rd Armored Divisions, with each 250 tanks. The Syrian attack force is supported by at least 1,000 artillery.
Syria's plan was for the 7th Division to break through near Ahmadiyah in the north while the 5th Division did the same near Rafid in the south. This will lead to the double envelope of most of the Israeli forces in the Golan. Each division will advance in two echelons, Division 7 to strike westward through El Rom and Wassett while the 5th Division progresses to the Arik Bridge north of Kinneret. If the 5th Division breaks through, or if both the 5th and 7th, the First Division will push between the 5th and 9th of Nafakh to attack the Israeli forces trapped between the 5th and 7th brace. Israeli forces in the Golan are 170 tanks and 60 artillery pieces are divided between 7th and Barak brigades.
Maps Valley of Tears
Prelude
At 10 o'clock on Yom Kippur, Ben-Gal and another brigade commander convened with General Yitzhak Hofi in Nafakh, where Hofi told them that Intelligence predicted Syria would attack on that day, around 18:00. The 7th Brigade is assigned as a reserve force around Nafakh and prepares for a counterattack in either the north or south sector, or to share and support both. Ben-Gal then goes to meet a battalion in Sindiana and summoned the officers. He summoned the group of orders at Nafakh for 14:00, assuming that would give him enough time to hold a second Battalion. As they gather to wait for him, Syrian artillery and planes begin to attack. Ben-gal's men ran back to their battalions while Ben-Gal moved the headquarters out of the camp. After an hour, he was ordered to move to the northern sector in the Kuneitra area and to transfer the 2nd battalion to the south sector, under the command of Barrack Brigade. The 7th Brigade was left responsible for the northern sector of Kuneitra to the north with two battalions.
As part of his usual strategy, Ben-Gal decided to keep a reserve army, and began building a third battalion. He moved a company from a battalion and placed it under the command of an armored infantry battalion, thus creating a third battalion frame with tanks. With reinforcements, the new battalion gradually became the right one: Ben-Gal now has three battalions available for maneuvering purposes. He received the Colonel Battalion of Colonel Yair Nafshi, who was in line with the castle in the northern sector. With the Nafshi battalion, the brigade has about 100 tanks. The first battalion was placed in the Purple Line. The line starts at A1 enlargement, just east of the Masade at the foot of Mount Hermon, and runs south about six kilometers to Mount Hermonit.
Battle
First day
At 13:55, while the Nafshi sector came under heavy artillery attacks, several soldiers along the Purple Line reported that Syrians were removing camouflage nets from their tanks and artillery. Ben Shoham ordered his battalion commanders, Nafshi and Oded Erez, to deploy almost seven of their Centurion tanks in a prepared battle position. Nafshi was in Kuneitra when the order came to deploy his platoon and move his headquarters to a safer place. He immediately ordered his troops to leave the city, and the tanks to move forward while the soft vehicle fell back. Erez's 53rd Battalion was moved to southern Golan. One of Nafshi's platoon of three tanks was near the Wassett junction when a Syrian jet attacked Tel Abu Nida. As the jets left, the crew began to move to the bunker line. After a kilometer, they were under a large-caliber artillery fire. Prior to 14:00, Nafshi reported to his brigade headquarters that his battalion was ready to fight and was on the Booster ridge.
The strike column of the 85th Infantry Brigade of Syria reached the Israeli anti-tank ditch before its officers noticed that engineers were not at the forefront. They decided to lower the crew of tanks and armed infantry and urged them to walk for a crossing. It stopped the attack in full Israeli view and exposed the men with Israeli gunfire. Nafshi ordered his men to destroy the tank liaison. During the afternoon Israel destroyed most of the Syrian liaison tanks in sight, putting them out of action with shots fired in the range of 1.8 km (2,000 yd). Only two of the connecting tanks managed to reach an anti-tank gutter north of A3. Syrians threw two bridges and one company filled ten tanks across the trench. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) was called in for action, but many planes were shot down.
