Battles of Fort Budapest
31°10′31.0″N 32°26′45.7″E / 31.175278°N 32.446028°E
First Battle of Fort Budapest | |||||||
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Part of the Yom Kippur War | |||||||
Fort Budapest in 1970 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Egypt | Israel | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Salah 'Abd el-Halim Ali al-Mezahi | Motti Ashkenazi | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1 infantry battalion 1 commando company |
1 infantry company 2 tank platoons Reinforcements[1] |
The Battles of Fort Budapest (Hebrew: מעוז בודפשט) refer to two attempts by the Egyptian Army to capture Fort Budapest, part of Israel's Bar Lev Line, during the Yom Kippur War. The first attempt took place at noon on October 6, 1973, with the start of Operation Badr, but failed due to Israeli Air Force intervention. The second attempt took place on October 15, at the onset of Operation Stouthearted Men, the Israeli military operation to cross the Suez Canal. Despite significant setbacks caused by poor sea conditions, the second attack was on the verge of success when the Israeli Air Force once again intervened, and this, coupled with Israeli reinforcements, repelled the Egyptian attack.
Background
Fort Budapest was the northernmost fort of the
The Budapest garrison also had the advantage of terrain. Located on a narrow strip of land bounded to the north by the Mediterranean, and to the south by
Prelude to first attack
Capturing Fort Budapest fell within the responsibility of the
To allow the Sa'iqa company to perform its landing, the Port Said Sector was to be supplied 24 assault dinghies. Only ten were received however, and on October 3, Second Army informed Khalid that there were no more dinghies available, and that he would have to improvise. Khalid resorted to renting two fishing boats. Consequently, the Sa'iqa company was tasked with simply isolating the fort; no attack from the east would be carried out.[3]
First Battle
On October 6, at 14:00, as part of Operation Badr, over 200 Egyptian aircraft participated in an air strike against various Israeli targets in the Sinai. As part of the strike, IL-28 tactical bombers attacked Fort Budapest. The bombers were moderately accurate, some of the bombs finding their targets and others landing outside the fort's perimeter. Budapest was also targeted by an artillery barrage, beginning at 14:05. While the fire preparation was underway, the Sa'iqa company moved out of Port Said to conduct its landing east of the fort. At the same time the main attacking force began moving from its positions east of Port Fouad. In the lead were three T-34s with mine flails to breach the minefield, closely followed by combat engineers, and then the advance fireteams. Behind these, forming the first echelon of the battalion, was a platoon in amphibious vehicles supported by the three remaining T-34s.[4]
As soon as the lead T-34s reached the minefield, they came under heavy fire from the fort's garrison. Soon all three tanks were either destroyed or damaged, so the combat engineers proceeded to breach the minefield on their own. Israeli aircraft began strafing and bombing the Egyptian forces for over two and a half hours while encountering no resistance, leading to the destruction of all six tanks and five vehicles. The Israelis bombed Egyptian forces at the minefield and on an area of the strip stretching two kilometers towards Port Fouad. Under fire from the air and from the fort, the attack bogged down to a complete halt before the Egyptians began to retreat. Salah ordered his battalion to assume defensive positions east of Port Fouad to repel any Israeli counterattack and to regroup.[5]
The Sa'iqa company achieved the only discernible success of the attack. It managed to land four kilometers east of the fort without facing any
Salah planned to attempt another attack against Budapest on October 8, and al-Mezahi, whose battalion would carry out the second attempt, took the necessary preparations. The attack was canceled however, due to heavy Israeli aerial attacks against Port Said throughout the night of October 7/8. The Sa'iqa company continued to hold its positions east of Budapest for four days, until Salah decided to withdraw it due to the casualties it had sustained.[6]
Second Battle
Prelude
On October 11, the Port Said Sector was reinforced with the 103rd Sa'iqa battalion of the 139th Sa'iqa Group. The battalion had arrived from Cairo, and three days later the sector received ten new fiberglass boats from Alexandria. The boats however had been sent without necessary maintenance of the boats themselves or their engines. With the arrival of these reinforcements and equipment, Salah began to lay a plan of attack.[6]
As in the first attempt, a Sa'iqa company from the 103rd Battalion would occupy positions four kilometers east of Budapest to isolate the fort. It would be supported by an
Salah presented his plan to Maj. Gen. Khalid on the morning of October 13. Khalid authorized the attack and informed Second Army. The 103rd Sa'iqa Battalion spent the night of October 12/13 and October 14 preparing for the attack; reconnoitering the area around the fort by means of
Attack
Second Battle of Fort Budapest | |||||||
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Part of the Yom Kippur War | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Egypt | Israel | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Salah 'Abd el-Halim Ali al-Mezahi (KIA) | Motti Ashkenazi | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1 infantry battalion 2 Sa'iqa companies |
1 infantry company 2 tank platoon[1] Reinforcements: 2 tank companies[9] |
At 3:00 AM on October 15, the reinforced company (less one platoon) began moving out of Port Said in preparation for its landing. At 3:30, the fire preparation began against the fort. It was carried out by the 135th Brigade's artillery and an additional artillery battalion. At 4:00, the attack began. The secondary attack force approaching from the west opened fire to draw the garrison's attention. The main force advanced towards the fort, spearheaded by the Sa'iqa company. The Egyptians managed to reach the fort and surprise its garrison. Soon the company was on the verge of entering the fort. The naval force however, due to bad sea conditions (
The Israelis reinforced the fort with two tank companies. They came up against the Sa'iqa company isolating the fort. In the ensuing firefight, the company leader and every platoon commander were killed as the Egyptians were caught in open ground, bereft of any cover. There were also many casualties, but the Sa'iqa destroyed twenty Israeli tanks and half-tracks during the battle.[9]
The Egyptians, under heavy and effective fire from the Israelis inside the bunkers, ceased entering the fort. The Sa'iqa company to the east, under concentrated Israeli tank fire and aerial bombardment, was finally overwhelmed by the Israeli reinforcements, which proceeded towards the fort, opening fire on the main force. Consequently, all Egyptian forces east of the fort attempted to retreat through the marshes. The Israelis attempted to hamper the retreat by dropping smoke capsules over the area from four
The sector's command contacted
Aftermath
The second Egyptian attempt was the last; the Port Said Sector did not launch another attack to capture the fort. Thus Budapest remained the only Israeli fortification of the Bar Lev Line to remain under Israeli control.[12] Four months after the Yom Kippur War, Captain Motti Ashkenazi, the commander of Fort Budapest, led the protests against the Israeli government's handling of the war.[13]
References
- ^ a b c Hammad (2002), p.645–646
- ^ a b Hammad (2002), p.658
- ^ Hammad (2002), p.659
- ^ Hammad (2002), p.659–660
- ^ a b Hammad (2002), p.660
- ^ a b Hammad (2002), p.661
- ^ Hammad (2002), p.661–662
- ^ Hammad (2002), p.663–665
- ^ a b c Hammad (2002), p.666
- ^ Hammad (2002), p.665–666
- ^ Hammad (2002), pp.666–667
- ^ Hammad (2002), p.667
- ^ Rabinovich (2005), p.499
Bibliography
- Rabinovich, Abraham (2005). The Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle East. Schocken Books. ISBN 0-8052-1124-1.
- Hammad, Gamal (2002). Military Battles on the Egyptian Front (in Arabic) (First ed.). Dar al-Shuruq. ISBN 9770908665.