O Force, Jordan- Formation Sign

[badjez]

According to the IWM (and most other websites that have copied them):

'O' Force was a British force based at Aqaba after the creation of the State of Jordan in 1948 to defend against Israeli attack. The first British regiment based there was a battalion of the Lincolnshire regiment commanded by a Colonel Oulton, 'O' Force was named after him. British regiments were usually transferred from the Canal Zone Districts for six months stints in Aqaba (such stints being termed "swanning about", and it was this phrase which was apparently the inspiration for the swan in the design). There was also a Battery of the 80th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment together with Royal Engineers and other Corps troops. All British Forces left in 1957.

Can anyone enlighten me as to when this FS was actually introduced, as I doubt the Lincs Bn wore it immediately after the Force was raised.

Thanks, Stephen.

[Postwarden]

Stephen,

An excellent question to which I have failed to find an answer.

I called the official record of O Force, National Archives file WO106/6009 written in 1957 which records that ‘Few records exist of the landing or subsequent operations until 1955’. The Force was elevated to District status in July 1955 and I believe the sign was adopted around this time as its use is recorded in the RAOC Gazette of June 1955.

If anyone can add to this I would be very interested.

Jon

[badjez]

Jon,

Thanks for taking time to reply. After my success in finding info on F Sqn I am hopeful forum members might be able to resolve this one.


Stephen.

PS- what was the title of the District that O Force became?

[irish]

Originally Posted by badjez

According to the IWM (and most other websites that have copied them):

'O' Force was a British force based at Aqaba after the creation of the State of Jordan in 1948 to defend against Israeli attack. The first British regiment based there was a battalion of the Lincolnshire regiment commanded by a Colonel Oulton, 'O' Force was named after him. British regiments were usually transferred from the Canal Zone Districts for six months stints in Aqaba (such stints being termed "swanning about", and it was this phrase which was apparently the inspiration for the swan in the design). There was also a Battery of the 80th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment together with Royal Engineers and other Corps troops. All British Forces left in 1957.

Can anyone enlighten me as to when this FS was actually introduced, as I doubt the Lincs Bn wore it immediately after the Force was raised.

Thanks, Stephen.

Very interesting summary of this unit. What catches me is the somewhat Un-Military thought that went into the design of the patch.”swanning about”. Thanks for the post
Jack

[badjez]

Jack,

I'm a bit unsure about the 'swanning about' attribute. I suspect there may be a heraldic reason behind the design. Oulton may actually have been the Regimental Colonel at the time, so may not have been the Bn commander.
I wondered if it was a Oulton family Arms but so far I cannot see any connection.


Stephen.

[Mike Jackson]

Originally Posted by badjez

Jack,

I'm a bit unsure about the 'swanning about' attribute. I suspect there may be a heraldic reason behind the design. Oulton may actually have been the Regimental Colonel at the time, so may not have been the Bn commander.
I wondered if it was a Oulton family Arms but so far I cannot see any connection.


Stephen.

Unfortunately my source material on this issue is in hard copy (and therefore difficult to find) but I am sure that Lt Col Oulton commanded 2 Lincolns at the time and the deployment to Jordan was regarded as a "swan" by numerous staff officers based in the Canal Zone who found pressing reasons to go visiting O Force. You will have noted that the background to the sign is in Lincolns regimental colours. Although it may not have conformed to the strict rules in place - "Staff Duties" etc etc these informal designs did sometimes manage to become established eg Blackadder in Gulf War 1 and the sign of UK's 104 Log Bde which was copied from the design of the World War 2 104 US Inf Div (and astonishingly became authorised).

[badjez]

Thanks Mike.

I believe 1 & 2 Bn, Lincs Regt had amalgamated in Egypt 28.10.48. so Oulton may have been out of a job as Bn commander, but possibly posted to Jordan as O Force commander.

I guess we'll never know the full details.

Stephen.

PS. I've attached a picture of the FS in case people ever want to refer to it.

[Postwarden]

The attached pages form the National Archives document mentioned above provide a basic history of O Force.

Although raised to District status it appears that it was still known as O Force.

Jon

[Voltigeur]

http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/for...ghlight=oulton

[badjez]

Interesting reading. Many thanks.

Stephen.