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Transjordan Frontier Force



 
 
The Transjordan Frontier Force was formed, on 1 April 1926, as an Imperial Service regiment.

Imperial service soldiers agreed to serve wherever required and not just within the borders of their own colony, protectorate or, in the case of the Transjordan, mandate. This was in contrast to the Arab Legion
Arab Legion

The Arab Legion was the regular army of Transjordan and then Jordan in the early part of the 20th Century....
, which was seen more as an internal security militia, deriving from the troops of the Arab Revolt
Arab Revolt

The Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein ibn Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen....
 and closely associated with the Hashemite
Hashemite

Hashemite is the Latinate version of the Arabic: ????? and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim, or "clan of Hashim ibn Abd Manaf", a clan within the larger Quraish tribe....
 cause.






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The Transjordan Frontier Force was formed, on 1 April 1926, as an Imperial Service regiment.

Imperial service soldiers agreed to serve wherever required and not just within the borders of their own colony, protectorate or, in the case of the Transjordan, mandate. This was in contrast to the Arab Legion
Arab Legion

The Arab Legion was the regular army of Transjordan and then Jordan in the early part of the 20th Century....
, which was seen more as an internal security militia, deriving from the troops of the Arab Revolt
Arab Revolt

The Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein ibn Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen....
 and closely associated with the Hashemite
Hashemite

Hashemite is the Latinate version of the Arabic: ????? and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim, or "clan of Hashim ibn Abd Manaf", a clan within the larger Quraish tribe....
 cause. The Transjordan Frontier Force [TJFF]was established with a cadre drawn from the Arab Legion and quickly grew to three cavalry squadrons and an infantry unit. Other units, such as a camel squadron and mechanised units, were added subsequently.

The TJFF would be equipped in a conventional manner, with modern weapons, whilst the Arab Legion would, initially, remain a traditional force, looser in structure and without training in alien technology. Accordingly, the Arab Legion transferred its inventory of machine guns, artillery, and radios.

The TJFF replaced the disbanded Palestine Gendarmerie
Gendarmerie

A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military body charged with police duties among civilian populations. The members of such a body are called gendarmes....
 and had the task of protecting Transjordan
Transjordan

The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman Empire territory incorporated into the British Mandate of Palestine in 1921 as an autonomous political division under Abdullah I of Jordan....
's borders.

In the post-war era, with the independence of the Transjordan and of Palestine looming, there was no longer a requirement for an Imperial Service unit in the region. By now it had grown to some 3, 000 strong, but on 9 February, 1948 the Trans-Jordan Frontier Force was disbanded and most of its members transferred to the Arab Legion.

Suggested reading

  • Roubicek, Marcel, Echo of the Bugle, extinct military and constabulary forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan 1915,1967, Franciscan (Jerusalem 1974)
  • P.J. Vatikiotis, (1967). Politics and the Military in Jordan: A Study of the Arab Legion, 1921-1957, New York, Praeger Publishers. ISBN
  • The Arab Legion (Men-at-arms) (Paperback) by Peter Young, 48 pages, Osprey Publishing (15 Jun 1972) ISBN-10: 0850450845 and ISBN-13: 978-0850450842
  • Farndale, Sir Martin, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, The Years of Defeat, 1939-41, Brassey’s (1996)
  • Dupuy, Trevor N, Elusive Victory, The Arab-Israeli Wars, 1947-1974, Hero (1984)
  • Glubb, John Bagot, The Arab Legion, Hodder & Stoughton, London (1948)
  • Pal, Dharm, Official History of the Indian Armed in the Second World War, 1939-45 - Campaign in Western Asia, Orient Longmans (1957)
  • A. Isseroff, Kfar Etzion Remembered: A history of Gush Etzion and the Massacre of Kfar Etzion, 2005.
  • I. Levi, Jerusalem in the War of Independence ("Tisha Kabin" – Nine Measures – in Hebrew) Maarachot – IDF, Israel Ministry of Defence, 1986. ISBN 965-05-0287-4
  • Jordan – A Country Study, US Library of Congress


External links & references