The Arab Legion: Prussian Line Infantry 1792-1815

49 Pages·7.051 MB·English

by  Peter Hofschroer, Bryan Fosten

OSPREY· MEN-AT-ARMS SERIES
rob
•
Text by
PETER YOUNG
Colour plates by
MICHAEL ROFFE
Published in England by
Osprey Publishing Ltd, 1'.0, Box 25.
i07 Oxford Road, Reading, Berkshire
Copyright '972 Osprey Publishing Ltd.
This book is eopyrighled under the Berne
COllvention. All rights reserved. Apan from :my
fair dealing lor the purpose ofprivate study,
research, criticism or TCview, as ~rmilled under the
Cop)·right Act, 1956, no pan ofthis publication
rna)' Ix: reproduced, slored in a rctric\'al S)'Slcm, or
transmittcd in any form or by any mcans, elcclronic.
electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photo
copying, recording or othcrwisc, without thc prior
permission ofthc copyright o,\'ner, Enquiries should
be addressed 10 the Publishcrs.
I "ish 10 record my gralitude to ~lajor W.F.
Woodhouse, R.T.R., who has rendered me the
greatest assistance in preparing this work.
Commissioned in 1948, he served as a captain in the
Arab Legion from 1953 to 1956. He was Technical
Adjutant 10 the Armoured Brigade and Ihen 10 the
3rd Tank Rcgimenl, and his knowlcdge ofthe
weapons and vehicles ofthe ArmoUl'ed Brigade has
been particularly helpful.
Since lea\,jng the Legion he has qualified at the
Royal ~Iilital)'Collcge ofScience, and is currently
employed at the ~"ililal)'Vehicles and Engineering
Establishmcnt. Like so many olher British soldiers
including mysclf- Bill Woodhouse looks back on
his three years with the Arab Legion as being
among the happiest in his Army career.
Printed in Great Britain by
jarrold & Sons Ltd, :'\orwich
18 ~Iay Arah Legion entersJerusalem.
25 May
June Fighting round Latrun.
II
June
II
9July Ceascfirc, followed by further fight
ing round Latrun.
1949
3 April Israeli-Transjordan Armistice
signed.
King Abdallah assassinated.
1953
1920 14-15
October Peake forms the Arab Legion. October The Qibya Incident.
Defeat of the lVahhabis by R.A.F. 1954 TheJerusalem Incident.
at Ziza. 30June
Anglo-Transjordan Treaty and '2 July The Bcit Liqya Incident.
Legion establishment reduced. 1955 Jordan application tojoin Baghdad
Glubb arri\'es to form the Desert Pact. Egyptian-inspired riots.
Patrol. 1956
1932 I March Glubb and other British officers
July Last tribal raid. dismissed; Arab Legion becomes
Arab rising in Palestine. Formation 'TheJordan .\rab Army'.
of Desert i\lechanized Force.
:fireword
1939 Campaign against Arab infiltraters
from Palestine and Syria.
21 March Peake retires. Writing these pages has revived memoriesofthref'
3 Seplember Second World War begins. very happy years spent in the Arab Legion, in the
1941 days when Clubb Pasha, already a legendary
April Campaign in Iraq. Desert Mechan figure, \\'as in command, "nd \\'hell Cooke Pasha
ized Regiment accompanies was forging the 1st Division. Man for mall the
Habforce. Arab Legioll was the best ofall lhe Arab armies.
June Syrian Campaign. Desert Mechan In 1967 theJordanian Army, according to friend
ized Regimenl again accompanies and foe alike, fought far better than the Egyptians
Habforce and plays a dccisi\'e part or the Syrians. I look back with lhe greatest
at Sukhna on July. pleasure on the days \vhen I commanded the 9th
I
1945 Second World War ends. Regiment. Such opportunities do not come 10 the
Xew Anglo-Transjordan Treaty; British officer of the present generation. The
Amir Abdallah becomes King ofa British Arm)' need not be ashamed ofthe officers
truly independent state. it sent 10 help with the expansion of the Arab
15 ~Iay Palestine Mandateendsand Legion Legion. )Ieo like Galledy, Elliott, i\IcCully,
occupies Arab are3S. Hutton, Wormald, Leakey, Griffiths, and Tirrell,
J
to name but a handful, had fought with the which was thus recognized as a state and part of
greatest distinction in the Second World \\'ar, and the British mandated territories.
