Aden Protectorate Levies The Aden Protectorate Levies ( APL ) were a military force raised for the local defense of the Aden Protectorate . The Levies were drawn from all parts of the Protectorate and were armed and officered by the British military . They used the Lahej emblem of crossed " jambiyah " ( traditional curved double - edged dagger ) as their badge . History . Foundation . The APL were formed on 1 April 1928 primarily to protect Royal Air Force stations following the change of status of Aden to an Air Command in April 1927 . Their secondary role was to be that of assisting the civil police . The APL also formed a Camel Troop . Prior to 1928 the British garrison in Aden had comprised two infantry battalions , one British and one Indian , plus Royal Artillery units and detachments of Sappers and Miners . A locally recruited infantry unit , known as the 1st Yemen Infantry , had been raised in the Aden Protectorate during 1917 - 18 for service in World War I but had been disbanded in 1925 . Organisation . Colonel M . C . Lake of the British Indian Army was the first Commanding Officer until Lt . Col . J . C . ( Robby ) Robinson took over command in 1929 and remained as C . O . till 1939 . In 1928 the APL comprised two British officers and six platoons of Arabs ( each one officer and 34 men ) recruited from tribes in the Western Protectorate states , they had 48 camels and 8 mules . The APL recruited from the various tribes which lived in the foothills or the higher mountainous regions of the protectorate . During the early years of the APL ' s existence a number of junior commissioned officers and senior NCOs were Indian . Based in Aden Colony was the APL Depot Battalion , the Levies Base and Training Organisation . The Depot included married quarters , a neonatal clinic , a school for children , the APL Band and the APL Camel Troop . Air supply and other repair and supply units also were based there . The APL Hospital ( ALH ) , located near Khormaksar , was a 160 bed RAF general hospital where free medical care was given to the APL ' s 1 , 500 men active members and their families , and also to former members , about 10 , 000 people in all . The ALH also provided the medicines to the APL . The hospital CO was an RAF doctor assisted by two RAF warrant officers , and an administration and supplies staff . Medical coverage was provided by three RAF doctors and a surgeon who were assisted by local doctors . The other RAF personnel were two male nurses , two laboratory technicians and a Pharmacist . Local people made up the rest of the staff and all of them would have been trained on site . Arab officers . Arab officers were called Bimbashis , with one in each battalion being responsible to the Commanding Officer for Arab Administration . They held Governor ' s Commissions as 2nd Lieutenant ( MulazimIth Thani ) ; Lieutenant ( Mulazim Al Awal ) ; Captain ( Rais ) ; and Major ( Wakil Qaid Ith Thani ) . During the period of RAF control prior to 1957 , a different system of Arab rank designations had been in place at all levels . The senior Arab rank was that of Lieutenant Colonel ( Qaid Al Awal ) . World War Two . During World War II the APL was expanded from 600 to 1 , 600 men . The Levies operated in Aden and the Western Aden Protectorate but also provided garrisons at Socotra Island and Sharjah . By 1939 an APL anti - aircraft wing had been created , which shot down an Italian plane in the course of the war . In 1942 a six year process of replacing British Army personnel serving with the APL with RAF Regiment officers and airmen commenced . This policy led to the reorganisation of the Levies into a tactical force of two wings , each about the equivalent of a battalion , plus an administrative wing . A third infantry wing was added after 1948 Postwar . During the December 1947 anti - Jewish riots , some Arab personnel of the Levies proved ineffective in controlling inter - communal violence and fired indiscriminately into Jewish houses , killing several of the inhabitants . The Levies reverted to War Office control in 1957 with British Army officers and NCOs replacing RAF secondees . The AFL headquarters was at Seedaseer Lines in Khormaksar . " Up country " bases and out - stations were maintained at Dhala , Mukeiras , Beihan , Zinjibar , Ataq and Lodar . In 1958 the APL , supported by British troops and the RAF , repulsed border intrusions by Yemeni forces in the Jebel Jihaf region . Border clashes with Yemeni tribal groups continued through the late 1950s . By 1960 the APL consisted of four rifle battalions each of which had 3 " mortars , medium machine guns and signallers , and a Mechanical Transport Platoon . The APL was a brigade - equivalent force with its own air supply and air liaison officers and the Senior Arab Officer . Additional units included the APL Armoured Car Squadron , the APL Signal Squadron , the APL Band and the APL Camel Troop . The APL Camel Troop was a ceremonial unit which conducted many public appearances . On 30 November 1961 , following the creation of the South Arabian Federation , the APL changed its name to the Federal Regular Army . After 1967 those British trained personnel considered politically unreliable were purged from the reorganised armed forces of the newly established People ' s Republic of Yemen . Awards . Officers and other ranks of the Levies were awarded the following : One Distinguished Service Order ( D . S . O . ) , Seven Military Cross s ( M . C . ) , Two Military Medal s ( M . M . ) , One Officer of the Order of the British Empire ( O . B . E . ) , Three Member of the Order of the British Empire s ( M . B . E ) and One British Empire Medal ( B . E . M . ) Insignia and uniforms . The badge of the APL , worn in various designs from the 1940s , on , included crossed " jambiyas " ( double - edged Adeni daggers ) under a crescent and star , with the motto " Peace be with you " in Arabic . Throughout its history the APL wore the khaki drill uniform of the British Indian Army , complete with a Punjabi style " pagri " ( turban ) . When on service in the " up - country " hinterland of the Protectorate , a simple khaki head - roll or " mashedda " was adopted by all ranks , modeled on that of the Audhali tribe from whom many of the Levies were recruited . A white ceremonial uniform with green turban and waist sash was worn by both the Camel Troop and the Guard of Honour .