Beautiful Egypt 129 – «I Shall Not Leave You» – October 25, 2015

   We are still recounting the beautiful stories of October, 1973 martyrs. In the previous article, we spoke of two of Sinai heroes, namely, Staff General Shafiq Mitry Sidrak Commander of the first infantry division that crossed the Suez Canal, Squad 16 Infantry in the Middle Section of Sinai. We also spoke of Sergeant Sayed Zakaria Khalik who was able to impede an entire Israeli squad. He was lost during the October, 1973 War until the Israeli Ambassador declared his valor 23 years later.

Staff General Ahmed Hamdy

   He is one of the most important leaders who contributed to the October victory. He was in charge of the Engineers’ Division of the Second Field Army. This division was in charge of designing and implementing the bridges. He also led the bridge division in Third Field Army. His leadership had a great impact on the October War. Likewise, he participated in combating the 1956 Tripartite Aggression, and the 1967 War. He was martyred on October 14, 1973. That day was later chosen to be the “Engineers’ Day”.

   Ahmed Hamdy was born on May 20, 1929 in Mansura, Daqahliya. He graduated from the Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University. Being a faithful Egyptian, he joined the Armed Forces in 1951 and worked in the Engineering Corps in 1954. He studied in the Soviet Union and obtained an excellent mention in Military Science from Frunze Military Academy.

   General Ahmed Hamdy was calm, diligent, and perseverant. No sooner had he joined the Engineering Corps than he started sacrificing for Egypt. He bombed al-Firdan bridge in the 1956 war, thus, preventing the enemy from using it. Likewise, he neutralized several mines, which made his colleagues call him “the pure-handed man”.

   General Ahmed Hamdy refused to retreat during the 1967 war, except after destroying the water pipes lest they fall into the enemy’s had. This reminds us of General Fouad Aziz Ghaly’s stance, as he refused to make his troops retreat to the Canal’s Western bank during the breach and the siege of the Third Field Army in 1973.

   Therefore, these two leaders were role models in endurance and love for their country.

   Ahmed Hamdy was brilliant. He neither stopped working nor thinking. He was the initiator of establishing observation points inside iron towers between trees located on the Canal’s Western bank. At that time, there were no other means for observation. His idea was accepted and implemented. Likewise, he played a crucial role in developing the Russian bridges used in crossing the Canal by making them suitable for its nature, as well as fixing them quickly. Thus, the time of fixing was reduced from 74 to 6 hours!

   One of the Corps 99 men maintains that Colonel Ahmed Hamdy (at that time) trained them on building missile bases as well as crossing processes. He was careful to choose the areas that were similar to the crossing ones, like al-Badrashin, al-Hawamdiyah, and al-Qanatir. Additionally, he trained them on breaching sand barriers, as well as inspecting the Canal water direction and wind speed, which was adeptly performed by his men owing to the training they performed under his leadership and their success in the bridge-building training which enabled them to cross the Canal, a great and complex process. The world testifies to the greatness of all this. It is said that they used to see him on his way back from the frontlines, late at night, having supervised a task undertaken by the engineering corps or the troops.

   No sooner had the battle started than General Hamdy joined the frontlines, having urged the leadership to accept this. He took part in fixing the bridges on the Canal, which was done in no time under the cover of the Artillery and the Air force. He had already spent a sleepless night, moving from one bridge to another, having eaten nothing, until everything was ready.

   On October 4, 1973, while reconstructing a damaged bridge, he noticed that some heavy logs of wood threatened that bridge. In a moment, General Hamdy hurried to an amphibious vehicle, drove it by himself, and dragged the logs away from the work area. Then, he returned to his men to continue working with them. At that time, the enemy never stopped throwing bombs to stop our army from building bridges. As General Hamdy was trying to make his men seek shelter from the enemy’s fire, he was blown away by a shrapnel shell and martyred. Thus, he sacrificed his life for Egypt.

   What is so attractive about the October War is the great love, unity and collaboration among everybody in to attain victory. There are hundreds of stories that recount how more than one hero united to fight for Egypt:

   Gharib Abdul Tawwab and Shenouda Raghib

   They are heroes from the Thunderbolt Forces who fought and sacrificed their lives for Egypt together.

   Gharib Abdul Tawwab was born in al-Wasta, Beni Suef, in 1948. He graduated from the Military Academy in 1968. He was promoted Captain in January, 1973, then to commander of a Thunderbolt squad. Shenouda Raghib was one its members. We know nothing about Shenouda except his heroism.

   The two heroes crossed the Suez Canal, climbed the sand barrier, and reached beloved Sinai. There, Gharib’s squad counterattacked the Israeli troops, thus, destroying some of their tanks. But, suddenly three tanks headed toward Gharib and Shenouda. Gharib faced it with his body, while Shenouda started shooting it, refusing to leave his commander who had been wounded and insisting to carry him away from the enemy’s fire. They were martyred together, holding each other and their weapons, having combated the tanks with their bodies before their weapons. Thus, they wrote a new page in history, one of love and sacrifice… Such stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.

General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center