In October 1920, after taking over the Transjordan region, Great Britain formed a unit of 150 men called the "Mobile Force" under the command of Captain Frederick Gerard Peake to defend the territory against both internal and external threats.[1] It was quickly expanded to 1,000 men recruiting Arabs who had served in the Ottoman army. On 22 October 1923, the police were merged with the Reserve Mobile Force, still under Peake, who was now an employee of the Emirate. The new force was named Al Jeish al Arabi (The Arab Army) but was always known officially in English as the Arab Legion. The Arab Legion was financed by Britain and commanded by British officers.[2] The force was formed as a police force to keep order among the tribes of Transjordan and to guard the important Jerusalem-Amman road....
...In 1939, John Bagot Glubb, better known as Glubb Pasha, became the Legion's commander and transformed it into the best trained Arab army...
...During World War II, the Arab Legion took part in the British war effort against pro-Axis forces in the Middle East Theatre. By then the force had grown to
1,600 men. The Legion, part of Iraqforce, contributed significantly in the Anglo-Iraqi War and in the Syria-Lebanon campaign. These were two decisive early victories for the Allies....
Arab Legion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia