Ahmed Hamdi (20 May 1929 – 14 October 1973) was an Egyptian engineer and a general of the 3rd Army of Egypt during the

October 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 world, Arab state ...

. He was killed while crossing the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

with his soldiers and was awarded the Sinai star posthumously.

Biography

Hamdi was a graduate of the Faculty of Engineering at

Cairo University Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

. In 1951 he joined the Egyptian Air Force, transferring to the engineering force in 1954. Hamdi travelled to the Soviet Union, where he passed a training for leaders at the

M. V. Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (russian: Военная академия имени М. В. Фрунзе), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (rus ...

. In the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

of 1956 he was known as "the pure hand" because he disarmed thousands of landmines. In 1967, he ordered blowing up the

El Ferdan Railway Bridge The El Ferdan Railway Bridge is a swing bridge that spans the western shipping lane of the Suez Canal near Ismailia, Egypt. It is the longest swing bridge in the world, with a span of . The bridge is no longer functional due to the New Suez Canal ...

to prevent Israeli soldiers from using it. He also installed watchtowers on the western bank of the

beneath trees in order to watch Israeli troops' movements when there were no means or sand hills, having chosen the location of the towers himself. Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel - West entry

In 1971, he was in charge of the preparation of a group of soldiers who had to install a bridge which would assure the safe crossing of the 3rd Army over the

. He was the leader of the engineering group that was in charge of the engineering works of the 3rd Army, which was then the most important group fighting 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 also helped in the adaption of Soviet production bridges to the Suez Canal situation. He shortened the Russian bridge deployment method from 12 hours to 4 hours. He was wounded while the Egyptian army was crossing the canal on one of his bridges. He was later shot and killed during the same operation, having refused to remain in the command center with other generals in order to be with his officers and soldiers. Egypt honored him by dedicating to his name the Sinai Star (first rank), which is the prize is the highest military award in Egypt. His death day was made the holiday of Engineer Day. President Mohamed

Anwar El-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 ...

named a tunnel that links

Sinai Sinai commonly refers to: * Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God Sinai may also refer to: * Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...

to the rest of Egypt after him, the

Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel The Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel is a 1640 metre long car tunnel under the Suez Canal, at Shallufa. The tunnel is named after Ahmed Hamdi, an Egyptian engineer and general killed in action during the October War. It has two lanes of traffic, one in eac ...

. Hamdi was also an international sport shooter for Egypt. He competed in three events at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

and won two gold medals at the

1951 Mediterranean Games The 1951 Mediterranean Games, officially known as the I Mediterranean Games, and commonly known as Alexandria 1951, were the 1st Mediterranean Games. The Games were held for 15 days from 5 to 20 October 1951 in Alexandria, Egypt, where 734 athlet ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamdi, Ahmed 1929 births 1973 deaths Egyptian generals Egyptian Air Force personnel Cairo University alumni Frunze Military Academy alumni Recipients of the Order of the Sinai Star Egyptian male sport shooters Olympic shooters of Egypt Shooters at the 1952 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Egypt Mediterranean Games medalists in shooting Competitors at the 1951 Mediterranean Games Egyptian military casualties of the Yom Kippur War Egyptian military personnel killed in action Olympians killed in warfare