At 1405 hours on October 6, 1973, Cairo time, the armies of Egypt and Syria were simultaneously suddenly attacked on both fronts against Israel. Jordan's relations with some Arab countries prevailed before the 1973 war, and because of its sympathy with Palestinian organizations against Jordanian legitimacy, Kuwait and Libya suspended their aid to Jordan, Syria and Iraq closed their borders with Jordan, and Egypt severed relations with Jordan in 1972 due to the announcement of his majesty Hussein bin Talal on the project of the United Kingdom, which includes the two sides of the Kingdom. As mentioned earlier, jordan's relationship with Syria and Egypt was relaxed after the reconciliation conference in Cairo in September 1973, during which his late Majesty was hinted at the possibility of an Arab-Israeli military confrontation, but did not give full details. After hearing of the outbreak of war on October 6, 1973, Jordan placed its forces under maximum readiness as of 1500 hours on October 6, 1973, and ordered all formations and units to take their positions in accordance with the planned defense plan. Jordanian forces had to protect against Israeli forces infiltrating the Jordanian front, circumventing Syrian forces from behind, and were prepared to move to Syrian territory or be exposed west of the river to retake occupied Arab territories if the Golan and Sinai were recaptured by Syrian and Egyptian forces. These measures have led to the concern of the Israeli enemy forces, the Jordanian front is one of the most dangerous and closest to the Israeli rear, this prompted Israel to maintain a large part of its forces in anticipation of the development of the situation on the Jordanian façade, and to deteriorate the situation on the Syrian façade as we mentioned, the armored brigade/40 moved by order of His Majesty the late King Hussein bin Talal to On October 14, 1973, he completed his arrival and fought his first battle on October 16, 1973, where he was placed under the command of the Iraqi Armored Division 3, working alongside Iraqi infantry brigades/20, 8 and armored vehicles. On October 16, 1973, the 40th Armored Brigade moved from its positions in Nawa and Tal al-Hara to Tal al-Meshra to cross it as it passed through the first of the 60th Armored Brigade, Kafr Shams, heading towards Tal al-Al-Alaqia and Tal Antar. The 40th Armored Brigade forced the Israeli enemy to retreat 10 km away, leaving behind a enchanted hill and Jabba, and in the face of this rapid Jordanian incursion and the slow arrival of Iraqi forces in their positions revealed the wings of the Armored Brigade/40, which was affected by this and because of the enemy's use of alto anti-armor weapon for the first time in military operations. The 40th Armored Brigade was forced to retreat after destroying 10 tanks for the enemy, and the Iraqi attack was subjected to a violent counterattack on its right wing, forcing it to retreat to Kafr Shams and then to Tel (Al-Tibban). At 1000 hours on 19 October 1973, the 40th Armored Brigade again attacked Tal Meshra and Jaba while attacking the Iraqi Armoured Division/3 Tal Antar, advancing the Armoured Brigade/4 Once again, it penetrated deeply (6-7) km after crossing a enchanted hill and reaching the northwest of it, and as a result of enemy pressure and the exposure of the wings of the Armored Brigade/40 again to the Israeli counter-attacks he was forced to retreat after losing some of his soldiers and equipment. Because of the critical Syrian position, Jordan sent additional reinforcement forces with the aim of re-gaining the initiative and preparing for the all-out counter-offensive scheduled for October 23, 1973. To the Syrian front and the integration of its arrival on October 22, 1973, but a comprehensive development occurred because Syria accepted the ceasefire, which led to the cancellation of the operation, so jordanian forces remained there until they were withdrawn at the beginning of December 1973. The Jordanian position did not inform Jordan about this plan in advance and began to watch the battles of Ramadan and prepare for it and continue contacts with the Arab leadership, especially with Egyptian President Mohammed Anwar Sadat and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, and seven days after the War of October, the commander-in-chief of the Jordanian armed forces, His Majesty the late King Hussein bin Talal, decided to enter Jordanian forces to the Syrian front to participate in the War of Ramadan. His Majesty spent the late King Hussein throughout saturday, October 13th, agreeing on all Jordanian salaries, and at the same time his Majesty visited all the formations stationed on the ceasefire line, and Hussein stood and addressed his men on the way to Syria, saying, "I prepared you as the soldiers as Hussein bin Ali wanted today to rise above the rugged plateaus, be as you were and as the Jordanian people wanted you." The Jordanian position was from the beginning with any unified Arab action, which was reflected in his