UNITED NATIONS Distr. GENERAL GENERAL A/3694 ASSEMBLY 9 October 1957 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH Twelfth session Agenda item 65 UNITED NATIONS EMERGENCY FORCE Report of the Secretary-General TABLE 0 F CONTENTS Paragraphs INTRODUCTION •••••••••••••• 1 - 2 r. ORGANIZATIONAL AND OPERATIONAL MATTERS 3 - 29 1. Strength and composition . 3 - 7 2. Organization .. • e ,••• 8 - 11 3. UNEF air support 12 4. Deployment l3 - 15 5. Rotation l6 - 19 6. Well-being of the force . 20 - 24 1. logistics.... .. I.. I, . 25 - 29 rr. THE ROrE AND FUNCTIONING OF UNEF 30 - 47 1. Responsibilities vested in the Force . 30 - 34 I (a) In the Suez area (b) In the Sinai Peninsula ( c) In the Gaza Strip (a) General 51-27935 /... A/3694 English Page 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Paragraphs 2. Arrangements affecting the operation of UNEF 35 - 40 Incidents ,.....•. 41 - 43 4. The effectiYeness of UNEF 44 - 47 Ill. ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS 48 - 111 1. Authorizations 48 - 53 2. Financial arrangements 54 - 56 ,. Co st estimat es 57 - 64 4. Current status of receipts and expenditures 65 - 78 Ca) Assessments Cb) Voluntary contributions (c) Working CaJ;lital Fund advances (d) Estimated obligations and expenditures through August 1957 Allocation of costs of UNEF contingents between the United Nations and the ~ember States concerned . 79 - 91 6. Compensation in respect of the injury or death of members of the Force 92 - 98 7. Financial r equf rement.s 99 - 110 (a) Obligational authority Cb) Basis for financing UNEF costs Cc) Cash requirements -. 8,. Summary of decisions reCJ.uested by the Secretary-General concerning UNEF •. III ~ : ANNEX - Estimated costs of UNEF for the first financial J;leriod November 1956 to 31 December 1957 / ... A/"569 4 English Page 3 UNITED NATIONS EMERGENCY FORCE Report of the Secretary-General ., .1 INTRODUCTION t, .,'[ r 1. This report on the United Nations Emergency Force,!1 submitted in pursuance I. ; of General Assembly resolution 1125 (XI)) undertakes to present) in addition to financial aspects, essential data about the Force and its functioning, particularly since the last report of the Secretary-General on this subject (A/3568)gl on 8 March, when full compliance with Gener~l Assembly resolution 1124 (XI) of 2 February as to withdrawal was reported. Prior to that date, the Force had been concerned mainly with taking over from the foreign troops, follOWing the successive stages of their w~thdrawals from the Suez Canal area, the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. Since 6 March, the Force, interposed between the armed forces of Egypt and Israel, has concentrated on its basic function of maintaining quiet in the area through deployment and patrolling in the Gaza Strip, .along the easte~n border of the Sinai Peninsula and in the region of S):larm el Sheikh. ·2. The three sections of the report deal, respectively, with organizational and operational matters, the role and functioning of the Force and administrative and financial arrangements affecting it. Hereafter referred to as IIUNEFlI or lithe Force". Official Records of the General Assembly, Eleventh Session, Annexes) agenda item 66. I.. · , ~\ i' r~--------------~ --,i ~, A/3694 English Page 4 I. ORGANIZATIONAL AND OPERATIONAL MATTERS 1. Strength and composition 3. The original estimate by the Commander of the Force of the manpower needs of UNEF to perform the tasks assigned by the General Assembly was for the eqUivalent of two combat brigades, or about 6,000 men. This target was reached with the arrival in Egypt of the Brazilian contingent in early February of this year. Since then UNEF has maintained an approximate strength of 6,000 officers and other ranks, comprising contingents from the ten contributing countries: Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, India, Indonesia, Norway, Sweden and Yugoslavia. 