On the anniversary of October Liberation War, war veterans reminisce about details of war and victory

“Occupying the land is possible, but the will cannot be occupied, and with this will we were able to fight the October War and achieve victory”, with these words, the old warriors recalled the memories of their participation in the October liberation war, which constituted a bright heroic epic in the history of the Arab-Zionist conflict and an important turning point in modern history.

With the ecstasy of victory as if it were yesterday, Major General Muhammad al-Shamali, head of the Veterans Association of Damascus branch and one of the heroes who participated in the war, recalls the beginning of the war  plan saying : “The planning for the October War emerged from  the 1948 and 1967 wars as a result of several factors, the first of which is the restoration of our right and  undermining  the Israeli arrogance, as well as the result of the Basel Conference that was held in Switzerland.  The October War was the first of the wars that came with an Arab decision.

“As a commander of a battalion at the time, our mission was to liberate the city of Quneitra, the bride of the Golan Heights.  We set out early in the morning after receiving the order to enter the battlefield and led fierce battles with an air cover  of flare bombs.  Our army was strengthened and armed with different types of weapons and was distinguishably  trained. The night training greatly contributed to reaching the desired goal of the battle, which is the victory that we had realized. ” Al-Shamali added.

“On the morning of October 6, 1973, the deployment was fully prepared to engage the enemy, waiting for the zero hour in the afternoon”, Brigadier General Muhammad Khair Al-Khashah, a retired officer who participated in the October Liberation War reminisced the details. “Friendly aircrafts began to fly to the front line parallel to the start of artillery and missile strikes on enemy positions . This was the moment we had been waiting for since a long time, and exactly at half past  two, the helicopters began to land at the Jabal al-Sheikh observatory. On the morning of the second day, we clashed with the enemy aircraft and shot down two of them with surface-to-air missiles, which formed a surprise for the enemy, as their tools were destroyed and their alleged  myth “ unconquerable army” began to collapse.

Retired Major General Subhi al-Tayyib, one of the heroes of the Liberation War who was a commander in the Special Forces at the time, said that they relied on harsh sports exercises, focused on mountain climbing, ambushes, raids, and physical fitness classes, and then trained on shooting with all kinds of weapons and airdrops in the Palmyra desert region until they were informed that the zero hour will be at two o’clock in the afternoon on the sixth of October. Here, the Special Forces were physically fit and full of high spirits, strong belief in the homeland and sacrifice for the sake of this land.

 “The artillery fire and army aircraft began to work within the drawn plan, and at that moment 4 helicopters moved behind the Hermon mountain and arrived at the anti-observatory to strike it. The observatory’s garrison was fully controlled. Then the General Headquarters was informed of this, which affected the attack on the Golan. The liberation of the observatory constituted a basic point in this war, as it was  the first electronic mind because it contains the most up to date  wired and wireless devices and communications equipment,” al-Tayyib continued.

Inas Abdulkareem