se\'eral went on (0 be major-generals in our own Itwas againsl this background Ihal in DClober
sen'ice. The)" wert: men who really had something '9'20 Captain F. G, Peake, who had recently been
10passon. It was the policy ofH.)t. Governmellt posted to the newly-formed Palestine Police, was
at that lime to gh'eJordan military assistance. It sent across to Trallsjordan to report on the
would be a mistake, however, to suppose that this gendarmerie there. He found a small and totally
policywasdirected against Israel. Thiswas not the inefficient force - 'the officers were of the coffee·
case. On thecontrarythe Britishofficers, generally house loafing class who seldom troubled to dress
speaking, exercised a restraining innuence. They in uniform and the men werelazy and dissatisfied,
were not quick on the trigger. British officers went ha\ing: receiHd no pay for many months'. It was
to the Legion in the normal courseoftheircarecrs, immedialclr plain to Peake thai nothingcould be
and for 110 UItCIior mOli\c. To senc in such an ,Ichic\cd \\ilhout a properly disciplined force and
army and with such keen soldiers was sufficiem he obtained authority to raise 100 men. The force
privilege. To command a bedouin regiment was a was to becalled Ai}tish AiArabi- the title used by
magnificent experience. Feisal's forces, with whom Peake had served in the
To my formcr comrades of Ihe Arab Legion rcccllI w:\r. Though literally translated as 'The
Arab, British and Circassian -I dedicatethisbook, Arab Army' - a somewhat gnmdiose title ror so
small a lorce - the English version became 'The
Arab Legion',
~Jeish~~f1bi The ,\rab Legion consisted initially of fivc
oAlcers, scvcllIy-five cavalry and twellty·fi\·e
mountcd machine·gullners; its responsibilitics
were lillie more than the policing ofAmman, the
capital, and its immediatearea. Shortlyafterwards
a further IWOofficers and fifty men were raised for
the Kerak area. The Legion had only been in
existence for a few months when the first real
setback occurred. In north-west Transjordan lay
the country of £1 Kura, peopled by a peculiarly
intractable Iribc who refused to pay their taxes.
The end ofthe First \\'orld War in 1918 brought The government in Amman, without so much as
not only peace to the former Turkish possessions consulting Peake, sellt offthe entire Legion, under
in the ;\liddle East but administrative chaos. The an Arab officer, to bring thc recalcitrant tribes
situation was nOt cased whcn in 1920 the French, men to heel. This officer unhesitatingly marched
as lhe mandatory power, demanded the with his mell into a deep wadi where they weresuccess
drawal ofBritish troops from S}'ria; tbe British not fully ambushed, the force losing eiglJleen killed,
only complied, but withdrew at the same time a large number wounded and all its horses. The
I"rom 'Transjol'dan, leaving the coumry cast 01"lhe survivorsdispersed to their homes in shame.
RiverJordan without eflcctivc govcrnmenL Undismayed, Peake set abollt reforming his
The opponents of the French occupation of discredited force. Somewhat rcluclantly eight of
Syria soon took ad\'antage ofthis situation to usc his best men agreed to come back, and as time
Transjordan as a base ofoperations, and in 1921 passed a few Illore recruits trickled in. These men
theAmirAbdallah appeared in Ma'an insouthern pro\'ided the Ilucleuswhen, in latc '921, Peakewas
Transjordan with a force oftribcsmen determined ordered to increase the Legion's strenglh to about
evict thc French. Howevcr, as a result of the 750 men. I)eakc's persuasive powers overcame the
(0
British )1iddle East Conference then meeting in ir.itial reluctance of the local people to enlist,
Cairo connict was averted and Abdallah was and it soon l>ccamca question ofturning awaythe
persuaded to acccpt the Amirate ofTransjordan, cager applicants, The Arab Legion now became
4
organized into two companies of infalllry, lWO
squadrons of cavalry, a troop of artillery and a
signals section. For reasons of economy the civil
police also werc placcd under control of Arab
Legion Headquarters so that the wholc command
numbered somc ',300 men.
