British Gendarmerie
Encyclopedia
The British Gendarmerie was a British paramilitary
police field force created by Winston Churchill
in April 1922 to police Palestine
.
Concerned with the high cost of British Army units acting as police forces in Palestine, Winston Churchill decided that an elite police force similar to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
or South African Constabulary be created for Palestine.
The 43 officers and 700 other ranks force were mostly recruited from the recently disbanded Royal Irish Constabulary
and its Auxiliary Division
who had themselves been recruited from ex-officers of the Great War. Many of its original formations had been intended to be horse mounted but these plans were dropped in an economy measure.
The unit was intended more for riot control rather than crime solving.
The force was disbanded in June 1926 with its duties taken over by the Transjordan Frontier Force
.
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
police field force created by Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
in April 1922 to police Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
.
Concerned with the high cost of British Army units acting as police forces in Palestine, Winston Churchill decided that an elite police force similar to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
or South African Constabulary be created for Palestine.
The 43 officers and 700 other ranks force were mostly recruited from the recently disbanded Royal Irish Constabulary
Royal Irish Constabulary
The armed Royal Irish Constabulary was Ireland's major police force for most of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police controlled the capital, and the cities of Derry and Belfast, originally with their own police...
and its Auxiliary Division
Auxiliary Division
The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary , generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a paramilitary organization within the Royal Irish Constabulary during the Irish War of Independence....
who had themselves been recruited from ex-officers of the Great War. Many of its original formations had been intended to be horse mounted but these plans were dropped in an economy measure.
The unit was intended more for riot control rather than crime solving.
The force was disbanded in June 1926 with its duties taken over by the Transjordan Frontier Force
Transjordan Frontier Force
The Transjordan Frontier Force was formed, on 1 April 1926, as a para-military border guard to defend Trans-Jordan's northern and southern borders. The TJFF was also an Imperial Service regiment whose Imperial Service soldiers agreed to serve wherever required and not just within the borders of...
.
External links
- Black and Tans in Palestine http://www.jerusalemquarterly.org/ViewArticle.aspx?id=305