'Military Lessons of the Arab Rebellion in Palestine 1936' [‎98v] (201/294)

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"Searches” in Towns and Vill age i
In the main these were carried out on the lines laid down i
6 of Imperial Policing 1954, and little comment is necessaiy. n h Section
procedure in each case remained much the same in principle but va ’ d
in detail according to the degree of punishment which it was inte^ i
to introduce. Initial surprise was of course a prime necessity a d
usually required the establishment of a cordon just before daylight
Aircraft were often employed to warn cordon troops of attempts to br t
’ out of the area and if necessaiy to take air action to prevent them ^
A typical search operation would start with troops breakfastin •
camp somewhere round about 2 a.m. before travelling by M.T. to'a o ^
within a mile or two of the objective* Police guides and searcher-
would join the column at some rendezvous far enough away to give no
indication ox the destination, and the whole party would d°bus ou 4 " of
sight and hearing of the village* Here the cordon troopsorohablv
one company of infantiy - would move off in the dark, taking the
eaie not to alarm the village dogs, each platoon making for an allotted
position under the direction of a police guide. Platoons would aim to
reach their positions about an hour before dawn, and in the first stre^*
of daylight would extend outwards to join up with those on the flsnks
The coraon "would then start to close in simultaneously on all sides.
3y this time aircraft would appear overhead and the armoured cars for
tanks; which had escorted the road move of the column would move up to
positions from which they could assist in the cordon. By this time the
Vll ?; a , s - e r ' vould have "been thoroughly aroused and the covering troops -
prcbaoly one or two platoons - would enter and establish posts in command
ing positions, most of which would be on the roofs of the houses. After
them woimd come a party of troops and police to assemble all male inhabi-
°Pen space just outside the village for interrogation by
r mil:Lta ^ Meanwhile a second party of searchers
n S ns a. rule from tne nigh ground*
fnr . J^ Se f:° h , WOuld V include close inspection of the floors and walls
n? if h1 ^? places and necessitate knocking down some
goino- nTfv, and da ? gln S U P floors to discover aims. While this was
^ f i roo ps would search the threshing floors and
ditebpe; f surround ing hedges, trees, stone walls, caves,
and the ? All would be over as a rule well before midday,
* ,, rYn °P S . wou withdraw in much the same order as they had approached,
ir the C + rS , ^ aircraf " t rem aining last of all to keep the men
' were clear of°?he Vinaje!^ ^ be6n asserabled the
inf-mtnr if th_o type -v.'ould usually occupy about two companies of
be ^ T h ' depenaed 0n the ease which the cordon could
searched in st v ‘ T 0O0asi '’ n a villa S e °f some 150 houses was
Two of the ohi --P ° ne Gom P an y under favourable circumstances,
of woLf se^ff. f f f CUlt i e3 in lottos searches .arose from a lack
course have ca-rt ° f reliab:Le P°lice, who should of
resnonsib-i- + ^. th actua l searching themselves leaving the troops
to reiving f °S C adone * There were however obvious objections
fo fslfr fe^ . POllCe 88 se “rs and great official reluctance
police ° Tv, r- 6 > >ur f 03e > while there were never sufficient British
vSfh At fAf ° f the aching had to be done by troops,
ihem ofen to A? f e^remely distasteful to the soldiers but also laid
were only too r^d?! barges of "frightfulness" which
that of the troorf A U r-ved when the only evidence against them was
inh°;o?Af em f' 3lVeS ' M ° reOTer British troop? hid the very
Arabs of course made frfe nos< l ues **& MoBlem women ’ and ^
° e 0d: both as a means of concealing aims.