The Syrians The Syrians aquired their German armour after the 1948 fighting, sometime during the 1950s. The Syrians had about 25 Pz III & IV, 28 Stug III auf G, 6 Jagdpz IV and 5 Hummel as well as various Otter & Panhard A/Cars & some (10+) ex-French R-35s. At the time of the 1948 war they were limited to 10+ R-35s & various A/cars. The Vichy forces in Syria in WW2 had around 90 R-35 & approx 100 A/cars, probably obsolete Laffly-Whites. How many survived the 1941 Syrian campaign is uncertain, but the Syrians still had 10 R-35 in the 1950s. A picture shows Syrian Panhard 178s but whether these were supplied post-war or were ex-Vichy is uncertain (more likely the former). The ex-German kit came from France, Czechoslovakia & elsewhere including possibly Franco's Spain. Some of the Pz III/IV ended up being sold to Batista's Cuba! (only 4 -- careful owners........). Some former "Wehrmacht" officers were hired to train the Syrians. The main guns tended to use the same ammo (remember the factories that survived WW2 in Europe were geared up for German needs and production, and the French used the Panther as their MBT post WW2 and developed their 75mm from the Panther's gun..........which in a stroke of irony was used on the 1st Israeli Super Shermans!). MGs were later Russian/Soviet types. Spares presumably from same sources + salvage/cannabalisation. The Israelis In 1948 the Israelis had a handful of salvaged Shermans (2+) and Cromwells (2+), some H-39s and various captured a/cars and improvised vehicles as well as various half-tracks (US) some mounting AT guns & auto-cannon. They had 2 "armoured" units, the 7th Mech Brigade equipped with 1/2 tracks and trucks, and the 8th Armoured brigade with the 82nd Tank Btn and the 88th Mech btn (MG jeep equipped "Commando" unit). The 82nd Tank Btn had an "English" company with 2 Shermans and 2 Cromwells, and a "Russian" Company with Hotchkiss H-39s. The companies were so called due to the language used to communicate within the coy. The Btn also employed 6-pdr equipped M5/M9 1/2 tracks as well as improvised a/cars based on Dodge truck or M3A1 scout cars. The Czech produced MG34 MG was widely used as a vehicle mount. Jordan The Jordanians had various old A/cars inc Marmon-Herringtons Mk IVF (maybe as many as 437), Otters etc. Staghounds and Daimlers were used by both Arabs & Israelis. Egypt The Egyptians had ex-British stuff inc Mk VI lights, Bren carriers, Humber Recce and Mk IVs etc. They also used an unknown but small number of 15cm sIG33 auf Pz II as used by the Afrika Korps. The Concord book gives them 3 Shermans, 132 Vickers Light tanks, 139 to 298 Universal Carriers and unknown numbers of A/cars. They also had Lloyd carriers towing 6-Pdrs. The Concord book mentions Matildas in the 1948 fighting and later in 1956 Valentines so presumably they had an unknown number of infantry tanks of these types. As to Organisation Israelis Jordanians and Egyptians would probably be based on UK patterns initially at least. The Israelis were very improvised though, being formed from the Stern Gang and Haganah militia forces. Syrians would be probably be French based, although they had a British training mission at one stage & sent troops to Egypt to train. In practice, much use was made of improvised "columns" including many irreguler types esp on the Arab side. The Arab Legion was probably the best organised and equipped force on either side, although the Israelis should have high morale. Back to Frontline Vol. 2 Iss. 2 Table of Contents Back to Frontline List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Rolfe Hedges This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com