The next few years demonSlrated l)eake's
ability both as a soldier and an administrator, for
thestandard oftheArab Legion improved and the
country became more peaceful. One serious
problem, howcver, remained. In the mid-'92os
when the Legion was beginning to deal effecth'cly
with the periodic disturbances in the settled areas,
a more serious threat grew lip. This was the
IVnhhahi movemelll, a Muslim religious revival in
.·-what is now Saudi Arabia. The Ikhwan, or
ethren, were determined to convert the people
Transjordan by the sword. Their efforts wcrc
thwarted at Ziza in 1924, by an R.A.F. force
based on Amman, a battle in which the Arab
Legion look little part; however, the threat
resulted in the formation of Ihe Transjordan
Fronticr Force which, when the Anglo-Tram
s..~ean~ b ......hiJ Abu K.rachl of the Deli"rt Patrol
jordan treaty was signed in '927, assumed res pbo~OI""phedOD30October1944.(I.mperialWarMunu.....)
ponsibility for maintaining the frontier. It was
responsible direct to the High Commissioner for evident and when, in December '930, Peakeasked
Palestine. The treaty recognized Transjordan's for assistance, MajorJ. B. Clubb, ),I.C., was sent
'independence', while gidng Creat Britain the to him from iraq, where he had already been
responsibility for external defence and foreign serving with distinction amongst the bedouin.
relations. Thc effect ofall this was another blow Glubb started to raise the Desert Patrol (the
to the Arab Legion, which suffered a reduction of Badit},) from among the nomad tribes themselvcs;
600 men, including the loss of its artillery and the beginnings were small, since it was only by
signals, Henceforth the Legion's role was to be personal persuasion that he was able to get any
confined to internal security, ont to join him at all. His first patrol consisted of
Peake had recruited the Legion, quite deliber himsclr, his driver, Alec Kirkbridc the Assistant
ately, from the village Arabs or haderi, because he British Rcsident in Amman, and the Amir Saaker
sa\,/ the encroachment of tbe bedouin on the Ibn Zeid, president ofthe Bedouin Control Board.
cultivated areas as the greatest threat to stable However, as Clubb's reputation spt'ead, recruits
and prosperous Arab governmcnt. Initially this from the tribcs gradually came in, and by April
worked reasonably well, but with the rise to power '931 the Badi,h had been able to take oyer from
of Ibn Saud in Saudi Arabia the intcr-tribal the Transjordan Frontier Force both the B3ir and
raiding, which had always characterized bedouin )"ludowwara sectors - in each case with a "ery
life, assumed an international status, since it small detachment. So effective were Glubb's
disregarded the borders of the twO new states. methods thal within a rear virtually all tribal
it became necessary to dcal with the nomad raiding had ceased and the last raid in the desert
tribes, but this neither the Transjordan Frontier look place inJuly 1932. Even the Howeitat - the
Force, whose task it properly was, nor the principal offenders on the Saudi frontier - after
reconstituted Arab Legion could do. an initial reluctance be an to join the Desert
The need for some sort of desert police was Patrol, and Clubb's command \\'as soon lip to its
5
this was, under command of a reccntly joined
Britishofficer, Lieutenant ~'lacadam.The bedouin
dashed into action and soon gained the upper
hand. R.A.F. aircraft from Amman arrived to
give support, pressing home their attack so
successfully that the enemy broke up in panic.
The raiders suffered some thirty-fi\'e casualties,
Ihe rest vanishing undcr CO\'er of darkncss. The
Arab Legion lost its new British officcr and one
sergeant killed and three othcr ranks \'>'ounded.
