The Iraqi army actively participated in the Egyptian front during the October War of 1973, and the Iraqi Air Force had an important role in supporting the Egyptian forces in their battles against the Israeli forces in that war.

And 6 months before the war, and in April 1973, Iraq sent about 20 British Hawker Hunter aircraft to Egypt with their pilots, according to a prior agreement between the governments of the two countries as a kind of air cooperation, and it becomes clear later the real reason behind this agreement .

Al-Abusi said that the two Iraqi squadrons were assigned to deal with Israeli command and control points, artillery and missile sites (Iraqi Press)

The Egyptian front

Major-General, Pilot Staff Dr. Alwan Hassoun Al-Abousi said in a statement singled out by Al-Jazeera Net that the Iraqi Air Force participated in the sixth and 29th squadrons in the Egyptian front, and this participation was preceded by a number of meetings between the Egyptian and Iraqi chiefs of staff and the exchange of visits of leaders in the two countries. Iraqi aircraft with the Egyptian Air Force in any confrontation against Israel.

Al-Abusi, one of the Iraqi pilots participating in that war, added that in March 1973, the Iraqi President, Ahmed Hassan Al-Bakr, visited the two squadrons, who were equipped with Hawker Hunter planes, accompanied by the Minister of Defense and other military commanders, and informed the officers of the two squadrons that there would be military air cooperation between Iraq. And Egypt in the near future.

On April 6, 1973, Iraqi aircraft set off from Habbaniyah base in Anbar Governorate, western Iraq, to ​​Quesna Airport, near the Egyptian capital, Cairo, after passing several stations, and the number of Iraqi aircraft reached 20.

Major General Pilot Roken explains that during the period of Iraqi aircraft presence in Egypt and before the start of the comprehensive air attack against the Israeli army, the Iraqi pilots learned about the Egyptian aviation method and addressed the problem with identification devices between the Iraqi aircraft and the Egyptian air defense, and it was remedied thanks to the cooperation between the two parties.

Al-Abusi added in his speech, saying, "The Iraqi squadron - which was called at the time the 66th Squadron - received a notification of the targets set for it, and the main targets were dealt with through 16 Hawker Hunter aircraft, explaining that the targets are the Israeli command and control site in the Al-Tasa area, and a ground-to-surface missile site. Hawk air, a number of 175 mm self-propelled artillery positions.

The Iraqi historian and professor of modern history at the University of Mosul, Dr. Ibrahim Khalil Al-Allaf believes that “during the past (47) years, he wrote a lot about the October 1973 War and from different points of view, and we have a large amount of information that should be collected and scrutinized to produce an objective and fair view of this. the war".

Al-Allaf added in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net that with regard to the Egyptian front, it is the main front that we should stand on in detail, especially since President Gamal Abdel Nasser, before his death on September 28, 1970, in cooperation with a number of senior leaders of Egyptian strategists, approved the plan, which was known as the plan Granite, according to which cooperation between the Egyptian and Syrian leaderships was organized on June 7, 1973, at the Egyptian General Command headquarters in Nasr City.

He continues his speech, there was an Arab military support before and during the October War, so there were two Iraqi (Hawker Hunter squadrons), and on the Syrian front there were 3 Iraqi MiG-21 squadrons, an Iraqi MiG-17 squadron, two armored divisions and an Iraqi infantry division.

According to Al-Allaf, Iraq was aware of the Egyptian strategy to liberate the occupied lands in Sinai, and then reach the Egyptian border line with occupied Palestine and secure it, and then exploit the success politically to restore the Palestinians' right to return and build their future and their state.

Al-Allaf said that Iraq took the lead in the Arab world in supporting the Egyptian and Syrian forces in the Yom Kippur War in terms of influence (Al-Jazeera)

Iraqi Air Force

Al-Abousi recounts the details of what happened that day, saying, “On October 6, 1973, he called it“ the promised day. ”At 12:00 the commander of the Iraqi squadron received an envelope written on it that did not open before 12:30, and the envelope consisted of confirming the objectives. Included in the missions of Iraqi aircraft.

