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145book Shades of Amber,2 of RAF Regiment officers who %u2018spoke no Arabic%u2019 and of the %u2018ill8trained, ill8equipped and ill8Officered APL%u2019, specifically in 1954855. According to him, the APL were a Force %u2018%u2026armed only with rifles and Bren guns and employed mainly on guard and ceremonial duties in Aden%u2019 and writes of %u2018serious disaffection%u2019 and %u2018mass desertion%u2026%u2026of hundreds%u2019, from %u2018an APL unit%u2019 in 1955, whereafter, he states, %u2018%u2026.. the Army then took control and re8established order%u2019. This is distorted and quite untrue. These are the facts relating to the RAF Regiment%u2019s association with the APL during the period in question: 1. Levy squadrons were equipped identically to the new RAF Regiment field squadrons in 1954, thus better armed in 1954 than infantry companies in the British Army. 2. The entire Force establishment was less than 1,400. Had %u2018hundreds%u2019 deserted, the Force would have ceased to be viable. 3. The Army had no units in the Aden Protectorate at that time. 4. Some British APL Officers did not speak Arabic in 1954, but from 1955 all RAF Regiment APL Officers attended Arabic8language training at the University of London. This was an RAF decision, not a political one, made well before 1954 but held in abeyance until the RAF Regiment%u2019s future was assured. 5. The first two Army Officers (captains) did not arrive until late 1956 as routine replacements for tour8ex RAF Regiment APL Officers. 6. The Force transferred to the Army in April 1957. The last RAF Regiment Officers were not replaced by Army Officers until 1959. 7. Thereafter, the Army APL establishment included six RAF Regiment Officers as Company Commanders and Seconds8in8Command until %u2018Arabisation%u2019 was completed. Two were decorated for gallantry. 8. The book Without Glory in Arabia,3 on Sir Kennedy%u2019s accounts of political and military matters states that %u2018He%u2026.is not always consistent with the actual record%u2026%u2019, and that %u2018%u2026.it is not now possible to reconcile these apparently different records and