The March engagement set the scene for a
series of similar incursions over the next few
weeks, but the Legion soon gOt the measure of
their opponents and on 24 April a final action
was fought at Beit Idis. Here a force ofsome 200
guerrillas were surprised by the horsed cavalry
and the Desert ~Iechanized Force. A running
fight ensued as Ihe enemy were pursued into the
Cap badlll;l', Rl"Jlular Anny. The silver cap badlll;e of till'
Arab ulII;ion is 1101' SarnO' for soldle" and poUc:e, but the wooded hills above the \'illage; contact was finally
NallonalGuardhave..dlffl'ffntbadlll;l'10Yl'lIowml'tal lost in theearlycvening, theenemyhavingsuffered
about eleven killed and at least Iwenty wounded.
full strength of ninety men. Detachments, camel This action finally discouraged the guerrilla
mounted, lived on their own in their patrol areas, leaders, and their bands of infiltraters were seen
often commanded by ason ofthe local sheikh, and no morc in Transjordan. On 21 March 1939
before long it beC;ll1le an honour to belong to the Glubb had assumed command ofthe Arab Legion
Badith, whose morale was correspondingly high. when Peake retired and returned 10 England. As
The period 1932 to 1936 wasone ofsteady, and Clubb himselfsays, '... a considerable portion of
generally peaceful, progress. Clubb continued the people of Transjordan were scarcely able to
incommandofthe Desert Patrol, under theoverall remember the da~'s before Colonel Peake came.
dircction of Peake, who himself remained at the His disappearance from the scene marked the end
head of affairs in Amman. The relationship of ofan epoch for the Arab Legion, and indeed for
both men with the Amir Abdallah and his Transjordan itself.'
Government became increasingl)' cordial. The outbreak of war in Europe found Trans
In 1936 the Arab rising in Palestine began and jordan in an uneasy lull following the campaign
though its effects were little felt in Transjordan against the Palestinian guerrillas. While the
tostartwith, itsoon becameclearthatsomecentral cavalry patrolled the Syrian and Palestine bor
reserve was needed to meet the threat to security ders, the Desert Mechanized Force, now aug
from across the border. From '930 the entire mented by six locally-made armoured cars,
strength ofthe Legion had been deployed around continued its interrupted training. Just before
the country in small detachments. Now a reserve war was declared Captain r\. O. Lash joined
oftwosquadronsofhorsed cavalry and the Desert Glubb as the only other British officer, and took
.\Icchanized Force of 350 bedouin soldiers over command ofthe Desert Patrol.
mounted in trucks was raised and trained. The On the outbreak of war in 1939 the Amir
wisdom of this decision was e,'ident when in Abdallah gave an unhesitating pledge of full
.\1arch 1939a para-military force some 100strong support for Great Britain. This was not taken "ery
elllered the country from Syria. It was spotted seriously until after the fall of Francc in 194-0,
heading towards the wooded Ajlun mountains, when the Germans and Italians began to arrive
but before it could reach the hills was engaged by 10 take over the Syrian and Lebanese Govern
the Desen .\1echanized Force, whose first action ments. With the British Army in Egyptcommitted
6
to the WcstCI'll Desel't, the tiny Arab Legion
immediately assumed an importancc bcyond its ,
size: it was indeed practically the sale defence
against any invasion from the east. IL wasdecided
that the Dlosert r."lechanized Force should be
enlarged to form a Mechanized Rcgiment, which
the British agreed to equip. Meanwhile, German
influence in S)'ria and Iraq increased and in early
'94' a coup d'i!ol took place in Baghdad where a
pro·German party seized power; in April the
regime declared war on Great Britain and a force
was accordingly gathered together in Palestine to
cross the desert and relieve the besieged British
garrison of the Habbaniyah R.A.F. station.
Glubb, accompanied by Lash and the ~Iechanized
Regiment, was to accompany 'Habforce', with the
task on arri\'al in Iraq ofcontactingloyalelements
and persuading them to rise against the regime.
