Arab Legion
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Arab Legion | |
---|---|
الفيلق العربي | |
Active | 22 October 1920 – 25 March 1956 |
Country | Jordan |
Allegiance | Emirate of Transjordan (1920–1946) Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (1946–1956) |
Branch | Army |
Type | Infantry |
Size | 150 (1920) 12,000 (1949) 22,000 (1956) |
Garrison/HQ | Zarqa |
Patron | Monarch |
Anniversaries | 10 June 1917: Arab Revolt 22 October 1920: Establishment of the Arab Legion 25 May 1956: Dismissal of British officers |
Engagements |
|
Commanders | |
Commander (1920–1939) | Captain Frederick Gerard Peake |
Commander (1939–1956) | Lieutenant General John Bagot Glubb |
Notable commanders | Colonel JW Hackett, Jr Brigadier Norman Lash |
The Arab Legion (
Creation
In October 1920, after taking over the
It was quickly expanded to 1,000 men, recruiting Arabs who had served in the Ottoman Army. On 22 October 1923, the police were merged with the Reserve Mobile Force, still under Peake, who was now an employee of the Emirate of Transjordan. The new force was named Al Jeish al Arabi ("the Arab Army") but was always known officially in English as the Arab Legion. The Arab Legion was financed by Britain and commanded by British officers.[3] The Legion was formed as a police force to keep order among the tribes of Transjordan and to guard the important Jerusalem–Amman road.
On 1 April 1926, the Transjordan Frontier Force was formed from cadre drawn from the Arab Legion. It consisted of only 150 men and most of them were stationed along Transjordan's roads. During this time the Arab Legion was reduced to 900 men and was also stripped of its machine guns, artillery, and communications troops.
In 1939,
World War II
During
The Legion, part of
The top three officers representing the Legion who participated in the Victory March were Major General Abdul Qadir Pasha el Jundi,
1948 Arab–Israeli War
The Arab Legion actively participated in the
The Legion was initially withdrawn from Palestine to Transjordanian territory, under instruction from the
There was considerable embarrassment from the UK government that British officers were employed in the Legion during the conflict and all of them, including a
Units of the Arab Legion were engaged in several battles with the Jewish forces, including the following:
- Attacking Beit Nabala – 14 December 1947 [4]
- Battle of Neve Yaakov settlement – 18 April 1948[5]
- Attacking
- Occupation of the Battles of Latrunfrom 20 May to 18 July 1948.
- Siege of Jerusalemfrom 17 May to 18 July 1948,
- Attacking and capturing (but later losing) Kibbutz Gezer on 10 June 1948,[9]
- Tarqumiya on 24 October 1948[10]
By the end of the war in 1949, the Arab Legion consisted of over 10,000 men manning a 100-mile front, which then expanded to a 400-mile front following the withdrawal of Iraqi forces.[citation needed]
Further clashes with Israel
On September 11, 1956, an Israeli force in what the
The Legion generally stayed out of the 1956 Suez Crisis.
Jordanian army
On 1 March 1956, the Arab Legion was renamed as the Arab Army (now
Commanders
- Colonel Frederick Peake ("Peake Pasha") – 22 October 1923 – 21 March 1939
- Lieutenant Colonel Ernest Stafford("Stafford Bey") 2nd IC—1924–1931.
- ("Glubb Pasha") – 21 March 1939 – 1 March 1956
- Major General Abdul Qadir Pasha Al Jundi, O.B.E. ("Abdul Qadir Pasha") - 1–25 March 1956
Note: "Pasha" is a Turkish honorary title, one of various ranks, and is equivalent to the British title of "Lord". Bey is equivalent to a knighthood or "Sir".
References
- ^ Pollack, Kenneth, Arabs at War, Council on Foreign Relations/University of Nebraska Press, 2002, p.267
- ^ Pike, John. "The Chechen Chronicles '98". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
- ISBN 978-0-7139-9777-4, p.17
- ^ Morris, 2008, p. 105
- ^ Gelber, Yoav, Palestine 1948: War, Escape and the Emergence of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, Sussex Academic Press, Brighton & Portland 2006 (2nd edition), p. 90
- ISBN 978-0-203-49954-2.
- ^ "Truce commission warns Abdullah". The Palestine Post. 2 May 1948. p. 2. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
The attack on Gesher settlements... by... Trans-Jordan
- ^ Morris, 2008, p. 132
- ^ Morris, 2008, p. 230
- ^ Morris, 2008, p. 332
- ISBN 0-19-827850-0. Page 392.
Bibliography
- Dupuy, Trevor N, Elusive Victory, The Arab-Israeli Wars, 1947–1974, Hero (1984)
- Farndale, Sir Martin, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, The Years of Defeat, 1939–41, Brassey's (1996)
- Glubb, John Bagot, The Arab Legion, Hodder & Stoughton, London (1948)
- Isseroff, A., Kfar Etzion Remembered: A History of Gush Etzion and the Massacre of Kfar Etzion, 2005.
- Levi, I., Jerusalem in the War of Independence ("Tisha Kabin" – Nine Measures – in Hebrew) Maarachot – IDF, Israel Ministry of Defence, 1986. ISBN 965-05-0287-4
- Pal, Dharm, Official History of the Indian Armed in the Second World War, 1939-45 - Campaign in Western Asia, Orient Longmans (1957)
- Roubicek, Marcel, Echo of the Bugle, extinct military and constabulary forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan 1915, 1967, Franciscan (Jerusalem 1974)
- Shlaim, Avi (2007). Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War and Peace, Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0-7139-9777-4
- Vatikiotis, P.J. (1967). Politics and the Military in Jordan: A Study of the Arab Legion, 1921-1957, New York, Praeger Publishers.
- Young, Peter (1972). The Arab Legion, Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85045-084-2
- Jordan – A Country Study, U.S. Library of Congress
External links
- Arab Legion at Encyclopædia Britannica
- Rothwell, Steve The Arab Legion at British & Commonwealth Orders of Battle
- The Arab Legion and the Defense of Jerusalem from Defending the Faith: The Hashemites and Jerusalem, a Jordan Media Group publication, 1994 via jordanembassyus.org archived at Internet Archive
- 1956 - King of Jordan sacks British general at On This Day, 2 March 2008 BBC News Online