agreement to appoint a commander of the Arab forces, Lt. Col. Ahmed Ismail, and in what His Majesty the late King Hussein said to Mahmoud Riad, secretary general of the Arab League a few days before the war, when he was offered the request of the Egyptian and Syrian presidents to prevent Jordan from circumventing Syria through Jordan, his Majesty replied, "What you asked me is only my duty. "Thus, Jordan's position was in principle in terms of participating in the war, although it was not briefed on or participated in the plan, as demonstrated by the events a week after the outbreak of the war, where the Jordanian role went beyond protecting the Syrian wing across the border to active participation in the battles on the Syrian front after it began to be abandoned in front of the Israeli army. The operations of Jordanian forces on the Syrian front. Battles from October 6-13, 1973. The Jordanian Armed Forces/Arab Army were placed at 1400 hours on October 6, 1973 on high alert as a result of fighting between Egyptian and Syrian forces on the one hand and Israeli forces on the other, and the Jordanian armed forces were ordered to prepare for any emergency or duty assigned to the formations while taking positions as planned. In the early days of the fighting, the Syrian army achieved good victories, but the enemy began to put significant pressure on the Syrian forces being the most dangerous to him and the closest to his transportation and bases with large forces, forcing the Syrian army to retreat and request supplies from Arab countries, including Jordan, and agreed to send his forces to the Syrian front despite the great duty they were occupying on the border with Israel, and decided to send the armored brigade/40, and the commander of the brigade at the time was detecting to penetrate the Israeli front when the successes of the Syrian forces were completed The Egyptian, however, the situation changed, and indeed at about 2.30 a.m. on October 13, 1973, His Majesty the late King Hussein came to lead the brigade on the Syrian border, expressing his instructions and directives and depositing the forces, where he himself supervised the general's entry into Syrian territory. Repel enemy attacks in cooperation with Syrian and Iraqi forces (stop the breach). Second format of the Syrian 5th Division to repel counterattacks Participating in the general counter-offensive with Syrian forces Battles on October 14, 1973. Since the beginning of the night of 13/14, the two sides have been resupplying and compensating units and preparing for the next attacks, and heavy fighting began with the first light when enemy forces tried to expand the breach towards Damascus and Al-Sanimen, where they were able to make little progress on this axis, but towards Damascus progress was very slow. Battles on October 15, 1973. This day was characterized by relative calm and the activities of the two sides were limited to evacuation, rescue and resupply until noon, and the fighting was active in the afternoon hours, mostly artillery fire and air activity, and Arab forces began to mobilize in their gathering areas to carry out a counterattack on the violation caused by the enemy in Syrian territory. Battles on October 16, 1973. The Arab offensive began from the south and east towards Quneitra Damascus and straightly the town of Khan Rabbita, and the distribution of Arab forces was in the form of coming from west to east: A Syrian brigade of 52 is adjacent to the ceasefire line. The Jordanian 40th Armored Brigade launched from south of Tel Al-Hara to the northwest. Iraqi Shields Brigade to the north and Syrian forces from east to west. The Jordanian Armored Brigade 40 was able to advance approximately 10 km north of Tel Meshra, which the enemy considered an important target in the past days and defended it fiercely, and the brigade's operations were going quietly and balancedly and under strong control by the brigade commander, who focused on the need to comb the area with machine guns for fear of M/D missiles, which appeared to be fully effective. Syrian forces on the left wing were unable to advance at the same speed, and Iraqi forces on the right wing lost direction and attacked another target, exposing the wings of the Jordanian Armoured Brigade 40, as a result, at around 1115 hours the units were ordered to retreat to the starting points in the morning, where the units were exposed to mined areas and resisted by hostile M/D missiles, where the enemy was able to distinguish Jordanian force at 0832, when a number of M/D missile crews began to withdraw in front of one of the units of the Jordanian Armoured Brigade/40. Battles on October 17, 1973. Since 1200 hours, the 40th Armored Brigade has been opened to take control of the Area of Tal Mshra and is fixed with the last light forward from Tel Al-Hara after the reorganization and supply, where operations were limited to artillery exchanges and air clashes. Battles on October 18, 1973. Patrols from the Syrian side and airborne forces to