The first close combat began in the northernmost sector of the 74th Battalion, against a Moroccan Brigade consisting of thirty tanks. One Israeli Centurion was beaten, and an Israeli platoon sent north to guard Dan Road was captured among Moroccans who moved against Tel Shaeta and a Syrian battalion approaching from the west. The Avner Landau company, now with seven Centurions, is also threatened and can not help. Nafshi delegated the northern region of Hermonit to his deputy, Major Yosef Nissim, and strengthened the sector with the company of Captain Eyal Shaham, leaving the company of the Tank Armor School Battalion as a tactical reserve. Within forty minutes, every Barrack Brigade in northern Golan was committed. Nissim ordered Shaham to strengthen the platoon trapped around Tel Shaeta, and ordered his deputy, Lieutenant Asaf Sela, to cover the area south of Tel Shaeta, which could provide easy access to Hermonite, with a platoon. Moroccans continued firing at Tel Shaeta, but did not advance, and the Syrian battalion was stopped when his main vehicle was destroyed on the road. The commander of the Syrian battalion decided to move south and try to penetrate between Dan Road and Hermonite. He did not realize that he was moving between the forces of Shaham and Sela, who prepared the traps. They fired just before 15:00, using a superior position. After a little more than two hours, the Syrians resigned, leaving their connecting tanks, a bulldozer tank, two BRDMs, and six main battle tanks. Shaham's company lost two Centurions. Just before nightfall, Shaham noticed three SU-100 armor carriers and a truck close to Nissim's position, from where Nissim could not involve them. Shaham directs Sela, who can not see Syria, to intercept them. Sela, accompanied by one other Centurion, fired shots at the rear of Syrian troops and destroyed them in the range of 200 to 300 meters. Two Syrian tanks to cross open land into an anti-tank trench in an unattended area south of the Nissim sector. Syrian companies are starting to move towards the area, hoping to cross just before nightfall. When darkness fell, Nafshi ordered a company to move forward toward the Syrian bridges across the trench to destroy the tanks that had crossed. The Syrian company that crossed was hit by a Landau tank and crashed after half an hour. The bridge was sealed.
In the afternoon, Hofi decides that 65 Brigade Barracks tanks can not resist Syrian attacks alone, and perform 105th 105th Brigade. Believing that the northern sector was more important than the southern sector because of Gap Kuneitra, he ordered Ben Gal to take command of the territory from Bunker 107 to the north. Barracks Brigade is now commissioned in the south sector, which is already occupied by Battalion 53 Erez. The 74th Battalion was moved to the 7th Brigade, while the new Battalion 82 arrived, under the command of Captain Meir "Tiger" Zamir, and two companies from the 7th Infantry Infantry Battalion just arrived from the 7th Brigade to the Barracks Brigade. Battalion 77 Avigdor Kahalani, who was familiar with the terrain after working there for a week, was returned to the 7th Brigade. Ben Gal decided to make a personal backup by tying one of the 82nd Battalion companies to the 7th Brigade headquarters. After one hour, the 82nd Battalion was moved to Barrack Brigade.
At night, Nafshi is placed under the command of Brigade 7. Syrians continue to advance in columns, using lights and colored flags to distinguish the units. Some of them attacked the Israeli minefield. Israeli troops did not have adequate optical equipment for night combat, and had to measure the position of Syrian troops with their sounds and artillery fire. Nafshi Battalion continued to change positions to avoid tank hunters. The castles were heavily attacked by tanks and infantry and asked for help. Nafshi told them to go underground and give them a supportive artillery fire.
Abrash undertook the 78th Armored Brigade in the northern sector at 22:00. He is behind schedule, but is expected to redeem it if the 78th Brigade can reach and secure the Kuneitra-Mas'ade Road, four and a half kilometers to the west of the starting line. It is believed that achieving this mission will cause the Israeli defense to collapse. Each of the 82 Brigade's T-55 tanks is equipped with specially designed infrared nightscope. The night was illuminated by the moonlight. The 82nd Brigade climbs into the valley just two and a half kilometers from Kuneitra-Masada Road. Ben Gal uses artillery for illumination, and orders his men to remain silent until the Syrians are in good reach. At 22:00, Syrian tanks are 800 meters away from Israeli positions. Both sides lose tanks to the terrain. Captain Yair Swet, commander of the 77th Battalion company, was ordered to move to Booster and lose two tanks as a result. One crew manages to release his tank and uses it to pull the other, but the delay diverts the battalion's attention.
Lieutenant Colonel Yosef Eldar, commander of the 75th Armored Infantry Battalion and responsible for the area penetrated by the 78th Brigade, was wounded, and Ben Gal ordered Kahalani to assume responsibility. At this point, Kahalani firms spread over seventeen kilometers between Hermonit and Bunker 109. One Syrian tank was found only after Kahalani ordered one of the companies to turn off their lights. A Syrian anti-tank unit tried to advance the Bnot Yaakov Road, ahead of Bunker 107, not knowing that the place was occupied. Israel fired shots and after a brief battle, Syrian troops withdrew. The 78th Brigade and its support units are squatting.
Some may suspect this is due to the rapid reaction time of the Israeli crew compared to the Syrian tank crew. Because Israel often shoots at least two or more shells to Syria one, this will prove a major factor in offsetting the disparity of troops.
