____________________________________________ 6 IICC Perspectives commander they looked like Soviet-made BTR APCs and we were still in enemy territory. We kept walking and all around us were burning tanks, and realized we had wandered into the middle of a tank battle. We took shelter in a land fold while the battle raged around us. The commander contacted the other file of soldiers, which was close by, and they joined us. Suddenly we heard tanks approaching and massive light arms fire. We were being attacked by three Israeli tanks, the lead tank firing its machine gun; they thought we were Egyptians. We were lucky again: no one was hurt. The stronghold commander reported our location. A bit later we were told to go to the foot of a nearby ridge. When we arrived, the Egyptians shot at us from the top of the ridge, bullets whistled by our ears and hit the sand around us. Again, we were lucky: no one was hit. At that moment we saw four Israeli APCs charging towards the Egyptian force and engaging them in battle, and they stopped firing at us. The APCs were followed by two tanks. The commander was asked to fire a green flare so they would be able to identify us. We got up on the tank, grasping any projection we could find and each other. We were a human bunch of grapes hanging off a tank. The tanks identified us and rushed towards us. One stopped next to us and a lieutenant shouted we were to get on the tank. We didn't know how 33 people could get on one tank, but he kept shouting and waving us forward. We got up on the tank, grasping any projection we could find and each other. We were a human bunch of grapes hanging off a tank which drove off as quickly as possible. The other tank covered us from behind. Our tank was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Shaul Shalev, commander of the 184th Battalion, who was killed later the same day. He zigzagged to avoid the Sagger missiles chasing us. Several miles later the tank brought us to a waiting convoy of half-tracks and we were driven to the base at Tasa. I later learned that five soldiers from the Yod Company in the 184th Battalion were killed in the four APCs that attacked the Egyptian force on the ridge. A missile had hit the tank as it came towards us. Unbelievable. We were riding in a tank with an unexploded missile sticking out of its side. In 2020, almost 50 years later, I spoke with the tank gunner, and he told me the following story: after they let us off and went to service the tank they found an unexploded Sagger missile lodged diagonally in its right front fender. It was still encased in its copper bands. He said that judging by the location and angle, the missile hit the tank as it was sliding down the ridge towards us. Unbelievable. We were riding on a tank with an unexploded missile sticking out of its side. It was a miracle we got out alive. Wednesday, October 10, 1973 In the morning, Colonel Yoel Ben-Porat, the Unit 848 commander, came to Tasa. He asked what we wanted to do, we said return to our duties. He sent us to the Unit's main base in the
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