This story was probably missed by the creators of "Lock Hour".
Syrian soldiers surrender in the Golan Heights // Photo: GPO
Photography:
Syrian soldiers surrender in the Golan Heights // Photo: GPO
The "Lock Hour" series, which deals with the containment battles against the Syrians in the Golan Heights, refocused Israeli memory during the Yom Kippur War, but deals only partially with what took place in those dark days.
Naturally it is not possible to engage in such a series in all the events that took place in the difficult battles, so the creators focused on a particular plot.
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But the fictitious scenes that emerge from the screen, in which IDF soldiers are seen waging the war in the Knesset in a blacksmith camp, hide behind them a much more dramatic story.
Contrary to what happens in the series, the second day of the war was extremely critical for a volume camp.
On October 7, the Syrian army's first armored division attempted to occupy the Nefah junction, which housed the 36th Division headquarters, facing improvised forces from the 188th Brigade, small forces from the 7th Brigade and other reserve forces from the 679th and 179th Brigades.
The goal of the Syrians was to occupy the Golan Heights within a day, so they realized that they must occupy the Nefah junction, since this is one of the only ways to descend towards the Banot Yaakov Bridge.
The drama began early in the morning, when Syrian tanks began preparing to occupy the camp on the way to the junction, following which Raphael, commander of the 36th Division, decided to evacuate the blacksmith camp, a decision later rescinded as there was no immediate threat to the camp.
The battle for the base began around 1:00 PM, when Syrian tanks opened fire on the camp, and Raful ordered all available forces to rush to the Nefah junction to prevent its occupation and with it the collapse of the Israeli defense system.
At the same time, it was decided to evacuate the camp again, with the exception of a number of tanks and anti-tank squads.
A force from the 188th Brigade under the command of Brigadier General Yitzhak Ben-Shoham and Brigadier General David Israeli opened fire on dozens of Syrian tanks that were on the fence.
Many Syrian tanks were hit in the fighting, but in less than half an hour the two were killed as well as the brigade's AGM officer Major Benny Katzin.
The entire senior chain of command of the brigade was killed and the brigade ceased to exist as a brigade framework.
Lieutenant Effie Payne (with them), later Brigadier General and Member of Knesset, was a lieutenant in an infantry company that reached volume and split into squads, standing on the oil axis and blocking the way for Syrian tanks and preventing helicopters from landing.
With them he remained at the entrance to the camp with two bazooka squads.
"We had to go to the Cindiana area with the water caterpillars - and then came a moment I will never forget," Eitam told the camp newspaper in 2013 about what had happened.
Within a few minutes all our caterpillars were burning, and following an instruction from the company commander we began to retreat.
"At first I also intended to run away, but then I remembered a very significant thing: because I was a resident of Ein Gev and knew the plateau very well, I realized that volume is the watershed. "Zvika fought in the area of the oil axis, and I did not know about the armored brigades - I just saw dozens of Syrian tanks traveling on fences. I remember saying to myself: 'If I leave here now, there is no one left to defend.'"
"The education I received was that I had to fight. I grew up on the heroic stories of the kibbutz residents, who guarded each other from Syrian attacks. I sucked this stubbornness from the kibbutz, and then I was filled with a kind of anger at the Syrians. The company's deputy commander and sergeant tried hard to get me on the last remaining usable snail.
They told me 'you will be killed', but I told them I would not move. "
I was left alone, took the orphaned 'bazooka' of the ward and saw that there were only three shells left.
I hid under a Syrian water carrier from the Six Day War, waiting for tanks.
The noise intensified and I charged the bazooka by threading.
I remember I had to concentrate all my control in my hands, so that they would not tremble.
Then I waited while the ground began to shake.
The leading tank passed the aqueduct, and descended the fence of volume while I was almost below it.
I went out from under the water, and fired one bomb at the tank that hit the target.
It did not do any serious damage, but a fire began to develop inside it and the smoke spread.
"The tank braked and the crew jumped out of it and I immediately fired at them with my Uzi. The other tanks stopped for a short time because they probably thought there were tank hunters inside the camp. I took the opportunity and slipped into the camp, then decided to bring a force to stop the Syrians. "Air and armor, and I led them to defend the volume and the sector, until more forces arrived," he told Eitam.
For his daring activity, he received with them the exemplary award, the third most important award in the State of Israel.
On the site of heroism, his actions were described as follows: "Lieutenant Ephraim Payne served as a lieutenant colonel in an infantry company that fought in the Golan Heights. Lieutenant Ephraim Payne remained at the entrance to the blacksmith with 2 "Bazooka" squads, and since his soldiers received a shock, he was actually left with only one sergeant. "Vehicle for rescuing the wounded. In these deeds he showed exemplary courage, resourcefulness and composure.