Second day
At dawn on October 7, the area between Hermonite and Booster was named "The Valley of the Tears" due to the many tanks burning on it. At 7 o'clock, the Israeli Skyhawks begin flying over the southern Golan. The first four descend from the southwest and within seconds, they are exposed to a surface-to-air Syrian (SAM) missile. A few minutes later, four of the other four approached and two were shot down. At 08:00, the 78th Tank Brigade of the 7th Division launched the second attack. It advanced in front of a width of 4 kilometers across the valley towards Wassett. The 75th Battalion was at war with a Syrian brigade, with ranges varying from 9 to 2100 m (10-2,300 yd). Meanwhile, the 74th Battalion in the north was attacked by two Syrian battalions, backed by armored infantry troops at APC, most of which were destroyed. The Syrian goal in this attack is the wadi that runs towards Wassett along the base of Hermonite. Shaham was killed just before 1:00 pm, a short time before the Syrians resigned.
The 77th Battalion was moved from the south of Kuneitra to the central sector in Hermonit. Kahalani was ordered to leave a small army in the south to protect the wings of the brigade. The 74th Battalion, which lost about ten tanks, remained in the north. The left-behind Kahalani company was attacked in the afternoon, but Syrian forces attacking about twenty tanks were destroyed. The 7th Brigade lost three company commanders in the morning combat, and over a dozen tanks were damaged or destroyed, nothing was replaced. At the end of the day, Ben Gal meets Kahalani and Eldar, the wounded, on the southern slope of Booster to review the incident. Meanwhile, Kahalani's deputy, Major Eitan Kauli, supported troops fighting in the sector. With troops from Battalion 75, he began rearming, refueling, and rescuing tanks and APCs. Three Officers were at one time drawn from the front-line position and worked at Wassett. This gives the crew the opportunity to eat, drink, and rest, and raise the moral of the brigade.
The Syrians attacked the central sector again at 22:00 with artillery. The 7th Division joined the 64th and 66th Field Artillery Regiment with the 81st Brigade, led by a T-62 tank, submitted from Headquarters to allow Abrash to launch a new attack around the Tapline-Wassett intersection in the north. Golan-central. The 81st Brigade arrived five hours after being ordered out of Kiswe, Syria's Military Base. With 400 artillery, the 85th Infantry Brigade will conduct a company of each tank and infantry to the northern sector of the division. The 78th and 81st Brigades will conduct over a hundred infantry-backed tanks at the division's central sector, and the Mechanized Brigade 121 is to suppress some of its attacks on Kuneitra with the aid of the Sagger anti-tank missile installed at BRDM. All units must be equipped with anti-tank guns, mostly RPGs. In total, about 500 tanks were attacked at 22:00.
Nafshi's power of five tanks at Bunker 107 was the first to report a new Syrian attack. Given the small size of his strength, Nafshi's position is particularly vulnerable in the face of this severe attack, and his tank tower is damaged. He decided to allow the T-62 to approach to reduce Syria's nightly profits and figures. Close to 22:00, Syria approached within 450 meters of the bunker. He hit two tanks and whispered the command through his microphone. After four minutes, 25 Syrian tanks were destroyed and their attacks disrupted. Nafshi's power did not suffer casualties. Most Syrian artillery fire fell on Israeli units in the north. Kahalani warned his men to keep searching for anti-tank forces.
The Israeli Brigade, with less than 40 tanks, faces about 500 Syrian tanks. Due to the lack of Israeli night combat equipment, the Syrians reached a short distance, and the battle began in the range 27-55 m (30-60 yd). Syrian tanks and command pass through Israel and destroy many tanks with RPGs. At 1:00 am, Syrians retreated, trying to evacuate damaged and wounded tanks. Ben-Gal hit the area with artillery and used the interval to refuel and return. At 04:00, Syria renewed their attack. This time, they attack mainly with artillery and do not renew large tank attacks. Only in the southern sector of the 7th Brigade, the 7th Division Mechanical Brigade of the Syrian Division survived.
At dawn, 130 Syrian tanks and many APCs lie in the valley, many of which are behind or between Israeli positions. That night, two Syrian infantry battalions attacked positions in Hermonite and were fought by fewer than twenty Israeli infantrymen from the Golani Brigade. Dozens of bodies were left lying on the battlefield.
