Between 1921 and 1946, the Emirate of Transjordan was administered as a British Protectorate. It was the area to the East of the River Jordan, with the area West of the Jordan administered as Palestine. In 1949, the area became commonly known as Jordan.
Second World War
The Transjordan forces during the Second World War were part of the British armed forces, using local personnel as both officers and men, supported by British officers. The wider Army was known as the Arab Legion.
One of the units of the Transjordan Frontier Force, the Camps Defence Squadron, included the Vickers Mk I and the Vickers Mk IV B as their machine guns. Despite the Mk IV B being an armoured fighting vehicle gun, there are no vehicles mentioned in the War Establishment.
A Mechanized Regiment of the Arab Legion was equipped with Marmon-Herrington armoured cars, which were armed with the Vickers machine gun. The bulk of the unit were two armoured car squadrons, each of 30 cars.
The Arab Legion Brigade Headquarters was, as of February 1942, equipped with four armoured cars. Their armament is not described in the War Establishment; however, it is possible that is was Vickers machine guns as with the wider Legion.
Sources
- No 1 Army Film and Photographic Unit (1940), E 345 THE ARAB LEGION IN TRANSJORDANIA, London: Imperial War Museum. Available at: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205542027 (Accessed 16 January 2020).
- No 1 Army Film and Photographic Unit (1940), E 346 THE ARAB LEGION IN TRANSJORDANIA, London: Imperial War Museum. Available at: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205542028 (Accessed 16 January 2020).
- The National Archives, WO 24/940, War Establishments 1942 July to September.
- The National Archives, WO 24/943, War Establishments 1942 January to June.
