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37-643: The Egyptian Expeditionary Force had won the decisive Battle of Gaza in November 1917 under the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of Palestine , General Sir Edmund Allenby . Following the Battle of Jerusalem in December, Allenby accepted the surrender of the city, which was placed under martial law , and guards were posted at several points within the city and in Bethlehem to protect sites held sacred by

74-645: A new post of Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies was created within this office. It was held by Robert William Hay initially. His successors were James Stephen , Herman Merivale , Frederic Rogers , Robert Herbert and Robert Henry Meade . From 1824, the British Empire (excepting India , which was administered separately by the East India Company and then the British Raj )

111-785: A telephone and the road network was improved to give the Police greater mobility. During the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine , additional forces were established in Palestine by the British, including the Jewish Settlement Police , Jewish Supernumerary Police and the joint British-Jewish Special Night Squads , the counter-insurgency unit of the force, which gained a reputation for enacting state terror and carrying out violent raids of Arab villages. Between 1936 and 1939, Arab officers became increasingly marginalized within

148-610: The Battle of Samakh and the capture of Tiberias . The EEF destroyed three Ottoman armies during the Battle of Sharon , the Battle of Nablus and the Third Transjordan attack , capturing thousands of prisoners and large quantities of equipment. The EEF pursued the surviving German and Ottoman forces to Damascus and Aleppo , before the Ottoman Empire agreed to the Armistice of Mudros on 30 October 1918, ending

185-875: The British Raj and other British territories near India, were under the authority of the India Office from 1858. Other, more informal protectorates , such as the Khedivate of Egypt , fell under the authority of the Foreign Office . After 1878, when the Emigration Commission was abolished, an Emigration Department was created in the Colonial Office. This was merged with the General Department in 1894, before its complete abolition in 1896. The increasing independence of

222-757: The Christian , Muslim and Jewish religions. Following a decisive British victory at the Battle of Megiddo , the Ottoman Empire formally surrendered on 30 October 1918, leaving the British in complete control of Palestine. Headquarters of the police in Jerusalem were initially set up in the Russian Compound , along Jaffa Road , where assistant provost marshal was assisted by the British Military Police . Initially Palestine

259-735: The Dominions – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Newfoundland and South Africa – following the 1907 Imperial Conference , led to the formation of a separate Dominion Division within the Colonial Office. From 1925 onwards the UK ministry included a separate Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs . After the Cairo Conference held in March 1921, the Colonial Office was charged for the Palestine Mandate administration in substitution of

296-801: The Foreign Office . On 16 April 1947, the Irgun placed a bomb at the Colonial Office which failed to detonate. The plot was linked to the 1946 Embassy bombing . After the Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan gained independence in 1947, the Dominion Office was merged with the India Office to form the Commonwealth Relations Office . In 1966, the Commonwealth Relations Office

333-776: The Stalemate in Southern Palestine from April to October 1917, Murray consolidated the EF's position and in June General Edmund Allenby took command and began preparations to take the offensive, employing manoeuvre warfare . He reorganised the force into the XX Corps , XXI Corps and Desert Mounted Corps (formerly the Desert Column). On 31 October two corps captured Beersheba defended by

370-713: The Thirteen Colonies , as well as, the Canadian territories recently won from France), until merged into the new Home Office in 1782. In 1801, colonial affairs were transferred to the War Office in the lead up to the Napoleonic Wars , which became the War and Colonial Office to oversee and protect the colonies of the British Empire . The Colonial Office was re-created as a separate department 1854, under

407-599: The colonial secretary . It was finally merged into the Commonwealth Office in 1966. Despite its name, the Colonial Office was responsible for much, but not all, of Britain's Imperial territories; the protectorates fell under the purview of the Foreign Office , and the British Presidencies in India were ruled by the East India Company until 1858, when the India Office was formed to oversee

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444-534: The loss of thirteen of its colonies , however, the department was abolished in 1782. Responsibility for the remaining colonies was given to the Home Office , and subsequently in 1801 transferred to the War Department . The War Office was renamed the War and Colonial Office in 1801, under a new Secretary of State for War and the Colonies , to reflect the increasing importance of the colonies. In 1825