Day three
On October 8th, the 7th Brigade fought against elements of the 7th Infantry Division, 3rd Armored Division and independent unit, including Assad's Republic Guard. On the south side of the brigade, the Zamir company fought with armored troops entering the area at night. Zamir forces with seven tanks resisted the attack and removed about thirty Syrian tanks, two APC companies, and twenty vehicles. In the afternoon, three individual concentrations of the Syrian tank battalion with armored infantry tried to break through in the Hermonite area. Syrian artillery identifies Israel's position and causes most of its victims. The 7th Brigade lost about 50 people dead and many injured, and left with less than 45 tanks working. Ben-Gal decided to back up five tanks under his command's command, which he ordered to retreat about half a kilometer away and prepare to block Syria's breakthrough.
At dusk, the Abrash tank was struck just as he prepared for a new attack, and he was killed. At night, the Syrian people attacked the central sector toward Booster. Ben-Gal ordered the Zamir company to counterattack from the pelvis and the back of the enemy. Seven Zamir tanks managed to break the attack.
Day four
The Northern Command tried to compose reserves of command, but could only collect survivors from the 53rd Battalion. The Barracks Brigade is almost non-existent: its commander and key staff officer are dead, and almost all troops and equipment are absorbed into other brigades. Lieutenant Colonel Yossi Ben Hanan arrived the night before to take command of what was left of him. He was commander of Battalion 53 to two weeks earlier, and was on his honeymoon when the war began. He was sent to rearrange the brigade. He worked with Erez, who had escaped from Tel Faris on Monday morning, and Shmuel Askarov, deputy commander of Battalion 53, to begin repairing the tanks. In 1800, he reported to his division commander, General Rafael Eitan that he was ready to put forward the thirteen officers he had fixed so far, and was ordered to go to Nafakh. He was on his way when the IAF confirmed that about 100 Syrian tanks headed for the 7th Brigade sector. One aerial photograph illustrates a complete Syrian battalion of thirty-eight T-62s and four BMPs.
At dawn on October 9, Syria launched the heaviest artillery attack so far, using Katyusha and MiG-17 rockets. Seven Syrian helicopters fly over Israel's position to Buq'ata, where four of them release commandos. At 08:00, Syrian troops consisted of 100 tanks and a large number of APC started to advance. Israel fired shots at maximum range but Syria's progress continued. Israeli commanders were exposed in their towers and artillery caused the number of casualties among them to grow significantly. Ben-Gal ordered his troops to leave high ramps and pull some 360 ​​m (390 m) to avoid artillery concentration.
Nafshi was ordered to join the Brigade 7. He entered the battle with six tanks and was beaten. He joins the other tanks and leaves the A3. He ordered all those who took refuge and asked for Israeli artillery fire for protection. Later that day, he arranged the supply convoy to the A3. His tank was hit by a Syrian bazooka near Kuneitra and a tank behind him reported he was dead. Nafshi went on with three APCs past Booster and entered the A3 with supplies.
When the 7th Brigade retreated from the hill, artillery stopped and Syrian tanks climbed the hill to shoot them. Battalion 7 Ben-Gal has only six tanks and acts as a brigade reserve, Nafshi has six tanks, and the operations officer is patrolling Buq'ata for commandos. Zamir fought at Tel Git and ran out of ammunition, so he asked for permission to retreat and return. Ben-Gal refuses at first, but relents when he is told there is only one shell per tank. Ben-Gal consults with Eitan and decides to counterattack. Battalion 7 began to move up the hill and saw Syrian tanks. Kahalani calls other Israeli tanks behind the hill and gets a small response, as they come from different units and operate on different frequencies. Brigade communications officers cut into every corporate net, but they still did not respond to Kahalani. Kahalani criminals finish off Syrian tanks at the top of the hill, and another is hit by an Israeli tank from behind a hill.
To the north, the 74th Battalion struggled with less than half of its tanks. Ben-Gal feared that it might not survive, and ordered him to leave three tanks in this sector and move to the north side of the battle to confront the Assad's Republican Guard, who tried to use dead ground to move toward El Rom. The battalion commander was killed in this battle. Ben-Gal ordered the 77th Battalion to take command of the 74th Battalion. The 77th battalion then fought with two T62 tank battalions obtained by the 7th Brigade and about 460 m (500 yd) behind it. The 77th Battalion moved to the plateau around the valley and destroyed the Assad Guard Republican army. All the troops in the central sector, about fifteen tanks, are at this point under the command of Kahalani, fighting in the range of 230-460 m (250-500 yd) from their original position on the ramps. The Syrians passed them and shot at them from behind. The 7th Brigade fought in all directions. Tanks from both sides were mixed with the other side and hit with friendly artillery fire. Several Syrian Mi-8 helicopters fly over the valley towards El Rom. At this point, Eitan heard that the Syrian infantry approached Buq'ata, north of El Rom. If the 7th Division breaks through, it can join the infantry troops and proceed to Dan and Kiryat Shmona.
