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, which was seen more as an internal security militia, deriving from the troops of the Arab Revolt and closely associated with the Hashemite 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 and had the task of protecting Transjordan'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.

uggested 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

* [http://homepages.force9.net/rothwell/trans-jo1.htm About the Transjordan Frontier Force]
* [http://homepages.force9.net/rothwell/trans-jo.htm About The Arab Legion ]