This is the order of battle for Operation Badr, an Egyptian military operation aimed to destroy the Bar Lev Line and initiated the Yom Kippur War against Israel along the Suez Canal in the Sinai on 6 October 1973. As neither belligerent has released an official order of battle, this list remains incomplete (for example, concerning brigades within divisions of the Third Army) and largely conjectural. An asterisk indicates Egyptian units that participated in the operation.
The Sa'iqa (lit. "lightning") were Egyptian commando forces.
Egyptian Army
General Headquarters (Center Ten):
Commander in Chief – Colonel General Ahmad Ismail Ali
Chief of Staff – Lieutenant General Saad El Shazly
Chief of Operations – Lieutenant General Abdel Ghani el-Gamasy
Engineer-in-Chief – Major General Gamal Mohamed Aly
Chief of Military Intelligence – Major General Ibrahim Fouad Nassar
Port Said Sector (Port Said and Port Fouad) – Maj Gen Omar Khalid 30th Independent Infantry Brigade* – Brigadier General Mohamed Salah el-Din 135th Independent Infantry Brigade* – Colonel Mustafa el-'Abbassi 10th Mechanised Brigade (in reserve) Second Field Army (Northern Canal Zone) – Maj Gen Sa'adeddin Ma'moun Chief of Staff – Maj Gen Tayseer Aqad Chief of Artillery – Maj Gen Mohamed Abd Al-Halim Abu Ghazala 18th Infantry Division* – Brig Gen Fuad 'Aziz Ghali 90th Infantry Brigade 134th Infantry Brigade 136th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 2nd Infantry Division* – Brig Gen Hassan Abu Sa'ada 4th Infantry Brigade 120th Infantry Brigade 117th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 16th Infantry Division* – Brig Gen abd Rab el-nabi hafez 16th Infantry Brigade – Abdel-Hamid Abdel-Sami 112th Infantry Brigade 3rd Mechanized Infantry Brigade 21st Armored Division – Brig Ibrahim El-Orabi 1st Armored Brigade: Mohamed Taufik Abu Shady (killed), replaced by Sayyid Saleh 14th Armored Brigade*:Attached to 16th Division Othman Kamel 18th Mechanised Brigade: Talaat Muslim 23rd Mechanised Division – Brig Gen Ahmad 'Aboud el Zommer, Hassan Abd Al-Latif 24th Armored Brigade*Attached to 2nd Division 116th Mechanised Brigade – Hussein Ridwan (killed) 118th Mechanised Brigade 15th Independent Armored Brigade*Attached to 18th Division – Col Tahseen Shanan Third Field Army (Southern Canal Zone) – Maj Gen Mohamed Abd Al-Munim Wasel Chief of Staff – Maj Gen Mustafa Shaheen Chief of Artillery – Maj Gen Munir Shash 7th Infantry Division* – Brig Gen Ahmad Badawi Said Ahmad 2nd Infantry Brigade 11th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 8th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 19th Infantry Division* – Brig Gen Yusuf Afifi Mohamed 5th Infantry Brigade 7th Infantry Brigade 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade 4th Armored Division – Brig Gen Mohamed Abd Al-Aziz Qabil 2nd Armored Brigade 3rd Armored Brigade*Attached to 19th Division – Brig Noureddin Abd Al-Aziz (killed) 6th Armored Brigade 6th Mechanised Division – Brig Gen Mohamed AbulFath Muharam 22nd Armored Brigade*Attached to 19th Division 113th Mechanised Brigade 1st Mechanised Brigade 130th Independent Amphibious Brigade – Col Mahmoud Shu'aib 25th Independent Armored Brigade*Attached to 7th Division – Col Ahmed Helmy Badawy Sa'ka Forces – Maj Gen Nabeel Shukry 127th Sa'ka Group – Col Fuad Basyuni 129th Sa'ka Group- Col Ali Heykal 136th Sa'ka Group – Col Kamal Atiyah 139th Sa'ka Group – Col Osama Ibrahim 145th Sa'ka Group – Col El-Sayid Sharqawy
Most sources use Dupuy's commando brigade designations: 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, and 134. But Dani Asher clearly defines six commando groups (group = brigade size). Each group contained 3 to 5 commando battalions totalling 24 battalions. He doesn't identify the groups, but from Arab sources, the following designations are available: 39, 127, 129, 136, 139, and 145.
Israeli Defense Force
Minister of Defense – Lt Gen (ret.) Moshe Dayan
Chief of Staff – Lt Gen David Elazar
Deputy Chief of Staff – Maj Gen Israel Tal
Head of Operations – Maj Gen Abraham Tamir
Head of Intelligence – Maj Gen Eli Zeira
Southern Command: Maj. Gen. Shmuel Gonen
252nd Armored Division – Maj. Gen. Abraham 'Albert' Mandler 8th Armored Brigade – Col Aryeh Dayan 14th Armored Brigade – Col Amnon ReshefTransferred to Sharon's 143rd Division 401st Armored Brigade – Col Dan Shomron 460th Armored Brigade – Col Gabi AmirTransferred to Adan's 162nd Division 'Harel' Brigade – Col Abraham Bar-Am 11th Reserve Mechanized Brigade – Col Aharon Peled +Mechanised Infantry and Paratroop support
162nd Reserve Armored Division – Maj. Gen. Abraham 'Bren' Adan 217th Reserve Armored Brigade – Col Natke Nir 460th Armored Brigade – Col Gabi AmirTransferred from Mandler's 252nd Division 500th Reserve Armored Brigade – Col Aryeh Keren +Mechanised Infantry and Paratroop support including: 35th Paratroop Brigade – Col Uzi Yairi
143rd Reserve Armored Division – Maj. Gen. Ariel 'Arik' Sharon 14th Armored Brigade – Col Amnon ReshefTransferred from Mandler's 252nd Division 600th Reserve Armored Brigade – Col Tuvia Raviv 421st Brigade – Col Haim Erez 243rd Paratroop Brigade – Col Danny Matt +Mechanized Infantry units
Footnotes
References
Further reading Tons of information from a former Israeli intelligence official that has never before been published in English.