Division 440 Halamish 1985 – 1973 Spoils Tank Division

Division 440 Division 440 (designated Halamish) was an IDF reserve armored division composed of captured tanks.

During the Yom Kippur War

The division was organized in 1973, following the increase in tension on the Egyptian front. The division was established as a supra-brigade tactical command to control a task force that would lead Operation Green Light – an amphibious flanking of the Egyptian army by landing armored and infantry forces from the west of the Gulf of Suez. It was based on soldiers from the Training Department and the Inter-Services Command and Staff College.

With the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, the division was activated under the command of Menachem Maron and on October 9, it was tasked with commanding the rear area in the Sinai front, and planning a second stopping line at the crossings. The division was also tasked with planning Operation Green Light for a combined landing on the west bank of the Gulf of Suez.

On the night of October 15–16, Merhav Shlomo was tasked with planning Operation Green Light, and the division was subordinated to the command.[2]

On October 18, the “Granite Force” was established under the division under the command of Colonel Israel Granit, commander of the 252nd Division. The force remained to defend the Third Army bridgehead while the rest of the division’s forces crossed the Suez Canal to “Africa”. The force had at its disposal armor and mortar forces from the 875th Brigade, a battalion from the 164th Brigade, forces from the 52nd Battalion, infantry and paratroopers including the 202nd Battalion, and a small artillery battalion.[3] Granit transferred command of his forces to the division on October 23, the eve of the ceasefire coming into effect.[4]

Permanent Division

After the war, it was organized as the 7th Permanent Division under the command of Baruch Harel. It consisted of the 691st Tiran Tank Brigade (numbered 274 before the war), and two new reserve brigades whose soldiers had been converted to Tiran, the 889th Brigade and the 265th Brigade.

The Tiran-4 and Tiran-5 tanks of the brigades were converted to improved “muscle” models, which included an additional 60 mm mortar, smoke bombs, machine guns in the loader and commander’s positions, advanced fire and anti-tank systems, “Beltan” reactive protection, and large equipment compartments on the turret.

In addition, the division included the 320th Brigade, which consisted of 2 battalions based on the Tiran 6, and an additional battalion based on the Tiran 5.

In addition, the division included a regular cadre the size of a reduced battalion and later a company that was responsible for training the reserve teams of all the division’s brigades.

The division was established in the Rafah camps, and in the early 1980s it moved to the Ketziot base.[5]

In 1985, the division was disbanded and merged with the Sinai Formation