The ~lechanized Regiment (still in fact the
350 men of the original ~lechanized Force, since
the promised newequipment had not yct arrived) ---
was ordered to cover the concentration of
'Habforce' at H4, a station on the Iraq Petroleum
Trooper ofGlubb'. Dnert Palrol camelry. Glubb Pa.ha
Company's pipeline, and, if possible, to capture
fonned lheDeHrt Panolin 1931from amons!hebedouin
the frontier post fort at Rutbah, held by some 100 tnpUI an e.nd 10 raidinSbynomadictriM.me.n
Iraqi police. On the morning ofB May the Legion
invested the fort but, despite some desultory soldiers could show lhem the way. Guided by lhe
bombing by a single R.A.F. aircraft, the Iraqis Legion, the whole force mo\'ed into Habbaniyah
showed no inclination to surrender. Without withOllt difficulty and unopposed. The only
artillery or mortars the Legion was powerless and casuahies occurred in lhe rearguard which was
when at dusk 011 the second day a largc \'chicle attacked by four German fighters; two bedouin
convoy appeared whh reinforcements for the soldiers fought hack gallantly with the Lewis gun
garrison, the Mechanized Regimellt was forced to mounted in their truck, one being killed and one
withdraw to H3 in order to replenish with water badly wounded.
and ammunition. Meanwhile, an R.A.F. arm After the reliefof I-Iabbaniyah the ~Ilechanized
Ollred car company, supported from the air, Regiment was employed in raids on the Jezireh
renewed lhe attack lO such good eOcct that on area nOl'lh ofMosul in an cITon to cut the MOSlll.
10 May the garrison abandoned the fon. Baghdad railway, Glllbb at lhe same time making
The Legion now prepared lO accompany such local Contacts as he could. The Legion also
'Kingeol', the flying column commanded by reconnoitred suitable routes for the attack on
Brigadier Kingstone, on its dash to relievc Baghdad, and thecolumns which advancedon the
Habbaniyah. It seems clear that al this time city towards the end ofMay were allied by Arab
neither Kingstone nor Major-Ceneral Clarke, Legion guides. By 3' ~'b)' the outskirts ofthe city
Habforce commander, fully appreciated the had been reached and the Iraqis had requested
potential ofthe Legion force accompanying them. nn armistice, the terms ofwhich Glubb helped to
However, when mostofKingcol's vehicles bogged draft. Habforce entered Baghdad on , June and
down in the soft sand and there was gloomy talk on 2June theArab Legion ~lechanized Regiment,
of returning to Rutbah, Glubb managed to its job done, set OUI across the desert to return to
per5uade the Brigadier that his experienced desert Amman.
7
lwcnty·fivc miles to the soulh·east, when a '·ichy
post managed to get offa radio message before it
was overrun by lhe Yeomanry. In addition, 4th
Cavalry Brigade was held up at T3, an Iraq
Pctroleum Company cantonment. Leaving a
party to walch the French garrison at T3, the rest
of Habforce moved on to attack Palmyra, under
continual French air anack. On 26June, with the
main force investing Palmyra, the Legion was
ordered to capture Seba' Biyar to the cast and
then to take Sukhna, some thiny miles to lhe
nonh·east, in order to secure the lines of com
munication. Soon after dawn on 28June Clubb's
force approached 5eba' Biyar, which surrendered
as the force drove up - just as well since lhe
attackers had no anillery.
On 29 June the Legion moved out to Sukhna
and found the village unoccupied by the enemy.
