Commando Raid at Romani - Campaign Series: Middle East 1948 -1985

Alan R. Arvold
7 October, 1973
(Romani, Sinai Peninsula): (H2H/SIDE B) (HISB) (GD):

Prior to the October War of 1973, only the Israeli military had conducted operations by special forces with any success.

A sure sign of the Egyptian Army's newfound sophistication in military operations was the employment of special forces in a variety of different air, land, and sea-borne missions.

While the Israelis later downplayed the role that these actions had on the course of the war, it could not be denied that the Egyptian raids did increase the sense of uncertainty and tension that the Israeli forces in the Sinai felt during the dark hours at the beginning of the conflict.

One such raid occurred at Romani, along the northern coast road. Egyptian commandos, armed with RPG-7's and anti-tank missiles, landed undetected on the Mediterranean coast on the night of the 7th of October. They proceeded south and ambushed an Israeli tank unit arriving by tank transporters at the rear staging area near Romani.

The attack caused considerable consternation to the Israeli Southern Command. Additional forces had to be divested from the already thinly held front, as well as from arriving reinforcements, to defeat the commandos.

This is a revision of the original scenario by Edwin "Mick" Conmy.

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