The Arab Legion (Al-jaish Al'-arabi) was Transjordans and later on also Jordans regular army. It was formed in 1921 by Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Gerard Peake as a police force to keep order among Transjordanian tribes and to guard the important Jerusalem-Amman road. Originally, the Legion consisted of only 150 men, most of them stationed along the roads.
In 1939, John Bagot Glubb, better known as Glubb Pasha, became the Legion's commander and transformed it into the best trained Arab army.
The Legion was the most successful of the Arab armies during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Following the expiration of the Palestine Mandate on May 14, 1948, the British government transferred nominal command of the Legion to King Abdullah of Transjordan, but did not order its removal to Transjordanian territory or the removal of its largely British officer corps.
The Legion immediately intervened in what had been a Palestinian civil war. At Latrun, the Legion blockaded the Jerusalem highway, renewing the Arab siege of the Jewish population of the city. Legion troops, aided by armoured cars, conquered and destroyed the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem in May xx , 1948. Legion sappers destroyed every synagogue in the quarter.
The Legion also secured the West Bank for Transjordan.
Following the war, the Legion was transformed into the army of Jordan
See also
Books
- P.J. Vatikiotis , Politics and the Military in Jordan: A Study of the Arab Legion, 1921-1957, New York, Praeger Publishers (1967)
External links & references