attack hostile cannons, where they took advantage of daylight hours by improving positions by both sides. Battles on October 19, 1973. The enemy began to expand on the highlights in the area of breach and took the position of defense since the beginning of the Arab offensive, and Jordanian forces began to attack from the area of Tel Al-Hara towards Tal Meshra and the village of Jaba in the north and its progress was successful, and then the left forces deviated to the left to the town of Um Batana to help a Syrian force that was in a difficult situation. Jordanian forces penetrated 6-7 km and overtook Tal Meshra to the northwest and the enemy suffered significant losses, at about 1600 hours it had penetrated into the hill of area, making the wings of the attack vulnerable to enemy attacks in reverse due to the lack of progress of the Iraqi forces on their right, and under the pressure of the enemy and its side threat forced our forces to retreat backwards with the last light of the day and suffered some losses. Battles on October 20, 1973. This day was marked by relative calm after the Arab attack on October 19, and activities were limited to exchanging fire with artillery and tanks from fixed positions, where Jordanian forces spotted about 30 Israeli tanks and a number of tracked actively north and south of Tel Antar. Battles on October 21, 1973. The Arab forces opened with the first light on the dominant points in front of them, and the enemy mobilized its forces in preparation for the occupation of the Jabal al-Sheikh Observatory. Battles on October 22, 1973. The fighting continued on this day with artillery fire, and the enemy's operations were forced by a desperate defense, causing heavy losses, as the fighting continued violently until the afternoon hours where the targets were occupied by the enemy and on Jabal al-Sheikh. The fighting subsided in the evening hours after the Security Council resolution emerging from the Russian-American agreement that a ceasefire should be declared within 12 hours, and Jordan announced its acceptance of the draft ceasefire resolution, but jordanian forces in Syria remain under the command of the Syrian leadership. Battles on October 23, 1973. Activities at the beginning of the day were limited to monitoring and passing information, while fighting continued on the tops of Jabal al-Sheikh against Arab forces in the area. Battles on October 24, 1973. Activities were limited to passing on information. Results first: material results and human losses. Syria and Israel have not been officially announced, as there were conflicting views between the parties to the conflict and their supporters around the world, as well as the views and investigations of researchers and reporters, and the losses of Jordanian forces on the Syrian front were as follows: Individuals. (24) Martyr, (49) wounded. Equipment. Destroy (25) different tanks and mechanisms, disabling (29) tanks. The statement left the extent of the losses of the Israeli forces to be mentioned in the military history of the Syrian sister forces. Second: The reasons that led to the failure of the attack by Arab forces on October 16, 1973: Limited time available to prepare for operations. Poor coordination between the arab attacking forces. Lack of infantry elements needed to hold, stabilize and disinfect the ground from shield-resistant weapons. Tilt the balance of power in armor by 1.5:1. The enemy used alto anti-armor missiles for the first time in battle, causing a tactical surprise. Supplies and ammunition continue to reach enemy forces due to the U.S. air bridge. Third: The importance of Jordanian participation in the 1973 war, despite the limited Jordanian participation in the 1973 war, was positive and effective at the strategic, tactical and moral levels, and this importance can be summarized as follows: Part of the Israeli forces worked along the Jordanian front and were denied the reinforcement of troops on the Syrian and Egyptian fronts. Depriving the Israeli enemy of wrapping around the left wing of the Syrian forces by providing Jordanian forces with protection the Daraa-Damascus axis and the left wing of the Syrian forces. Installing Israeli forces in the Golan with the help of Iraqi forces, preventing them from developing their offensive operations and forcing them to become defence. Returning the spirit to joint Arab military action despite syrians and Egyptians trying to hide their military plans and intentions from the Jordanian leadership. The 40th Armored Brigade entered the most embarrassing moments of the Syrian forces as the road was open to The Israeli forces towards Damascus, preventing them from doing so. Fourth: The results of the war on Jordan were as follows: Restoring the relations that were broken between Jordan and some Arab countries. Resumption of Arab aid suspended from Jordan. Arab countries recognize the PLO as the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and move the Palestinian issue at the political level.
The 1973 War