481-713: The British and Palestinian sections of the Palestine Police while most of the remainder joined a new Corps, the Transjordan Frontier Force . By 1928 the Force had 2,143 officers (all ranks): 321 Jews, 1293 Muslim Arabs and 471 Christian Arabs. In January 1930, Herbert Dowbiggin , colonial Inspector General of Police of Ceylon , was sent to Palestine to advise on the re-organization of the Palestine Police Force, and his report

518-885: The British colonies was part of the duties of the Secretary of State for the Southern Department and a committee of the Privy Council known as the Board of Trade and Plantations . Separately, the Indian Department was responsible for relations with indigenous nations in North America from 1755 onwards. In 1768 the separate American or Colonial Department was established, in order to deal with colonial affairs in British America . With

555-509: The Force in 1937. He refused but joined Sir David Petrie in visiting the territory (December 1937 – January 1938) to advise on dealing with Arab guerrillas. Tegart forts are a style of militarized police fortress constructed throughout Palestine during the British mandate . The forts are named after Tegart, who designed them in 1938 based on his experiences in the Indian insurgency . Tens of

592-739: The Israel Police's uniforms and rank names were identical to those of the Palestine Police until 1958. Throughout most of its history the Palestine Police Force wore the standard khaki drill uniforms characteristic of British military and police forces serving in India and the Middle East. Until the 1940s British personnel were distinguished by pith helmets with dark blue edged puggaree bands while locally recruited officers wore fez like headdresses (see photo above). Egyptian Expeditionary Force The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF)

629-583: The Ottoman III Corps (which had fought at Gallipoli), which weakened their defences stretching almost continually from Gaza to Beersheba. Subsequently the Battle of Tel el Khuweilfe , the Third Battle of Gaza and the Battle of Hareira and Sheria forced an Ottoman withdrawal from Gaza on the night of 6/7 November and the beginning of the pursuit to Jerusalem. During the subsequent operations, about fifty mi (80 km) of Ottoman territory,

666-649: The Police Mobile Force (PMF) was created as a fully militarized strike force, which was part of and under the command of the Palestine Police. Established with 800 British servicemen, who had been on active wartime service in Italy , North Africa , and Britain, the PMF was organized, trained, and equipped along military lines. Members wore 'battle dress' and were trained in a special training depot based in Jenin . By

703-780: The Sinai and Palestine Campaign. The British Mandate of Palestine , and the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon were created to administer the captured territories. Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom , first created in 1768 from the Southern Department to deal with colonial affairs in North America (particularly

740-686: The United Kingdom's colonial dependencies in The Colonial Office List , though between 1926 and 1940 it was known as The Dominions Office and Colonial Office List . It later became known as the Commonwealth Relations Office Year Book and Commonwealth Office Year Book . In addition to the official List published by the Colonial Office, an edited version was also produced by Waterlow and Sons . It can be difficult to distinguish between

777-660: The administration of the new Viceroyalty of India (the Crown ruled India directly through a Viceroy after the Indian Rebellion ), while the role of the Colonial Office in the affairs of the Dominions was replaced by the Dominion Office in 1925. It was headed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies , known informally as the Colonial Secretary. Prior to 1768, responsibility for the affairs of

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814-709: The country." Legislative authority was granted eight months after-the-fact with Police Ordinance 1921, although the PPF's authority was never challenged legally. In 1926 the two gendarmeries (the British Gendarmerie , which had been mostly recruited from the disbanded Royal Irish Constabulary , and the Palestine Gendarmerie, known as the Mounted Police Force, and made up of Jews and Arabs) were disbanded, their members transferring to

851-497: The force, while British and Jewish policemen were mobilized to repress the revolt. Prior to the revolt, the police force was majority Arab. However, during the years of the revolt, the police force became majority British, with the numbers of British officers in the police force growing from 900 to 2500. Colonial Office officials in London wanted Irish-born police officer and engineer Sir Charles Tegart to become Inspector-General of

888-637: The influence of the Palestine Police reached its peak after the force was disbanded on 15 May as around 1,400 policeman obtained postings elsewhere. In particular, a Special Constabulary of 500 former Palestine Police was established in Malaya after the state of emergency was declared in June 1948. Officers who served in Malaya also transferred to colonial police forces in Kenya , Hong Kong and Tanganyika . Along with

925-649: The offensive, again employing manoeuvre warfare at the Battle of Megiddo . The successful infantry attacks of the Battle of Tulkarm and the Battle of Tabsor created gaps in the Ottoman defences, enabling the pursuit by the Desert Mounted Corps to encircle the Ottoman infantry fighting in the Judean Hills during the Battle of Nazareth , the Capture of Afulah and Beisan , the Capture of Jenin ,

