For three years after 1970, President Sadat of Egypt planned a surprise attack with Soviet support. The attack took place on the Jewish Day of Atonement (“Yom Kippur” in Hebrew) an annual day of fasting and prayer during which the country comes to a standstill.
On 6th October 1973 Egyptian and Syrian troops struck simultaneously. Egyptian tanks crossed the Suez Canal, demolished the Israeli defence lines, and sped through the Sinai towards Israel. At the same time 1400 Syrian tanks advanced in the Golan Heights. The Egyptian and Syrian forces were assisted by a Russian airlift of sophisticated arms supplies, including brand new wire-guided anti-tank (“Sagger”) missiles, which were a decisive factor in the early battles.
The Israeli forces were unprepared and taken by surprise. President Nixon agreed to an American airlift of military supplies after a delay of over a week, and without British or European agreement for transit arrangements.
Eventually, after two weeks of fierce tank battles, Israeli forces gained control in the Sinai, and units under the command of General Ariel Sharon crossed the Suez Canal, entered Egypt, cutting behind and encircling the Egyptian Third Army, which was on the Israeli side of the Canal.
On 22nd and 24th October, cease-fires proposed by the UN came into effect. Lengthy negotiations took place at a camp called “Kilometre 101”, i.e. 101 Kilometres from Cairo. The Egyptian Army was released from encirclement and Israeli forces withdrew to the east side of the Canal.
The 1973 war is still celebrated in Egypt. The victory museum in Cairo stands in a suburb re-named “10th Ramadan” after the date which is the Egyptian name for the war.