Kadesh “1956” part 2

last time we stopped here “Operation Kadesh initially was similar to 1967 on having the first strike from the IAF , it was planned to launch attack by air fighters from the Meteor type to target the EAF airports in the west of Cairo “I guess Almaza and also Imbaba in Giza as it is in the west of Cairo” yet it was abandoned in the last time in the eve of Kadesh where the IAF was ordered to cover up and assist the ground forces in Sinai , already this is an old Israeli technique before a ground invasion ,the IAF comes in and bomb earth ,so the IDF won’t find much resistance just like what happened in South Lebanon, anyway the IAF took their orders on the 28th of October and next day officially the war started on the 29th of October 1956″

One of the things I forgot to mention in Part 1 is that Israel mobilized exactly 450,000 soldier in 73 hours and made its Air forces were fully operational in 43 hours after taking the war decision

The war started officially on the 29th of October with paradrop on the Mitla pass in the heart of Sinai , already the passes area in the heart of Sinai are very strategic , as far as I know with my humble military and geographical information about Sinai , who controls those passes , owns Sinai , anyway if you see more carefully the map of Sinai here ,you will be surprised to find that Mitla pass is on the eastern side more , yes it is in the middle of Sinai ,but it is close to the western shore of the canal ,check it by yourself.It was Moshe Dayan’s plan to parachute in to Mitla and from there to move backward to the borders , to aid the ground forces that will come from the eastern borders I guess

of course the parachute brigades needed protection and thus the IAF ordered the take off of pair of air fighters to distract our army from the planned drop zone “clever”

The commander or the leader of the paratroops was a man you already know him Ariel Sharon , but it was n’t the first confront between “Arik” and the Egyptian army, in fact in 1955 after the attacks made by the squad troop Sharon led in Gaza strip , Sharon made a daring attack on an Egyptian military base killing 35 Egyptian officer and soldier , of course I know that Egyptians will be amazed by this little massacre , as I never had heard about it before just like you , I don’t know why the Egyptian regime hided , it is contradicting to the propaganda the coup of July regime was spreading . It seems to me that despite the Israeli propaganda about the hostility of the Egyptian regime than ,yet the Egyptian regime was trying not to go to war with the Israelis despite all the provokes ,I mean attacking an army base and killing your soldiers are acts of war .

Between October 29 and November 1, 1956, Israel, using fast armored divisions, outflanked, surrounded, and routed the Egyptian forces in Sinai. Israel’s air force neutralized more than ninety armored vehicles that vainly tried to shore up Egypt’s defenses. Using paratroops, Israel took Egypt’s airfields in the Sinai and Israeli forces quickly advanced unopposed toward the Suez Canal.

A battle plan for the operation had been adopted in early October 1956, but was revised following Israel’s secret agreement with Britain and France. Under the agreement, Israel would transfer the focus of action as close to the Suez Canal as possible. However, the Israeli government also drew up a course of action allowing it to convert the operation into a brief raid, should the British and French, contrary to the secret agreement, not intervene. In a new plan, adopted on October 25, it was decided to launch the operation with a paratroop landing, and to hold the Armored Corps back until October 31. At 17:00 on October 29, Israeli units parachuted into the eastern approaches of the Mitla Pass near the Canal – a political rather than tactical or strategic objective. The action provided the pretext for a French and British ultimatum to Israel and Egypt, calling on both sides to cease hostilities and withdraw from the Canal area. For diversionary reasons, Israeli forces also advanced on southern and central axes.

On October 31 Britain and France issued their ultimatum ordering both forces to keep all fighting at least 10 miles from the Canal Zone. Israel halted in compliance with the ultimatum, but, as expected, the Egyptians ignored the Anglo-French ultimatum to withdraw since they, the “victims,” were being asked to retreat from the Sinai to the west bank of the Canal while the Israelis were permitted to stay just 10 miles east of the Canal.

