Buffalo Roam
Registered Senior Member
pjdude, the British gave the Arabs all the military equipment that they had brought into Palestine when they held the mandate.
Here are the TO&E list of the forces in 1948 and 1949, and if you can comprehend the names and equipment and originazation titles, you will see that the Arabs were mostly armed with British Equipment and especially the, Arab Leigon of Jordan, which was Commanded by British Officers.
John Bagot Glubb
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
-Syria-Lebanon campaign
1948 Arab-Israeli War
Awards - Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
Distinguished Service Order
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Other work Author
Lieutenant-General Sir John Bagot Glubb KCB, CMG, DSO, OBE, better known as Glubb Pasha (born 16 April 1897, Preston, Lancashire – died 17 March 1986, Mayfield, Sussex), was a British soldier best known for leading and training Transjordan's Arab Legion 1939-1956 as its commanding general:
Glubb Pasha on the right with King Abdullah in the middle
Trans-Jordanian Arab Legion 1948
Over 7,000 men under Pasha Glubb, although Brigadier Lash commanded in the field (Lunt, 1999, says 7,000; Collins & Lapierre, 1972, say 7,500). The main force was 4,500 troops in the two mechanised brigades including armoured cars and artillery. The remainder were support troops, including presumably the garrison companies. By the end of the war the Legion had 10,000 soldiers in arms.
Overall organisation
Details from Laffin (1982a), Lunt (1999), Collins & Lapierre (1972).
1 x Divisional Headquarters (under Brigadier Lash)
2 x Mechanized Brigades
1 x Brigade Headquarters
1 x Brigade Signals unit
2 x Mechanized Infantry Regiment *
1 x Regimental Headquarters
1 x Armoured Car Troop
10 - 12 Marmon-Herrington armoured cars Mk IVF (2-pounder gun and a Browning machine gun). I assume these were organised into sub-units of 4 given Lt. Zaal Errhavel commanded 4 on the attack on Notre Dame.
1 x Motorised Support Company
1 x Anti-tank platoon/Troop
4 x 6-pounder anti-tank guns towed by trucks
1 x Mortar platoon/troop
4 x 3-inch mortars (presumably carried in trucks)
1 x Machinegun platoon/troop
1 x Pioneer/Engineer platoon
4 x Motorised Infantry Companies/Squadrons (on Ford trucks) **
3 x Infantry Platoons
2 x Artillery Batteries/troops (under Lt-Col Hearst)
4 x 25-pounders
2 x Independent Regiments (5th & 6th) ***
6-pound anti-tank guns (not sure where they were assigned in the TO&E).
Notes:
* The regiments were single battalion units. Battalions 1, 2 and 3 were the old Bedouin regiments from the Arab Mechanised Force. The fourth Infantry was improvised from 4 Garrison Companies that weren't disbanded, and like all the Garrison Companies was relatively poorly trained and equipped. The regiments were divided into the Brigades as follows:
1st Brigade (Col. Goldie)
1st Regiment (Lt-Col. Blackden)
3rd Regiment (Lt-Col Newman)
3rd Brigade (Col. Ashton)
2nd Regiment (Maj. Slade)
4th Regiment (Lt-Col Habis Majali)
** Unfortunately Lunt (1999), who should have known, doesn't mention the number of companies in each regiment. Shamir (2001) says there were four companies, and this coincides with the fact that the 4th Infantry regiment was formed from four Garrison companies, however, when describing the positions of the 4th Battalion at Latrun in 1948 Shamir only mentions three infantry companies plus a support company. Kurzman (1970) mentions only three companies in the 3rd Regiment. Laffin (1982a) says 4 rifle companies each of 3 platoons. Shamir states there were four platoons per company.
*** The independent regiments were also formed from Garrison companies that were meant to be disbanded. (By Feb 1948 only 7 Garrison companies remained of the original 16.)
5th Independent Regiment
12th Independent company ???
2 other companies
6th Independent Regiment
1st Independent company (Cap. Abdullah Tell)
8th Independent company
Shamir (2001) mentions the Legion having Piat anti-tank grenade launchers, 2 inch mortars, and Vickers machine guns.
Now if you read the rest of the TO&E for the Arabs a large ammout of the Arab equipment is British, with a Lot of ex-German armor and equipment, and less supplies of French Equipment.