962-476: The reinforced concrete block structures were built to the same basic plan, both along the so-called Tegart's Wall of the northern border with Lebanon and Syria , and at strategic intersections in the interior of Palestine. Many of them stand to this day, and some continue to be used as jails and police stations. On 27 May 1942, the Police became a military force eligible to be deployed on military operations inside Palestine and in Syria and Iraq . In 1944,

999-413: The rest of the Palestinian population, Palestinian officers in the police force faced mass expulsion and displacement during the 1948 Nakba . The Palestine Police Force formed the basis upon which the Israel Police was founded. Hundreds of Jewish officers of the Palestine Police subsequently joined the Israel Police. The operating procedures of the Palestine Police remained intact in the Israel Police, and

1036-486: The time consisted of 18 British officers supported by 55 Palestinian officers and 1,144 rank and file, whose duties were described as: "Besides fulfilling the ordinary duties of a constabulary, such as the preservation of law and order and the prevention and detection of crime, act as their numbers will allow as escorts for the protection of tax collectors, serve summonses issued by the judicial authorities, distribute Government notices and escort Government treasure throughout

1073-404: The time of the 1947 UN Partition Plan the British members of the Force alone numbered 4,000. The British mandate over Palestine was due to expire on 15 May 1948, but Jewish Leadership led by future Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion , declared the independence of the State of Israel on 14 May. Members of the Palestine Police Force withdrew with the remainder of the British in Palestine. However,

1110-420: The victories at the Battle of Magdhaba in December 1916 and the Battle of Rafa in January 1917, by which time the Desert Column had been formed within the EF. These victories resulted in the recapture of substantial Egyptian territory and were followed in March and April by two Eastern Force defeats on Ottoman territory, at the First Battle of Gaza and Second Battle of Gaza in southern Palestine. During

1147-433: The withdrawal from the Gallipoli Campaign the force grew into a large reserve to provide reinforcements for the Western Front , while the Western Frontier Force fought in the Senussi Campaign from 1915 to 1917 and the Eastern Force (EF) defended the canal at the Battle of Romani in August 1916. Following the victory at Romani, part of the Eastern Force pursued the Ottoman invading force back to Palestine after

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1184-429: Was a military formation of the British Empire , formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–1915), at the beginning of the Sinai and Palestine campaign of the First World War. Formed in the British protectorate of the Sultanate of Egypt , the initially small force was raised to guard the Suez Canal and Egypt. After

1221-460: Was administered in the southern district of the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (OETA). The Palestine Police was founded with the establishment in July 1920 of the civilian administration of the British Mandate under high commissioner Herbert Samuel . The first police commander was Lieutenant Colonel P. B. Bramley , OBE, with the title of Director of Public Security and with the rank of Commandant of Police and Prisons. The police force at

1258-529: Was captured as a result of the EEF victories at the Battle of Mughar Ridge (10–14 November) and the Battle of Jerusalem (17 November – 30 December.) Serious losses on the Western Front in March 1918 during the German spring offensive , forced the British to divert forces from the EEF. During this time, two unsuccessful attacks were made, the First Transjordan attack on Amman and the Second Transjordan attack on Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt to capture Es Salt, in March and April 1918, before Allenby's force resumed

1295-414: Was divided by the War and Colonial Office into the following administrative departments: In 1854, the War and Colonial Office was divided in two, the War Office and a new Colonial Office, created to deal specifically with affairs in the colonies and assigned to the Secretary of State for the Colonies . The Colonial Office did not have responsibility for all British possessions overseas: for example, both

1332-404: Was re-merged with the Colonial Office, forming the Commonwealth Office . Two years later, this department was itself merged into the Foreign Office, establishing the Foreign and Commonwealth Office . The Colonial Office had its offices in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Main Building in Whitehall . From 1862, the Colonial Office published historical and statistical information concerning

1369-408: Was submitted in May of that year. It was a highly confidential document which it was considered impossible to publish at the time. On his advice, the British and Palestine Sections of the Police were reinforced, and deployed so that no important Jewish settlement or group of Jewish farms was without a detachment, with access to sealed armories, furnished with Greener guns. Each colony was provided with

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