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Many happy returns to the Egyptians on the occasion of the October Victory! Special love is dedicated to the Egyptian Army that had given lots of heroes who sacrificed their lives for Egypt. We spoke of many heroes. Yet, we still have a lot to say: for lots of sacrifices were made that not only restored Egypt’s dignity, but also made a way for prosperous days to come.
Meanwhile, we shall speak of more heroes:
General Abdel Munim Riad
He is one the martyrs of the War of Attrition whose martyrdom day (March 9, 1969) has become the Martyr’s Day. In fact, he died in mortar attack upon inspecting the frontline troops, northern Ismailia on the second day of the War of Attrition.
General Abdel Munim Riad was the Armed Forces Chief of Staff and great hero. He was born on October 22, 1919 at Seberbay, Tanta, Gharbiyah. He graduated from the Military Academy in 1938, after which he obtained a Masters degree in Military Sciences in 1944. He made lots of studies, such as, anti-aircraft artillery fighting in England. He participated in World War II against the Italians and Germans from 1941 to 1942, the War of Palestine in 1948, the Tripartite Aggression in 1956, the 1967 War, and the War of Attrition.
During the War of Attrition, he started rebuilding the Armed Forces. He supervised the inauguration stage of the War of Attrition on March 8, 1969 in which the Egyptian artillery blew the enemy’s fortification and the Bar Lev Line defense in a fierce battle that lasted for five hours. The Egyptian Artillery fired hard, thus destroying part of the Bar Lev Line and making the enemy lose a lot.
On the following day, General Abel Munim Riad decided to go to the front to inspect the battles results, take part in them, and encourage the soldiers while fighting the enemy.
The commander, then, was worried about General Riad who insisted on being with his soldiers and encouraging them. He did not care about gunshots, thus, presenting a good role model as he used to say. He also cared a lot for his soldiers’ feelings.
On that day, he visited Site # 7 from which the first shooting emanated. While inspecting the military processes, the enemy started to shoot this spot incessantly, after which a fierce battle broke out and lasted for more than one hour. General Riad led the battle. He was martyred in an Israeli mortar attack.
Egyptians never forgot that hero who sacrificed his life for the country. So, they attended his funeral with a blend of sadness and respect, thus making him an icon of love and sacrifice.
Petty Officer Mohammed Fawzy Salem al-Barquqi
The Egyptian Navy implemented three great operations during the War of Attrition. They were carried out by the frogmen who destroyed the Battleship “Bathsheba” that carried seven amphibious armored vehicles, and the troop transporter “bat yam” which Israel used in attacking Egypt’s eastern coasts, such as al-Za’faranah. The operation was carried out despite the fact that the two ships were protected by Israeli aircrafts. Egyptian Military areas were attacked, hostages were taken and equipment snatched. The three operations took place on November 16, 1969, February 5-6, 1970, and May 14-15, 1970. Al-Barquqi took part in the first operation, and was its sole martyr.
Al-barquqi was born in Menyat Janah, Dessuq, Kafr al-Sheikh. He was quite brave, and love Egypt. So, he was chosen for the Navy Thunderbolt, frogmen division. Bombing Port Eilat was not the sole operation he carried out during the War of Attrition: for he took part in several special operations.
On November 16, the operation started, whereby three groups of frogmen swam toward Port Eilat. Yet, they could not enter the port, which is why two ships, namely Hey Daroma and Dahlia, were equipped with explosives to participate in warfare by Port Eilat.
Al-Barquqi started diving at a 150-meter depth to fix mines to the Israeli ship. Yet, having moved about 5 meters away from it, al-Barquqi signaled to his colleague, Abdul Wahhab to go up to the water surface. No sooner had the latter gone up than he noticed that al-Barquqi passed away. Bravely enough, Abdul Wahhab decided to restore al-Barquqi to the Jordanian shore to deliver the corpse that was transported to Egypt. Al-Barquqi was martyred after having done a great job. He was still in the prime of youth, not more than twenty-eight years old! How brave and loyal!
The People of Sinai
Talking about the War of Attrition, we cannot forget the people of Sinai. According to General Fouad Nassar, chief of the Military Intelligence and Reconnaissance Administration during the October War, “The people of Sinai are not traitors. Had it not been for them, the land would not have been restored. Also, for their sake, we called the reward of bravery “Order of Sinai Star”.
One study shows that the people of Sinai exerted a lot of great efforts for Egypt. Some of them escorted the retreating soldiers to Canal’s western bank. Others saved wounded soldiers, and some carried light weapons to the commandoes and helped them hide these weapons. Even more, they contributed to preventing supplies from reaching the enemy and blowing their military equipment. Some of these patriots were tortured like Sheikh Mohammed Freij who used to work as border guard in Neweiba’. He refused to deliver the station’s consigns to the enemy: ten automatic guns, ammunitions, and wireless devices.
Such heroic feats led to the great victory of October 1973. There are more feats as those performed by Staff General Shafiq Metry Sidraq:
He was the commander of the Infantry Squad in Sinai, and one of Egypt’s heroes and martyrs in the October War. He was born in 1921, in al-Muti’a, Assiut. He joined the Military Academy were he outstood, and was appointed staff member to teach Military Tactics, and … Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.
General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
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