Ben-Gal describes the battle with Eitan and tells him that he's not sure he can survive. Eitan asked him to stay for another half hour. At this point, eleven remaining Brigade Barracks tanks arrive, and Eitan directs them to Ben-Gal. Eitan tells Ben-Gal about the power of Ben-Hanan. Kahalani summoned Captain Emi Palant, senior officer behind the ramps, to use a signal flag to get the tank commander's attention and direct them to the streets, but waving the flag did not get any response. Palant fired his machine gun to the side of the nearest tank to ask the commander to look out, and the message missed. He ran from tanks to tanks and tapped on their turrets to get their attention before returning to his own tank and starting to move forward. No tanks followed. Kahalani heard a sergeant from Battalion 74 and ordered him to take his position and guard the wadi. The sergeant replied that he did not have any remaining shells. Zamir, flanking his position south, reported a massive Syrian attack and asked permission to move the remaining tanks to Zamir's company to a better position slightly south. Ben-Gal refuses. Kahalani reports that he can not control the tank, which keeps hovering back. Ben-Gal says he'll try to give him a tank again. Kahalani ordered the sergeant to take his place, saying the Syrian people would not try to attack if they saw his tank.
Kahalani moves towards the tank behind the fort and tells their commander to raise their flag if they hear it. He saw ten tanks, and most of them raised their flags. Two Israeli planes accidentally bombed them, but no tanks were affected. In the southern sector, Zamir reported that he ran out of ammunition and could no longer survive in Booster. His strength remained with two bullets per tank. He contacts Ben-Gal that he can not survive anymore. Ben-Gal asked him another ten minutes. Zamir's tank ran out of bullets, and he started filling his pocket with grenades and backing away. Kahalani reached the tanks behind the ramps and told them that they would reclaim the road. He started to move and several other tanks slowly followed. Two Syrian tanks were destroyed, but the tanks behind them began to retreat. Ben-Gal informs him on the radio that some tanks, under the command of Eli Geva, are on their way.
Kahalani manages to convince other tanks to follow him. The tank next to him bumped into a Syrian tank coming up on a hill. The tanks were open, and finally they could see the valley. Syrian tanks moved forward, fifty to 910 m (1,000 m) away. Israeli tanks opened fire. Kahalani ordered them to shoot only in the moving tanks. Geva's power reaches the road and joins the battle. The Syrians fired heavy artillery attacks. When it subsided, Kahalani could not see any Syrian tanks moving forward. Zamir had two tanks left and asked for permission to retreat, but Ben-Gal refused. He began to retreat only as a force from the south, under the command of Ben Hanan, arrived. Askarov took a position near Ben Hanan and the rest of the unit formed a battle line. Ben Hanan's face was injured and he gave Askarov orders for treatment. The force destroyed about thirty Syrian tanks.
The 7th Brigade is left with seven tanks, and Ben-Gal tells Eitan that he can not survive anymore. Then the A3, which is surrounded by Syrian forces, reports that Syria's supply trains are turning and retreating. Dennie Agmon, an Eitan intelligence officer, informed him that the Syrian General Staff had decided to resign. Syrian troops began to retreat.
Aftermath
The 7th Brigade, including reinforcements, numbered about twenty tanks. It started chasing the Syrian people but stopped in an anti-tank trench. About 260 tanks lying in the valley. Syria lost more than 500 tanks and APC and Israel lost 60 to 80 armored vehicles. A brigade from Division 7 was taken from action for three days and then rearranged as a battalion. Eitan told Radio Brigade 7: "You have saved the Israelites". Ben Gal says Kahalani: "You are the true savior of the Israelites". In the afternoon, the brigade tanks pull back some at a time for ammunition and fuel. Ben Gal told Kahalani that the brigade had been ordered to strike back to Syria. Eitan asked him to attack the next day, so as not to allow Syria time to rearrange, but Ben Gal asked for one day to let his men rest and refill the line. Kahalani was later awarded the Medal of Valor for his performance in battle.
Patrick Seale argues that the reason why Syria is terminated is the superiority of the IAF, which is free to devote all its attention to the Syrian front. Kenneth Pollack writes that Syrian troops are not looking for an alternate axle to move forward and roll over without defending their sides. Martin Van Creveld suggested the explanation that on October 8, when Israel felt that the battle was lost, he threatened Syria with a nuclear strike.
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Source of the article : Wikipedia
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