'Military Lessons of the Arab Rebellion in Palestine 1936' [‎66v] (137/294)

44816-1
94
Yickers-Bertliier gun. Bh.e 30—cv; t • tmCK ca_rz'ied. 3up_- _ies and. spares
in addition, and one of the pick-ups was fitted with T7/T. There were
four troops to a squadron. Though the organization and equipment of
the re inent had been designed primarily for the deserts oz Egypt, they
proved very suitable for operations in the level country of the southern
-part 0 -' F .destine where eonsideraole cross-country work was feasible.
A larger establishment for a troop would however have been an advantage
partiesilarly in cases where dismounted action '«as required; and later,
after its return to Egypt, the regiment was re-organized in December 193 g
into Squadrons of three Troops each, each Troop containing six pick-urs
(one fitted with D/t) , while the 30-cwt. trucks were included in the "
Squadron H.Q. The Mechanized Company of the T.J.F.F. consisted of a
Light Troon of three "Armed Cars" and a heavy Troop of tnree "Troop-
Carriers", with a staff car, supply tender and — /F tender in the Company
HQ. The "Aimed Car" was a ly-ton Gammer with a Wickers gun on a fixed
mounting and carried a crew of five, while the "Troop Carrier" had the
same chassis and armament but carried eleven men. Both vehicles held
rations, water, petrol and oil for four days and had a circuit of action
of 400 miles, but neither was as fast nor as mobile as the 8th Hussar
Ford. None of the vehicles in either regiment were armoured.
Host of the work of the 8th Hussars was in the semi-desert country
lying between the Southern end of the Dead Sea -and Gaza, an area where
their special characteristics could be best exploited. Being the only
troops in the area, outside thd town of Gaza, they were called upon for
a variety of duties the chief of which was the protection of road and
rail caEmunicatians against sabotage. This was carried out by means of
frequent and irregular mounted patrols - mostly at night - and achieved
a fair degree of success. The regiment also conducted frequent searches
of houses and villages in conjunction with the police. Outside the
Gaza-Beersheca area units of the 8th Hussars assisted in the patrolling
of electric power lines and pipe-lines, and during Operation "Z" the
whore regiment was employed upon cordon duties. In the latter case the
cordon extended over a front of fifteen miles which gave little chance
of real security being achieved: it is probable that two miles per
squadron is the maximum effective frontage for this sort of work,
particularly at night, and may even have to be reduced to one mile if
determined attacks on the cordon are to be expected.
_ne Sth nussars suffered severely from land mines, and no less than
twelve cars were damaged by mines at night which had been buried just
_emow one surtace of sandy tracks. The demolition of houses, which
oried as a deterrent, failed to nave much effect: the best answer
,\ould probably have een the carriage of hostages, but that unfortunately
^.rohi^iteu. On one occasion only 7/ere the Sth Hussars employed on
an offensive roxe in tne nills, and there is little doubt that their
orgar_zaoion was not well suited to this sort of ground: without armour
JJ "" e --ling cars .vere always very vulnerable to ambush, and the danger
was greatly increased where narrow defiles had to be negotiated and
._ere w-rn no room -or cars to ee turned round. Mobility too was lost
on tne mils, since movement was only possible along tracks, and Troops
were :co weak on the ground to carry out effectively a long dismounted
x^ac wevertheleos in spite of these drawbacks the 1st Division
noticed a marked superiority in mobility -and enterprise of cavalry over
.ruo ,a e equipped with vehicles with a similar
p er~ anaance.
. ...rt of p e T.v^.3'. mechanized units vras -or-actically confined
klfkl j , e - ’ p® re co-operated T/ith the cavalry in pro
se-lice ; P , . i •- a uro ^ J - ln & *ne frontier. Here they performed good
ifTk' V - reTen ” la f “^Sion from Trans-Jordan and apprehended a
nunoer oi arms-sr.ugglers, though, handicapped by a lack cf silence shen
an l 0; ' few Jollities for getting off the roads. They were
T?T r ! 8tr_ hussars in working in an area where the sine-
-!—yer —iuui.o sntorprisG.