However, carlyon tJuly a column was observed
approaching from Deir ez Zor while most ofthe
troops were away getting breakfast. Leaving Lash
with the Legion's three armouredcars and a trOOp
Chevrolet I.rucks or the Arab Legion Deserl MechanizlMI ofinfantry, in a position he had prepared on a hill
Force, which look pari In the Syrian C8.Dlpa..l(n, UnIMI up
on Ihe parade (round for inspection by Ihe Amlr. Each to the cast ofthe village, Clubb went offto alert
truck carries a Lewis pn, and Ihe crew or five and one the Household Cavah·y squadron which had
drivercarryrill.,.andrevolvers.(Imperia.1 Wa.rMuseum)
joined his force two days before, and sent a truck
to recall his own troops. On his rCturn he found
The Legion did not have long to recuper-.ltc. Lash already engaged with French infantry and
Operations to forestall any German occupation of armoured cars; the bedouin infantry, nevcr
Syria began on 10June, though initially wilhout patient of a defensive battle. could not restrain
the support of the Arab Legion. However, on themselves and, instead of holding on until the
21 June Habforce was withdrawn from Iraq and remainder of the force could take the Frmch in
it and the .\Iechanized Regimem were ordered the flank, as Glubb had ordered, rushed into the
into Syria, with Palmyra as their objective. attack. Although greatly oumumberul they
.\1ajor·General Clarke's force was divided imo pressed home their assault with dash and gal•
three columns. The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry lantry, and, supported by the thrc:c: armoured
led the way, guided by a·n Arab Legion detach· cars, put the enemy to flight. The French ..·chicles
ment; their (ask to capture Ihe hills west of made off to the cast. FOrlunatdy the Legion's
Palmyra. The remainder of4th Cavalry Brigade, infantry trucks appeared at that moment and
again guided by a Legion detachment, were to Clubb instantly ga\·e chase. 1"he Frmc.h in
move eaSI of the town and capturc the nonhern advertently ran into a dried-up"...t.t:n:.ou.r'St, were
hills. The lhird column, which included Force caught and surrendered without fU.rt.Qcr fighting.
Headquarters, consisted of the ISt Essex, some Only one \'ehic1e escaped.
artillery and sappers and five Arab Legion troops The French troops at ukhna .1•. ted of2nd
led by Glubb; the Legion's task after the attack Light Desert Company and wbc:a thrit c:omrades
on Palmyra being to cover the rear of British in Palmyra heard what bad happ"cd they
troops moving west towards Horns. mutinied and forced their officers IIIJTender.
It had been hoped that Palmyra would fall on By II July the fighting in )-ri.a w» O\"U. the
the firSI day but surprise was 10SI at Juffa, some battle at Sukhna having been - tal in
8
achieving this result. The signal sem by Ceneral Regimenls moved to Ramallah; both brigades
Wilson, C.O.C. Palestine, to the AmiI' Abdallah were soon involved in a number ofsmall actions
on '2Jlily expressed well the high esteem in which as the Jews moved forward into the Arab areas.
the Legion was held - 'The Transjordan Desert Meanwhile the U.N. Truce Committee tried to
Patrol (sic], under Clubb Pasha, carried out stop the fighting which had already started in the
yesterday at Sukhna, a most successful operation, supposedlyinternationalizedJerusalem.Clubbwas
capturing 80 prisoners, 6 armoured cars and 12 reluctant to mo\'e into the Holy City while truce
machine guns. I offer respectful congratulations negotiations continued but, appreciating that the
on spirited action and fighting qualities of your Jews there were being reinforced from Tel A\'i\',
troops.' 4th Regiment was moved to Latrun to block that
Sukhna wasdestined tobe thelast action fought route. At noon on 17 May Clubb recei\'ed adirect
by the Legion in the Second World War; despite order from King Abdallah to mo\'e the army into
persistenteffortsby Clubband theAmiI'Abdallah Jerusalem where theJews appeared to be gaining
to persuade the British to employ the Legion in an the upper hand; Clubb still hoped to a\'oid the
acti\"e role, the )'ears till t945 were spent in action, knowing that his slender force would be
furnishing guard companies for installations stretched beyond its limit if fully committed to
throughout the ~:Iiddle East theatre. During the street fighting in addition to itscommiunentselse·
war years the Legion expanded to three infantry where in Palestine. Xe\'crtheless, on 18 .May he
regiments with a brigade headquarters, formed ordered 1st Independent Company to mo\"e for·
for operations whieh ne\'er in fact materialized, in ward from the ~Iount of Oli\'es and man the
addition to the sixteen guard companies dispersed Old City walls.