On October 30, the United States sponsored a Security Council resolution calling for an immediate Israeli withdrawal, but England and France vetoed it. The following day, the two allies launched air operations, bombing Egyptian airfields near Suez.

Given the pretext to continue fighting, the Israeli forces routed the Egyptians. Israel surrounded Gaza and wiped out the Egyptian fortifications there. The IDF’s armored corps swept across the desert, capturing virtually the entire Sinai. The Egyptian garrison at Sharm el-Sheikh was overwhelmed on November 5, ending the Sinai Campaign. The Arab world was stunned. In eight days Israel had taken all of the Sinai Desert with its touted fortifications.

I copied this part to say the truth from this site , you will know why below

Really I can’t find many information about how the battles between the Egyptian Army and IDF were except briefly, of course I am not searching in the Egyptian websites ,because there is no much information revealed about the military battles , even the testimonies of the ex-generals are not available in a stupid way , well I am surprised it is the oldest characteristic in any Egyptian regime to hide any military defeat , yes we had a military defeat back then in Sinai ,our land was taken from us in 6- 7 days “6 days too” , for God Sake,it was only the 5 of November when all units entered Sharm Shekih and Ben Geuiron had an interesting meeting with his army leaders ordering them to fasten the operation of “Israelizing Sinai” , sorry I guess I am using a term from my mind ,this term is to turn Sinai from Egyptian to Israel , he wanted that the names of regions and areas across Sinai to be changed from Arabic to Hebrew, no Arabic name should be left that can indicate its real identity before the security council expected order of ceasing fire.

The Israelis by their turn did n’t say much ,because they also were defeated ,in fact If I look to it like this,I found that defeat was much worst than ours , you see when you invade another land and you succeed in this easily with the least losses”check it below and don’t laugh ” than someone comes and orders you to leave it otherwise you will be punished , then it is a great loss

look to what Ben Geuiron said in 1956

“If we had had an army like this in 1948 we could have conquered all the Arab countries,Things have changed. Sinai is in our hands.”

check what the Zionists are saying here about it

man the Israelis always learn from their mistakes why can’t we do the same thing !!??

Israel army in this war was as the following :

Mobilized troops : 450,000

Ground forces :30,000

202 Parachute Brigade

• 1^st Battalion
• 2^nd Battalion
• 3^rd Battalion

890 Parachute Brigade

9^th Regiment

10^th Regiment

Air Force

101 Fighter Squadron (Mystere 4, first and only squadron)

116 Fighter Squadron (Mustang, last squadron)

??? Fighter Squadron (Gloster Meteor)

??? Squadron (Mosquito)

Harvard

B-17 (two aircraft)

French Air Force in Israel

2^nd Air Regiment [Major St. Martin]

– 199 Fighter Squadron (Ramat David) 18 Israeli Mystere 4/43 pilots

– 201 Fighter Squadron (Ramat David) 18 F-84 Thunderstreak/25 pilots [Pressville]

Noratlas (transport) squadron (Lod AB)

(Israel had 60+ Mystere 4 on order and had received the first four in the spring of 1956. Because of the shortage of trained Israeli pilots, the French Air Force brought in Israeli-designated Mysteres with French pilots, in great secrecy. The large number of Mystere pilots indicates the French were prepared to fly for 101 Squadron as well. The Noratlas squadron transport participated in combat operations; the F-84s flew offensive missions against Egypt from Israel.)

Aircraft Inventory

130 Vampire/Meteor

20 Mystere 4

20 Dakota (at least)

Aircraft losses

Mystere – 1

Mustang – 7

Mosquito – 2

Harvard – 2

Piper Cub – 3

Total – 15

Navy

Eliat (destroyer)

Yafo

Troops losses

Killed in Action = 231

Wounded in Action = 890

Prisoners of war = 4 !!!

I am sorry but I don’t feel that I did a good job this part 😦

Sooner insh Allah I will start operation Musketeer where the fun begins 🙂

Sources :

1- Jewish virtual library

2- Wikipedia

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