Mohamed Atef Anwar Sadat (; 13 March 1948 – 6 October 1973) was an Egyptian

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

and

war hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such things for the sake o ...

. In the first hour of 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 fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

, he was killed in action while conducting an aerial raid on an airport in the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula. He was the younger half-brother of the then Egyptian president

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-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 Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...

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

Early life and career

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

Monufia Governorate Monufia ( ' ) is one of the governorates of Egypt. Monufia’s name was derived from the hieroglyphic word “Nafr”, which means “The Good Land”. It is located in the northern part of the country in the Nile Delta, to the south of Gharbia ...

. He graduated from the

Egyptian Air Academy The Egyptian Air College (Arabic: الكلية الجوية المصرية) One of the colleges of the Egyptian Military Academy, is a college in Bilbeis, Sharqia Governorate, Egypt, tasked with training officer candidates for the Egyptian A ...

in 1966, and spent two years in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, attending a training program on jet fighters and then fighter bombers (the

Sukhoi Su-7 The Sukhoi Su-7 ( NATO designation name: Fitter-A) is a swept wing, supersonic fighter aircraft developed by the Soviet Union in 1955. Originally, it was designed as a tactical, low-level dogfighter, but was not successful in this role. On the ...

Yom Kippur War

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

Bilbeis Bilbeis ( ; Bohairic ' 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 Catholic titular see. The city is small in size but dens ...

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 First Egyptian Air Strike, Atef Sadat was part of

formation that attacked the Israeli Meliz airfield. In the course of the attack, Atef's plane was shot down and he was killed.

Reports of his death

To avoid distracting her husband,

Jehan Sadat Jehan Sadat (, ; ; 29 August 1933 – 9 July 2021) was an Egyptian human rights activist and the First Lady of Egypt, as the wife of Anwar Sadat, from 1970 until her husband's assassination in 1981. As Egypt's first lady, she greatly influenc ...

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, a spokesman of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

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

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), 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 land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

and that it had handed him over to the Egyptian government. He was buried the same day in his hometown of Mit Abu El Kom.

Awards and honours

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 stepbrother's name, and the Minister of War,

Ahmad Ismail Ali Field Marshal Ahmad Ismail Ali (; 14 October 1917 – 25 December 1974) was an Egyptian senior military officer who was Egypt's minister of war during the Yom Kippur War of 1973. He is best known for his planning of the attack across the Suez ...

, 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 Aviators killed by being shot down