about the theatre. Although the presence of the Legion in Jeru
The year 1946 was marked by the negotiation salem stiflcned Arab resistance it was clearly not
ofa new treaty with Britain, under which Trans· enough, andon 19 ~Iay Lash wasordered to break
jordan became truly independent and the AmiI' into the city from the north with whatcxer troops
became King Abdallah. Howe\"er, more serious he could muster. By clearing the Sheikh Jarrah
work lay ahead, for twO years later, on 15 :\'Iay area and establishing a line across the western
1948, the Palestine :\Iandate was due to end; edge of the Old City, Clubb hoped to halt the
in response 10 Ihe pleas of the Palestinians, who Jewishoffcnsh"e. Theattack went in at03'45 hours
had no other forces to protect them against the on 19Mayand consisted ofoneinfantrycompany,
Jews, Transjordan prepared to occupy with the one armoured car squadron (at that time an
Arab Legion those areas of Palestine adjacent to integral part of each lorried infantry battalion),
her frontiers ,,'hich had been allocated to the four 6-pounder anti-tank guns and four 3·inch
Arabs. The troops available for this operation mOrtars. There was also limited support from one
consisted of foul' lorried infantry battalions battery of artillery. This small force of 300 men,
organized in two brigades, plus two batteries of reinforced during Ihe day by two morecompanies,
25-pounder guns, four guns to each battery. was firmly established in Sheikh Jarrah by night
There were in addition sC"en garrison companies fall, although the armoured cars had had to
who had had little tactical training and possessed withdraw. The next day this lid hoc collection of
no support weapons. The total strength was about troops continucd to hold on under mounting
4,500 all ranks and was commanded by Brigadier enemy pressure and Lash decided to relie\'e them
Lash with an improvised headquarters, under the with 3rd Regiment, the only unit a,'ailable. This
o\'erall direction ofClubb Pasha. There were no meant virtllally denuding Samaria of troops, but
reser\'es oftrained men and little beyond first line with no altcrnati,·e nOh' that the Legion was
stocks ofmortar and artillery ammunition. committed to the battle for Jerusalem, the order
On 15 ~'lay the Arab Legion crossed into wasgi\'en and shortlyafter04'00 hourson 21 :\1ay
Palestine; 1 Brigade liSt and 3rd Regiments) the Regiment came into action"
mo\"ed to tlte Xablus area, while 3 Brigade Forse\'eral hours the fighting was confused and
so-called for deception comisting of2nd and ,ph intense and it was not until !oroo hours that the
9
-
.
_ t;..~-
~,
Trooper. of the Household Cavalry SqUlldron paradial
tM:(ore5euin.out onpatrol. Occober f9+4. (lrnperiat War
M..se.......j
companies had reached their positions ncar ~OtrC fighting offaltacks from Mount Zion to thesouth
Damc- from which theJewsdominated the whole and allhesame time auacking theJewish quarter
arca. This slrongpoinl had 10 be taken before a wilhin the \...alls, an area ,...hich \...as not cleared
proper defensive line could be established and on until 28 May.
23 Mayan attempt was made, but progress was The main aClion now swung to Latrun, where
slow. Fighting cominued throughout that day 4th Infantry Regiment had been blocking the Tel
and night and throughthefollowillgday.Although Aviv road since 15 May. From 25 ~Iay until
sed Regiment gained a foothold in the immense II June Jewish pressure on this vital position
block of buildings which made up NOIre Dame, increased. :'l"everthelcss 4th Regiment, later re·
they were unable to hold on and casualties ,'"ere inforced by 2nd Regiment, held firm against all
mounting: at 17"00 hOUTS on 24 May the attack atlacks, theJews losing hundreds ofmen in fruit
was abandoned. The Regiment had fought less assaults on Latrun itself. at Bah AI Wad and
bravdy, but was now exhausted and casualties on Radar, this last position having been "''Tested
could not be replaced. XeverthcJcss, the Old Cit)' from them by 1st Regiment in a brilliant attack
was held and that had been the main objective. on 26 ~lay.
~Ieanwhile twO independent infantry companies ~Ieanwhile Count Bernadotte, the .X. media
were now hea\·ily committed inside the Old City, tor, had arranged a truce for II JUDe but this
10