Mohamed Atef Anwar Sadat ( ar, محمد عاطف أنور السادات; 13 March 1948 – 6 October 1973) was a fighter pilot in the Egyptian Air Force who had the rank of

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

. In the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...

, he and a colleague were killed in a raid on an

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i military airport. He is the younger brother of former Egyptian President

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...

, who was assassinated on the same day eight years later.Gawrych, p. 81.

Early life

Atef Sadat was born on 13 March 1948 in the village of Mit Abu El Kom, Tala District, in

Monufia Governorate Monufia Governorate ( ar, محافظة المنوفية ' ) is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is located in the northern part of the country in the Nile Delta, to the south of Gharbia Governorate and to the north of Cairo. The governorat ...

. He graduated from the

Egyptian Air Academy The Egyptian Air Academy (Arabic: الكلية الجوية المصرية) is a college in Bilbeis, Sharqia Governorate, Egypt, tasked with training officer candidates for the Egyptian Air Force. Established in 1951, the Egyptian Air Academy is ...

in 1966, and spent two years in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, attending a training program on air fighters and then fighter bombers (the Sukhoi). In the years 1969 and 1970, Atef Sadat participated in Egyptian offensive operations against Israeli aircraft in the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a l ...

, and his colleagues described him as his experience in the

War of Attrition The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from ...

that made him a mentor on Soviet aircraft during that period.

Yom Kippur War

On 5 October 1973, a state of readiness was launched at

Bilbeis Belbeis ( ar, بلبيس ; Bohairic cop, Ⲫⲉⲗⲃⲉⲥ/Ⲫⲉⲗⲃⲏⲥ ' is an ancient fortress city on the eastern edge of the southern Nile delta in Egypt, the site of the Ancient city and former bishopric of Phelbes and a Latin ...

Airport, and every pilot ran a fighter inside the fortified aircraft complex, and the planes were armed with bombs and ready, but the mission was cancelled as this was a training exercise on assembling pilots. During the

Ofira Air Battle The Ofira Air Battle was one of the first air battles of the Yom Kippur War. On 6 October 1973, Egypt launched a massive surprise attack on Israel that included over 200 Egyptian aircraft participating in an opening airstrike. The Israeli Air F ...

, a pair of Israeli F-4E Phantoms challenged 28 Egyptian

MiG Russian Aircraft Corporation "MiG" (russian: Российская самолётостроительная корпорация „МиГ“, Rossiyskaya samolyotostroitel'naya korporatsiya "MiG"), commonly known as Mikoyan and MiG, was a Russi ...

s over

Sharm el-Sheikh Sharm El Sheikh ( ar, شرم الشيخ, ), commonly abbreviated to Sharm, is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 53,670 ...

and within half an hour claimed to have shot down seven to eight migs. One of the Egyptian pilots killed was Atef.

Reports of his death

To avoid distracting her husband,

Jehan Sadat Jehan Sadat ( ar, جيهان السادات ''Jihān as-Sadāt'', ; née Safwat Raouf; 29 August 1933 – 9 July 2021) was an Egyptian human rights activist, the First Lady of Egypt from 1970 until her husband's assassination in 1981. As Egypt ...

waited until the eighth day of the war before breaking the news of his brother's death to him. He was first reported dead on 5 January 1974 by Egyptian newspapers. On 31 March 1974, an

Israeli army The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branc ...

spokesman disclosed that a search party had found his body in the sands of the western

and that it had handed him over to the

Egyptian government The politics of Egypt are based on republicanism, with a semi-presidential system of government. The current political system was established following the 2013 Egyptian military coup d'état, and the takeover of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. ...

. He was buried the same day in his hometown of Mit Abu El Kom.

Honors

Order of the Sinai Star : When the celebration was held to honor the heroes of October in the People's Assembly, Anwar Sadat received the Order of the Sinai Star in honor of his brother's name, and the Minister of War,

Ahmad Ismail Ali Ahmad Ismail Ali ( ar, أحمد إسماعيل علي) (14 October 1917 – 26 December 1974) was the Commander-in-Chief of Egypt's army and minister of war during the October War of 1973, and is best known for his planning of the attack across ...

, handed him the medal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadat, Atef Egyptian Air Force personnel 1948 births 1973 deaths Recipients of the Order of the Sinai Star People from Monufia Governorate Sadat family Egyptian Air Academy alumni Yom Kippur War pilots Egyptian military casualties of the Yom Kippur War Egyptian military personnel killed in action 20th-century Egyptian people