The Two O'Clock War: The 1973 Yom Kippur Conflict and the Airlift That Saved Israel

by Walter J. Boyne, Fred Smith (Foreword)

It's usually called the Yom Kippur War. Or sometimes the October War. The players that surround it are Sadat and Mubarak, Meir and Sharon, Nixon and Kissinger, Brezhnev and Dobyrnin. It was a war that brought Arab and Jew into vicious conflict. A war in which Israel almost unleashed her nuclear arsenal and set two superpowers on a treacherous course of nuclear escalation.

And a war that eventually brought peace. But a peace fraught with delicate tensions, disputed borders, and a legacy of further bloodshed.

The Two O'Clock War is a spellbinding chronicle of the international chess game that was played out in October 1973. It is a story of diplomacy and military might that accounts for many of the dilemmas faced in the present-day Middle East.

This is a war that Israel never thought was possible. Surprised by the fury and excellent execution of the Arab onslaught, and perhaps more than a little complacent, Israel suddenly found itself on the point of losing a war because of a lack of ammunition, planes and tanks. The United States, after much vacillation, finally elected to help Israel, beginning a tremendous airlift (code Operation Nickel Grass) which incurred the wrath of the Arab states, and their sponsor, the Soviet Union.

Fortunately the airlift came just in time for Israeli ground forces to stabilize their positions and eventually turn the tide in the Sinai and Golan Heights. And it was all made possible by an operation that dwarfed the Berlin Airlift and the Soviets' simultaneous efforts in Egypt and Syria.

The Two O'Clock War is bound to become the definitive history of a war that quite literally approached Armageddon.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Israel, Military Fiction, Middle East, War

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 14, 2002

Reviews

[Tom Potter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boyne is not the most compelling writer of Middle East history, but this book is interesting for its inclusion of the U.S. airdrop that may have saved Israel in 1973. You don't find this angle of the story in other sources, especially the Israeli versions, which focus on the resilience of the IDF and its soldiers in overcoming overwhelming superiority in men and materiel on the other side(s). This latter should not be discounted or understated--it has guaranteed Israel's continued survival in the midst of unimaginable hatred--but it is not the only factor in the eventual Israeli victory in 1973.

[Yenta Knows · Rating 5 out of 5]

While reading Matti Friedman’s, “Who by Fire” for my book group I realized I wanted more background on the Yom Kippur war. This book, easily found in the library bookshelf, did very well.

Here are my major takeaways:

1
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Israeli overconfidence allowed it to be surprised. The first chapter is called: “Hubris and the October war”

2
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For Israel, this was a two-front war, in both Golan Heights and Sinai.

3
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The conflict took place with US and USSR advising their client states and making moves to help or not help. But while both superpowers wanted their client states to win, they also were concerned to preserve the (slightly warming) US-USSR relationship.

4
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Moshe Dayan and Golda Meir knew early that their political careers were over.

5
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In the first few days, when it looked like the Arab countries really might overrun Israel, leaders (Dayan, Meir) considered using their small nuclear arsenal.

6
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The airlift of supplies from US was critical. Airlift started at Dover AFB in Delaware, ended at Lod airport. It was roughly modeled on the Berlin airlift of 1948.

7
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Kissinger had a mostly free hand because Nixon was preoccupied with Watergate.

8
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Although the book is very technical (Boyle loves describing military hardware), the author’s sardonic sense of humor carries you through the somewhat dry technocracy. Sample: [Transferring material from the US planes to Israeli trucks] “was a streamlined process, not burdened by excessive paperwork on the Israeli side.”

9
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My own observation: winning a war is something like winning a political campaign. Victory doesn’t go to the cause (or candidate) that is just. It goes to the army (or candidate) that does the best logistics.

[Chuck Shorter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fall marks the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. At 2pm on October 6, 1973 Egypt and Syria simultaneously attacked the nation of Israel on their most holiest of days. There are many books on this subject but this particular work highlights the involvement of the USA through diplomacy by Kissinger and especially the work of the USAF. Operation Nickel Grass was spearheaded by the commander of the McGuire AFB and provided needed supplies, munitions & armament to Israel following the invasion. No other country stood with Israel once threatened with an oil embargo by OPEC. The "Oil Weapon" would not keep president Nixon from helping our ally, stating that Israel "will not lose this war". I remember the gas lines in the early 70's and the "Oil Crunch" but I never realized that it was a direct result of our nation's assistance to Israel during the Yom Kippur War. Excellent read. Great history lesson. Filled with details of battles, generals, war strategies, diplomacy, armaments and nuclear threats .

[George Avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this a very nice "High Level" look at the 1973 Yom Kippur War, particularly with the insights to the diplomatic maneuvers behind the scenes (including the awkward cooperation of the Soviets and Americans who found themselves in unusual agreement, although facing internal political challenges) and the attention paid to the USAF airlift effort (living on a MAC base in 1973 as a six year old, I can remember the frantic activity on the American side). It pays some attention to the bickering among both the Isreali leadership as well as within the Egyptian leadership and between Sadat and his allies.

[Richard Kravitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good book, a lot of politics and the true story behind all the mistakes and overconfidence of the Israeli's. A lot about the MAC Airlift that I never really knew about. Weird how all these truces ahd cease-fires seem to be just another ploy in the battle.

[Liu · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is well written in the sense that it is very detailed chronologically. It has enough maps to explain the progress of the war. There are places that are not marked up on the maps. The explanation of why the USSR supplied Egypt with loads of arms before the war yet failed to anticipate the war is unsatisfactory.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

... I had purchased this book some years back but did not read it until recently. For me, the book covers one critical area within the history of mid-east conflicts and also resolves some of my own mis-conceptions of the October War.

Firstly, I had thought that the Yom Kippur War was an Israeli defeat, although in the latter days of the war, it was not. The Egyptian and Syrian forces made decisive gains at first, partly from the surprise attack on Yom Kippur, as well as from other preparations such as the Egyptian use of SAMs (surface to air missiles) to blunt the Israeli air forces and various anti-tank weaponry including the Sagger anti-tank missile. The Israelis, for their part, suffered from hubris after the decisive victory in the Six Day War, and some early warning signs of a possible attack were ignored.

In the final days of the conflict, however, Israel had managed to recover from the initial defeats and made significant gains, aided by the US airlift of supplies and weapons. Israeli forces were able to cross the Suez Canal and made incursions into Egyptian territory. This included an ill-fated attempt to take the city of Suez. More successfully, Israeli forces were able to encircle Egypt's badly weakened 3rd Army. The Israelis would later give up the Sinai only after the Camp David Accords in 1978, a few years after the conclusion of the Yom Kippur War of 1973.

The book itself covers the many military, political and diplomatic angles of the war, including a significant portion devoted to the US crews who participated in the airlift to Israel. Special attention was also given to Henry Kissinger, as well as the higher levels of Soviet command. President Richard Nixon himself was not fully involved, as his attention was focused mostly on Watergate. In general, I have found the book to be informative and fairly detailed. The book also includes some maps, and an appendix.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't as much of a history of the Yom Kippur War as it as a history of the key role played by the C-5 Galaxy during the American airlift that supported Israel during this conflict.

[Sean Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I know a little more about the conflict there.

[John Crippen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good introduction to the war. See mini-review at http://relaxandhavefun.com/?p=296