Six-Day War order of battle
This is the order of battle for the Six-Day War between Israeli forces and Arab forces which consisted of Syrian, Egyptian, and Jordanian military forces. The war took place on June 5–10, 1967.
Israeli Defence Forces
[edit]On full mobilisation, the Israeli Army comprised some 250,000 men of whom almost three-quarters were reservists and one-quarter conscripts. Out of its 25 brigades, nine were armoured, two were fully mechanised, and ten were infantry, some partly mechanised, as well as their paratroop brigades which also acted as elite assault troops. The brigades were assigned to six ugdas, or division-size task forces, whose composition varied according to their assigned mission and geographical area.[1]
Minister of Defense – General Moshe Dayan
Chief of Staff – Lieutenant General Yitzhak Rabin
Northern Command
[edit]Brigadier General David Elazar
- 1st Golani Infantry Brigade – Colonel Yonah Efrat
- 2nd Infantry Brigade
- 3rd Infantry Brigade
- 37th Armoured Brigade
- 45th Armoured Brigade
Reinforcements:
- 8th Armoured Brigade – Colonel Avraham Mandler (from Southern Command)
- 55th Paratroop Brigade – Colonel Mordechai Gur (from June 7 onward)
Central Command
[edit]Brigadier General Uzi Narkiss
- 4th Reserve Infantry Brigade
- 5th Reserve Infantry Brigade
- 16th Etzioni Jerusalem Infantry Brigade
- Ugda Peled (from Northern Command)
- 9th Reserve Infantry Brigade (Central Command)
- 37th Armoured Brigade
- 45th Armoured Brigade
Attached:
- 10th Harel Mechanised Brigade (from GHQ Reserve) – Colonel Uri Ben-Ari
- 55th Paratroop Brigade – Colonel Mordechai Gur (from Southern Command)
Southern Command
[edit]Brigadier General Yeshayahu Gavish
- 84th Armoured Division – Brigadier General Israel Tal
- 7th Armoured Brigade – Colonel Shmuel Gonen
- 60th Armoured Brigade – Colonel Menachem Aviram
- 202nd Paratroop Brigade – Colonel Rafael Eitan
- Recce Task Force – Colonel Uri Baron
- Granit Task Force – Lieutenant Colonel Yisrael Granit
- 46th Tank Battalion – Lieutenant Uri Baron
- 215th Artillery Regiment
- 31st Armoured Division – Brigadier General Avraham Yoffe
- 200th Armoured Brigade – Colonel Yissacher Shadmi
- 520th Armoured Brigade – Colonel Elhanan Sela
- 38th Armoured Division – Brigadier General Ariel Sharon
- 14th Armoured Brigade – Colonel Mordechai Zippori
- 99th Infantry Brigade – Colonel Yekutiel Adam
- 80th Paratroop Brigade – Colonel Dani Matt
- 214th Artillery Regiment
- 226th Tank Batalion
- 35th Paratroop Brigade – Colonel Aharon Davidi
- 40th Artillery Battalion
- 11th Infantry Brigade – Colonel Yehuda Reshef
Syrian Army
[edit]The Syrian Army numbered 63,000. The field fortifications were held by eight brigades of which five were infantry brigades, each with an attached tank battalion of T-34/85s and SU-100 self-propelled guns, holding the first two lines and three armoured and mechanised brigades along and behind the third line. In addition there were four reserve infantry brigades deployed between Damascus and Kuneitra, as well as seven battalions of the National Guard militia that were deployed to bolster the defensive lines. These forces were divided into 'Group Brigades' in Syrian terminology although this was an administrative convenience rather than a tactical deployment.
Minister of Defense – Hafez al-Assad
Army Chief of Staff – Ahmad Suwaydani
- 12th Group Brigade
- 11th Infantry Brigade
- 132nd Reserve Infantry Brigade
- 80th Reserve Infantry Brigade
- 44th Armoured Brigade
- 35th Group Brigade
- 8th Infantry Brigade
- 19th Infantry Brigade
- 32nd Infantry Brigade
- 17th Mechanised Infantry Brigade
- 42nd Group Brigade
- 25th Infantry Brigade
- 50th Reserve Infantry Brigade
- 60th Reserve Infantry Brigade
- 14th Armoured Brigade
Royal Jordanian Army
[edit]The 55,000-man Jordanian Army was divided into the Eastern and Western commands, with the division marked by the Jordan River. In June 1967, the bulk of the Jordanian forces was deployed in the West Bank in two main areas: in Samaria in the north, based in and around the towns of Jenin and Nablus and in the south in the area from Ramallah through Jerusalem down to Hebron.[2]
Chief of Staff – Amer Khammash
Western Command
- 1st 'Princess Alia' Infantry Brigade
- 2nd 'Hashimi' Infantry Brigade
- 3rd 'King Talal' Infantry Brigade
- 6th 'Qadisiya' Infantry Brigade
- 25th 'Khalid Ibn Walid' Infantry Brigade
- 27th 'Imam Ali' Infantry Brigade
- 29th 'Hittin' Infantry Brigade
- 40th Armoured Brigade
- 60th Armoured Brigade
Eastern Command
- Hussein Ali Infantry Brigade
- Yarmouk Infantry Brigade
- Royal Guard Brigade
Egyptian Army
[edit]With an official strength of 210,000 men in June 1967, the Egyptian Army had some 100,000 troops in the Sinai Peninsula and approximately 50,000 in Yemen with the remainder stationed to the west of the Suez Canal to protect Cairo. The Sinai Front Command comprised some six divisions with 930 tanks, 200 assault guns, and 900 artillery pieces.
UAR Commander-in-Chief – Field Marshal Abdul Hakim Amer
Minister of Defense – Shams Badran
Army Chief of Staff – Mohamed Fawzi
Air Force Commander-in-Chief – Mohamed Sedky Mahmoud
Sinai Front Command – General Abd el Mushin Murtagi
Field commander – Lieutenant General Sallah el din Mohsen
- 2nd Infantry Division – Major General Sadi Naguib
- 3rd Infantry Division – Major General Osman Nasser
- 4th Armoured Division – Major General Sidki el Ghoul
- Task Force Shazli – Major General Saad el-Shazly
- 6th Mechanised Division – Major General Abd el Kader Hassan
- 7th Infantry Division – Major General Abd el Aziz Soliman
- 20th PLA Division Gaza – Major General Mohammed Abd el Moneim Hasni
- Infantry Brigade (Ind) – Brigadier Mohammed Abd el Moneim Khalil
- 1st Armoured Brigade – Brigadier Hussein Abd el Nataf
- 125th Armoured Brigade – Brigadier Ahmed El-Naby
References
[edit]- ^ Simon Dunstan, The Six Day War 1967: Sinai, Osprey Publishing (October 27, 2009) ISBN 978-1846033636
- ^ Simon Dunstan "The Six Day War 1967: Jordan and Syria" Osprey Publishing (November 24, 2009) ISBN 978-1846033643