The planes were fully prepared and at 14:00 hours, they set off with the Egyptian Air Force planes, crossed the Suez Canal, destroyed the targets set for them, and returned after achieving the tasks without losses.

On October 8, 12 Hawker Hunter planes took off, to treat the Israeli forces, in conjunction with the Egyptian forces. In this mission, two Iraqi pilots lost their aircraft after Israeli air defenses were hit by surface-to-air weapons, according to al-Abusi.

Major General Pilot Staff added that the Iraqi Air Force carried out a mission on October 11, with 4 planes on one of the Israeli command and control sites, and on the way back, the formation’s commander, Pilot Nateq Muhammad Ali and Lieutenant Pilot Diaa Saleh, was hit.

On October 13, the Iraqi squadron was tasked with two missions, to attack the Israeli forces towards the Differswar gap, and according to Al-Abusi, each mission was carried out by 4 Iraqi aircraft and the Israeli convoys were targeted, but two Iraqi aircraft were injured during the mission and one of the pilots was killed.

In the same context, Al-Allaf noted the participation of 9 Arab countries in the Yom Kippur War, as these countries provided support to Egypt and Syria, and indicated that Iraqi support came in first place according to the assessment of the Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces during that period, Lieutenant General Saad Eddin Al-Shazly, as Iraq achieved 150 points in impact strength.

Al-Allaf considered that military cooperation and coordination in this war represented the best image in which the Arabs had appeared since 1948.

For his part, Iraqi academic and political researcher Fadel Al-Badrani said, "Iraq's relations were good with Egypt, and the Iraqi support for the Egyptian front with aviation and the strengthening of the Egyptian Air Force was present, so that when Egyptian planes were changing over Israeli positions, they were directly beside them by Hawker Hunter planes."

Al-Badrani confirmed that the Iraqi aircraft destroyed many Israeli targets (Al-Jazeera)

The role of the Hunter planes

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Badrani mentions what was stated in the memoirs of Lieutenant General Saad El-Din Al-Shazly when he said that "the Egyptian ground forces were raising their requests by saying we want the Iraqi Hunter Squadron, and this is what Al-Shazly considered a testimony to the efficiency and good performance of the Iraqi squadron during the October War."

Al-Badrani added that the Iraqi pilots were able to destroy Israeli Hawk missile sites and enemy artillery sites in the Al-Tasa area, and disable a large number of Israeli tanks.

This is what Al-Abusi confirmed, saying that what distinguishes the Iraqi Hunter planes is that they have a very high fire density, which neither Sukhoi nor MiG-21s have, in addition to containing 4 3 mm cannons and missiles that the plane was carrying, so they were requesting Hunter planes for their effectiveness in Addressing Israeli targets, for the purpose of advancing Egyptian forces.

Al-Abusi stated that the outcome of the losses of the Iraqi squadron in Egypt was the killing of 3 pilots and the families of 3 others, while the losses of the squadron of aircraft amounted to 8 out of a total of 20 Hunter planes sent by Iraq.

For his part, Al-Allaf stated in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net that Iraq's participation in "Hawker Hunter" planes was wonderful, because it was very effective and important, and the first sorties were for Iraqi pilots.

Regarding the reasons for ignoring Iraq’s role in that war, Al-Allaf said that this comes for political purposes related to the divergence of trends and visions between the Iraqi and Egyptian leaderships. The Iraqi leadership’s description of the October War as a “war of movement” and not a “liberation war” had the effect of widening the rift between the two countries.

war results

Regarding the most prominent results of that war, Al-Allaf asserted that "the Egyptian leadership missed the opportunity to control the straits on October 7, 1973, knowing that the original Granite plan included this goal."

He points out that if the Egyptians controlled these straits, they would have been able to deny the Israeli forces the ability to cross to the west of the Suez Canal.