BOOK REVIEW

DUAL FOR THE

GOLAN
By
JERRY ASHER
 INTRODUCTION

1. The first Saturday in October 1973: A traditional Jewish Sabbath in

Israel. It is also Yom Kippur, and the Israeli Defence Force is preparing to
observe the holiest of the Jewish holy days.

2. Meanwhile the Syrian army, the greatest achievement of the modern

Syrian state, is massed on the Golan Heights. Together with newly arrived
Soviet-made equipment, 1,200 main battle tanks, 1,000 armoured personnel
carriers, 1,000 artillery pieces, and more than 100 mobile antiaircraft
missile carriers are ready to strike in a lightning-swift offensive that will
drive to the sea and cut Israel in two.
3. Duel for the Golan, the first book to be written on this aspect of the Yom
Kippur War, is based on interviews with the participants from both sides of
the fighting. As such it remain a compelling and powerful account of one of
the greatest tank battles fought since World War II. It also provides the first
in-depth analysis of exactly how and why an inferior number of Israeli
defenders was capable of inflicting one of the greatest defeats in modern
military history upon awe-inspiring Arab armoured forces.

4. Here are the intimate details of tank-against-tank fighting, whether it be

during retreats, in ambushes, or on the attack. Here are the stories of
incredible courage and individual initiative as the Israeli defenders strive to
contain the unexpected Syrian assault. During the 100-hour battle that
saved Israel, every Israeli tank that was committed to the Golan fighting
was hit by hostile fire at least once, and some commanders had five or six
tanks shot out from under them.
5. By the end of the war only a few days later, Israeli forces had
counterattacked and advanced to where their artillery could hit the
Damascus International Airport and other strategic targets with
pinpoint accuracy. The Syrian army was virtually destroyed in the
field, as were contingents from other Arab states such as Iraq and
Jordan. How these remarkable turns of battle occurred is deftly laid
out. This revealing account of a battle that changed the history of the
Middle East is especially relevant today as tensions in the region
increase once again.
 ABOUT THE BOOK