So who did the British arm and help against whom?
The Arabs against the Israeli, even to the point of commanding Arab forces.
Here are the TO&E list of the forces in 1948 and 1949, and if you can comprehend the names and equipment and originazation titles, you will see that the Arabs were mostly armed with British Equipment and especially the, Arab Leigon of Jordan, which was Commanded by British Officers.
John Bagot Glubb
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
-Syria-Lebanon campaign
1948 Arab-Israeli War
Awards - Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
Distinguished Service Order
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Other work Author
Lieutenant-General Sir John Bagot Glubb KCB, CMG, DSO, OBE, better known as Glubb Pasha (born 16 April 1897, Preston, Lancashire – died 17 March 1986, Mayfield, Sussex), was a British soldier best known for leading and training Transjordan's Arab Legion 1939-1956 as its commanding general:
Trans-Jordanian Arab Legion 1948
Over 7,000 men under Pasha Glubb, although Brigadier Lash commanded in the field (Lunt, 1999, says 7,000; Collins & Lapierre, 1972, say 7,500). The main force was 4,500 troops in the two mechanised brigades including armoured cars and artillery. The remainder were support troops, including presumably the garrison companies. By the end of the war the Legion had 10,000 soldiers in arms.
Overall organisation
Details from Laffin (1982a), Lunt (1999), Collins & Lapierre (1972).
1 x Divisional Headquarters (under Brigadier Lash)
2 x Mechanized Brigades
1 x Brigade Headquarters
1 x Brigade Signals unit
2 x Mechanized Infantry Regiment *
1 x Regimental Headquarters
1 x Armoured Car Troop
10 - 12 Marmon-Herrington armoured cars Mk IVF (2-pounder gun and a Browning machine gun). I assume these were organised into sub-units of 4 given Lt. Zaal Errhavel commanded 4 on the attack on Notre Dame.
1 x Motorised Support Company
1 x Anti-tank platoon/Troop
4 x 6-pounder anti-tank guns towed by trucks
1 x Mortar platoon/troop
4 x 3-inch mortars (presumably carried in trucks)
1 x Machinegun platoon/troop
1 x Pioneer/Engineer platoon
4 x Motorised Infantry Companies/Squadrons (on Ford trucks) **
3 x Infantry Platoons
2 x Artillery Batteries/troops (under Lt-Col Hearst)
4 x 25-pounders
2 x Independent Regiments (5th & 6th) ***
6-pound anti-tank guns (not sure where they were assigned in the TO&E).
Notes:
* The regiments were single battalion units. Battalions 1, 2 and 3 were the old Bedouin regiments from the Arab Mechanised Force. The fourth Infantry was improvised from 4 Garrison Companies that weren't disbanded, and like all the Garrison Companies was relatively poorly trained and equipped. The regiments were divided into the Brigades as follows:
1st Brigade (Col. Goldie)
1st Regiment (Lt-Col. Blackden)
3rd Regiment (Lt-Col Newman)
3rd Brigade (Col. Ashton)
2nd Regiment (Maj. Slade)
4th Regiment (Lt-Col Habis Majali)
** Unfortunately Lunt (1999), who should have known, doesn't mention the number of companies in each regiment. Shamir (2001) says there were four companies, and this coincides with the fact that the 4th Infantry regiment was formed from four Garrison companies, however, when describing the positions of the 4th Battalion at Latrun in 1948 Shamir only mentions three infantry companies plus a support company. Kurzman (1970) mentions only three companies in the 3rd Regiment. Laffin (1982a) says 4 rifle companies each of 3 platoons. Shamir states there were four platoons per company.
*** The independent regiments were also formed from Garrison companies that were meant to be disbanded. (By Feb 1948 only 7 Garrison companies remained of the original 16.)
5th Independent Regiment
12th Independent company ???
2 other companies
6th Independent Regiment
1st Independent company (Cap. Abdullah Tell)
8th Independent company
Shamir (2001) mentions the Legion having Piat anti-tank grenade launchers, 2 inch mortars, and Vickers machine guns.
Now if you read the rest of the TO&E for the Arabs a large ammout of the Arab equipment is British, with a Lot of ex-German armor and equipment, and less supplies of French Equipment.
So who did the British arm and help against whom?
The Arabs against the Israeli, even to the point of commanding Arab forces.