Habforce at Palmyra

The 4th Cavalry Brigade Group, the main striking force of Habforce, was still in front of Palmyra, in the desert. Their supply line was long and tenuous. They were helped by the Arab Legion, which took Sab Biyar, a Vichy outpost south of Palmyra. A telling incident took place on 1 July 1941, when the Arab Legion, commanded by Glubb Pasha, encountered the Vichy 2nd Light Desert Company. The Arab Legion staged "a mechanized cavalry charge" which routed the Vichy force, which lost 11 killed and left 5 officers and 75 men as prisoners. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Official History.