| Glubb Pasha |
Website Links For John |
Information AboutGlubb Pasha |
|
Lieutenant-General Sir John Bagot Glubb, better known as '''Glubb Pasha ''' (born 16 April , 1897 , Preston , Lancashire – died 17 March , 1986 , Mayfield , Sussex ), was a British soldier best known for leading and training Transjordan 's Arab Legion 1939-1956 as its commanding General . During World War I , he served in France and was then transferred to Iraq in 1920, which was governed by Britain according to the League Of Nations Mandate . Educated at Cheltenham College , he was commisioned into the Royal Engineers in 1915 and became an officer of the Arab Legion in 1930. The next year he formed the Desert Patrol a force consisting of exclusively Beduin s to curb the raiding problem that plagued the southern part of the country. Within a few years he had persuaded the beduins to abandon their habit of raiding neighbour tribes and the raids were soon a thing of the past. In 1939, Glubb succeeded Frederick G. Peake as the commander of the Arab Legion. During this period, he transformed the legion to the best trained force in the Arab world. According to the Encyclopaedia Of The Orient : Glubb served his Home Country all through his years in the Middle East , making him immensely popular in the end. Arab nationalists believed that he had been the force behind pressure that made King Hussein I Of Jordan join the Baghdad Pact . Glubb served different high positions in the Arab Legion, the army of Transjordan. During the World War II he led attacks on Arab leaders in Iraq , as well as the Vichy regime which was present in Lebanon and Syria . On 15 May , 1948 Glubb led the Arab Legion across the Jordan to occupy the West Bank , not expecting to fight for it because of the understanding between the Jewish Agency and King Abdullah . According to Avi Shlaim, :Rumors that Abdullah was once again in contact with the Jewish leaders further damaged his standing in the Arab world. His many critics suggested that he was prepared to compromise the Arab claim to the whole of Palestine as long as he could acquire part of Palestine for himself. 'The internecine struggles of the Arabs,' reported Glubb, 'are more in the minds of Arab politicians than the struggle against the Jews. Azzam Pasha , the ''mufti'' and the Syrian government would sooner see the Jews get the whole of Palestine than that King Abdullah should benefit.' (p. 96) Glubb remained in charge of the defence of the West Bank following the armistice in March 1949 and as the commander of the Arab Legion until 1 March , 1956 when he was dismissed by King Hussein who wanted to distance himself from the British, and disprove the contention of Arab nationalists that Glubb was the actual ruler of Jordan. Differences between Glubb and Hussein had been apparent since 1952, especially over defence arrangements, the promotion of Arab officers and the funding of the Arab Legion. Despite his Decommission , which was forced upon him by public opinion, he remained a close friend of the king. He spent the remainder of his life writing books and articles, mostly on the Middle East and his experiences with the Arabs. Quoted in Bernard Lewis , ''What Went Wrong: Western Impact and the Middle Eastern Response (2002)'', Glubb summed up his views as follows: "''We have given them self-government for which they are totally unsuited. They veer naturally towards dictatorship. Democratic institutions are promptly twisted into engines of intrigue -- thus the same bunch crop up after each coup in a different guise, until disposed of by assassination.''" HONOURS Glubb was appointed OBE in 1925; CMG in 1946 and KCB in 1956. FAMILY In 1938 Glubb married Muriel Rosemary Forbes, the daughter of physician James Graham Forbes. The couple had a son, Godfrey (named after the Crusader king), born in Jerusalem in 1939 and adopted a Bedouin girl in 1944 and another daughter and son, both Palestinian refugees, in 1947. Sir John died in 1986 at his home in East Mayfield, Sussex, and is buried in the graveyard at St. Dunstan's Church, in the village. Lady Glubb passed in September 2005 and is interred with him. Their son, Godfrey, converted to Islam as a young man and took the name of Faris, becoming a prominent journalist and researcher into the Palestinian cause. He was killed in a hit and run accident in Kuwait in April 2004. SEE ALSO WRITINGS The source for the following bibliography is Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2005. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2005.
REFERENCES
EXTERNAL LINKS
PHOTOS |
|
|