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Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Yom Kippur War Jordanian Order of Battle


Yom Kippur War Jordanian order of battle

Photos from the Jordanian tank museum 

The least enthusiastic participant in the October fighting was probably Jordan. After the Arab offensive began Jordan commenced calling up reserves on the 10th of October. The 40th Armored Brigade was sent to the North eastern front in Syria the threaten the Israeli border and protect the flanks of the Syrian counter attacks. 

The 40th Armoured Brigade crossed the border on the 12th and arrived in position on the 13th and were then attached to the 3rd Iraqi Armoured division. On the 14th the division was assigned to the southern flank of the counter attack. The assault occurred between Jubata al Khashab and Khan Arinbeh, with the goal of forcing a front to highway 98, near Al Qunaitra and the high ground. This ground was not very suited to Armoured formations as it consisted of volcanic rocks, small ridges, gullies and outcrops, with a number of villages, plus overlooked by high ground that could be defended easily by the Israelis.

 The 40th were placed on the left flank of the Iraqi division, the attack began at dawn on the 16th after a preliminary bombardment of Jordanian, Iraqi and Syrian artillery. The assault began successfully until at 4000m the first centurions were lost to TOW missiles, however the creeping barrage by the Jordanian artillery forced the Israeli infantry to retire and the centurions possibly being mistaken as Israeli armour penetrated the line, in the confusion the Jordanians claimed 20 Israeli tanks, 9 TOWs and three jeeps destroyed or captured for the loss of 14 tanks destroyed, forcing the Israeli troops to withdraw. On the 17th and 18th damaged vehicles were refitted for a renewed assault on Israeli positions on dawn of the 19th, however the assault went in piecemeal and the Jordanians lost a further 4 tanks destroyed, but the Iraqis in the centre were badly mauled. A further assault was planned on the 23rd of October, but never went forward due to the ceasefire. The Jordanians suffered 28 killed and 49 wounded, with the loss of 33 tanks, 18 destroyed and 9 damaged but recovered, and 6 captured by Israel and 2 APCs damaged. 

A good indication of the Jordanian camouflage, medical M113 of the 40th division, the photo I believe is from 1970 during Black September. 


40th Jordanian Armoured Brigade Khalid Hajhouj al-Majali 

Brigade HQ 
Signal Company
Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II 1st Armored Infantry Battalion M113
2nd Royal Tank Battalion  45 Mk7 105mm Centurions
Prince Ali bin Al Hussein 4th Tank Battalion 45 Mk5 105mm and Mk7 105mm centurions
Services Companies
Medical Company
Brigade Maintenance Workshop Centurion ARV
Field reconnaissance battalion 9 x FV-701 Ferret 

A Jordanian M48 with three 44 gallon fuel drums on the rear. 



Photos from the Jordanian Armour museum


Division Artillery HQ
2nd SP Artillery Battalion 10? M110 howitzer
7th SP Artillery Battalion 10 M52 105mm self propelled howitzer
23rd SP Artillery Battalion 8 M52 105mm self propelled howitzer
18 × M-42 Duster 40mm SP AA 


Jordanian M42 duster, photo from the Jordanian Tank Museum 

References

Historical encyclopedia of the Jordanian armed forces
https://www.jaf.mil.jo/Assets/File/hestoryPdfEn.pdf




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