6. The Fiercest Tank Battle - At 2 p.m. on October 6, Syrian gunners

opened up a tremendous barrage along the entire front as a prelude to their
two-pronged attack–a northern one in the vicinity of the Kuneitra-
Damascus road and one in the south where Rafid bulges into Syria. Facing
Colonel Avigdor Ben-Gal’s 7th Armoured Brigade in the Golan’s northern
sector were the Syrian 3rd Armoured Division under Brig. Gen. Mustapha
Sharba, the 7th Mechanized Infantry Division and the Assad Republican
Guard. When the Syrian assault began, mine-clearing tanks and bridge-
layers led the way to overcome the Israeli obstacles. Naturally, those
engineering vehicles were the 7th’s first targets, but Syrian infantrymen,
braving intense fire from the heights, rushed forward and used their
entrenching tools to build up enough earthen causeways for their tanks to
negotiate the Israeli anti-tank ditches.
7. While the Israelis took out every Syrian vehicle they could get into their
sights, the sheer mass of some 500 enemy tanks and 700 APCs advancing
toward their lines ensured that the defences would be overwhelmed. The
number of defenders dwindled as Israeli tanks were knocked out, yet the
vastly outnumbered Israelis managed to take a heavy toll on Syrian armour.
In spite of their heavy losses, the Syrians pressed their attack without let-
up, yet the overexerted 7th managed to hold its ground, throwing stopgap
blocking actions wherever the Syrians were on the verge of breaking
through. When darkness fell, the Israelis had nothing to match the Syrians’
night vision gear and had to allow the enemy armour to advance to ranges
effective for night fighting. In the close fighting, the Syrians succeeded in
seizing some of the high ground, but a counterattack by the small group of
persistent defenders forced them back.
8. When some Syrian tanks did overrun the Israeli lines, the 7th’s gunners
would rotate their turrets to destroy them and then immediately turn their
attention back to other oncoming tanks. It amounted to an armoured version
of hand-to-hand combat. The battle raged for two more days as the Syrians,
seemingly oblivious to their heavy losses, continued their assault without
let-up. By the afternoon of October 9, the 7th Brigade was down to six
tanks protecting what was for all intents and purposes a clear path into
Israel’s north. Those last few tanks fought until they were down to their last
rounds. Then, just as the 7th Brigade tanks were finally starting to pull
back, they were suddenly augmented by an impromptu force of some 15
tanks. The Syrians believed the clock had run out and that the first of the
fresh Israeli reservists had arrived, and 140 autumn 2011 scholar warrior
scholar warrior the Syrian offensive ran out of steam.
9. In truth, it was a motley force of repaired tanks crewed by injured and other
crewman, which had been mustered by Lt. Col. Yossi Ben-Hanna, a veteran
commander who, upon hearing about the outbreak of war, had hurried home
from his honeymoon overseas. By virtue of its timing, that force proved to be the
7th Brigade’s saving grace. As individual tanks began to augment the Israeli
forces, the Syrians, exhausted from three days of continuous fighting and
unaware of how close to victory they actually were, turned in retreat. Hundreds
of destroyed tanks and APCs littering the valley below the Israeli ramparts were
testimony to the horrible destruction that had taken place there, leading an Israeli
colonel to dub it the ‘Valley of Tears.’ Meanwhile, the Syrians, whose objectives
included seizing the bridges spanning the Jordan River (most of which could be
easily reached through the southern Golan), concentrated a large part of their
attack in that sector. The Syrian advance was initially slowed by an Israeli
minefield and by deadly, accurate cannon fire.
10. When fighter aircraft were called in to help stem the flow of Syrian armour,
many of the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk's and McDonnell F-4E Phantoms that
responded to the plea were shot down or damaged by the Syrians’ dense anti-
aircraft umbrella. Aware that Israeli doctrine relied on air power to even the
score against the Syrian numerical advantage, the Syrians had acquired massive
quantities of the latest Soviet missile and anti-aircraft systems. With the help of
Soviet advisers, they created an air defence network over the Golan that was
thicker than the one protecting Hanoi during the Vietnam War. With their air
support thus limited, the tankers were on their own–and the fate of northern
Israel was in their hands. The Israeli tanks stood their ground and were knocked
out one by one. Pushed beyond their limits, the defences in the southern sector
broke. Bypassing the Israeli fortifications and pouring through gaps in the
defences, Syrian tanks pushed through the Israeli lines onto a wide-open plain
that was ideal for tanks.
11. The Israelis knew that they had to hold on at all costs to allow time for
the reserves to mobilize, and in many cases the tank crews sacrificed
themselves rather than give ground. As the hours passed, fewer and fewer
Israeli tanks were left to stem the tide of oncoming tanks. The Syrian force
split into a two-pronged advance. Colonel Tewfik Johan's 1st Armoured
Division moved northward toward the Golan command headquarters of
Maj. Gen. Rafael Eitan, situated on the road leading down to the Bnot
Yaakov Bridge, over the Jordan River and into the Israeli hinterland. The
second prong of the Syrian attack, scholar warrior ä autumn 2011 ä141
scholar warrior spearheaded by the 46th Armoured Brigade of the 5th
Infantry Division, moved south from Rafid on the southern access road
toward El Al, with units breaking off toward the north in the direction of
the Arik Bridge at the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee.
12. Some 600 tanks were now engaged in the southern Golan, against
which stood 12 tanks and isolated units that had been cut off near the
various fortifications along the line. Night offered no respite from the
Syrian advance as they capitalized on their advantage of sophisticated
night-vision equipment. The Israelis small tank units to carry out stopgap
blocking actions against the far superior enemy forces–a tactic that may
have prevented the Syrians from overrunning the entire Golan. One of
those lethal holding actions that have become legend was led by a young
lieutenant named Zvi Gringold, affectionately known as ‘Lieutenant
Zvicka,’ whose hit-and-run tactics are credited with single-handedly
holding at bay a major thrust by almost 50 tanks. His guerrilla-style tactics
on the route leading toward his brigade’s HQ caused the Syrians to believe
they were up against a sizable Israeli force. After more than 10 of its tanks
were destroyed, the Syrian column withdrew, its commander deciding to
hold off and deal with the Israeli force in daylight.
 13. Gringold continued to engage the Syrians throughout the night and
following day, destroying upward of 30 tanks, until injuries, burns and
exhaustion caught up with him and he was evacuated. Gringold recovered
and was subsequently awarded Israel’s highest decoration, Ot Hagvura, for
his heroic defense of Nafakh. Another Syrian thrust by two brigades was
advancing rapidly on the southern access road in that wide-open sector and
inexplicably stopped short in its tracks just before reaching El Al.The
Syrian 1st Armoured Division was advancing up the route toward the Golan
HQ at Nafakh.With the brigade commander dead, no reserves in sight and
two Syrian brigades advancing toward the Golan HQ–and with some units
having bypassed the base on both flanks–the situation could only be
described as grave. Lead elements of the Syrian brigades actually reached
Nafakh and broke through the base’s southern perimeter. One Syrian T-55
crashed into General Eitan’s HQ, only to be knocked out by the last
operational tank in Gringold’s platoon.
14. The 188th Barak Brigade was no more. The Syrians were poised to overrun
the Golan headquarters at Nafakh and, seemingly, the entire Golan. That final
stand, however, was enough to buy a few crucial additional minutes. While the
Syrians paused to regroup after their final opposition had been neutralized, the
first Israeli reserve units began reaching what had become the front lines. Finding
Syrian tanks milling 142 autumn 2011 scholar warrior scholar warrior about their
command headquarters, the Israelis immediately opened fire and attacked,
dispersing the Syrians. The arrival of the Israeli reservists spelled the beginning
of the end for Syria. The fresh Israeli reserve units halted the near–and, in some
cases, actual–retreat of what remained of their front-line forces and set about
checking the Syrian advance. By midnight on day two of the war, the reserves had
managed to stabilize what had been a disintegrating front–with the Syrians having
penetrated to areas a mere 10-minute drive from the Jordan River and Sea of
Galilee and to less than a kilometer from El Al on the southern access road.
 PUBLICATION AND
PRESENTATION

14. This book is written in plain English and is well presented. The book is
published in hardbound and is reasonably priced. The quality of printing
and paper binding is good. It contains colourful maps for better
assimilation and understanding, it makes the reader to develop deep interest
in the course and facts of the war. Few details about the book
a) Book - DUEL FOR THE GOLAN
b) Author - JERRY ASHER
c) Publisher - NATRAJ PUBLISHERS
d) Pages - 245
e) Price - 495.00 RUPEES
 CONCLUSION

15. The Israeli's won the battle for the

Golan Heights because of superior
gunnery and effective manoeuvre and
flexibility
16. The Syrian's lost the battle because of
an inability to mass and manoeuvre
effectively while failing to maintain
offensive momentum