4. The numerical strength of each national contingent on 15 September was as follows: Contingents Officers other ranks Total,. Brazil 44 501 545 Canada 113 1,059 1,172 §:./ Colombia 31 491 522 Denmark 25 399 424 Finland 15 240 255 India 27 930 957 Indonesia 37 545 582 El Norway 71 427 498 Swecien 27 32.2 349 Yugoslavia 55 618 673 Total 445 5,977 ~J Including ReAF personnel stationed at Naples and El Arish (Abu Suweir prior to 5 September). El Withdrew on 12 September 1957. I 5. The cietermination of the nureerical strength of the Force and its cClipCllents is based upon assessments of need by the Commander of the Force, which have been reviewed from time to time. The main considerations weighed in d~termining the J... -\ A/3694 English Page 5' size and composition of the Force have been: the needs of the Force on the basis of its functions and responsibilities} at first in the Suez Canal region and} later} in the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip areas; the desirability of balance in the Force with regard to considerations of both geographical distribution and military organization; the comparative utility, in the light of assessed needs} of the troops offered; and the relative availability and economy of transport for the troops offered, together with their essential gear and vehicles. 6. On the basis of the most recent appraisal by the' Commander} a reduction before long in the size of the Force by some 400 officers and men may be anticipated. As in any military organization, though perhaps to a lesser degree in UNEF, a substantial part of the personnel is necessarily engaged in vital support, functions such as administr~tion, signals) engineering, supply and transport} workshop, ordnance, medical, dental, postal, pay, provost and movement control. Elements of the Force engaged in such activities) as the Commander has pointed out, are neither suitable nor available for patrol and guard duties. Thus, of the total force on 1 September of nearly 6,000, only seventy-four platoons, each of strength varying from thirty to forty-five all ranks - a total of less than 3,500 officers and men - w~re at the Commander's disposition for the regular patrol and guard duties of UNEF. The departure of the Indonesian contingent in mid-September reduced the number of platoons for such duty to sixty-five.• 7. The Commander has emphasized in his reports that, for the task it is called upon to perform, UNEF's ground deployment is livery thin", even with the present numbers. He urges that the Force be maintained at a strength permi~ting a minimum of seventy-one duty platoons, which takes into account necessar~ allowances for leave, rotation, sickness} training and essential reserve. Through planned reorganization and adjustments in support units, however) it is expected that a force reduced from its present total of 5,977 to about 5,600 officers and men would permit this minimum need for deployment to be satisfied. 2. Organization 8. The ten national contingents are the components of the Force and each of them,under the commanding officer of the unit, who is directly respon8ibl~ to the Commander of the Fo~ce, retains its identity and organizational unity. The / ... A/3694 English Page 6 demands of service made upon the Force, however, fre~uently re~uire the deployment of elements of a contingent, whether companies or platoons, in separate sectors. The Danish and Norwegian contingents, by voluntary arrangement between them, constitute a single battalion, commanded in rotation by officers of the two nationalities. The Norwegian Medical Company, which serves the entire Force, is under exclusively Norwegian command. 9. The "Chief of the Comaand"; Major General E.L.M. Burns, who Ls Commander of the Force, was appointed by action of the General Assembly (resolution 1000 (ES-I)of 5 November 1956). The chain of command runs directly from the Commander of the Force to the commanding officers of each of the national contingents. The Force is SUbject to orders and instructions only from its Commander and, through him, from the Secretary-General of the United Nations. 10. The headquarters of UNEF is locateQ in the town of Gaza. There is a Chief of Staff, who is also Deputy Commander; a Headquarters Staff consisting of Personnel, Operations and Logistics Sections, each of which is headed by a Lieutenant-Colonel; and a Special Staff consisting of officers r~sponsible for legal, provost, engineer, signals, air staff and medical matters. The Chief Administrative Officer and his staff are civilians, drawn almost entirely from the United Nations Secretariat. In addition, a number of locally recruited civilians are employed. 11. Communications traffic between United Nations Headquarters and UNEF stations in the area, which is of substantial volume, is efficiently handled by experienced United Nations Field Service communications personnel. The UNEF communications networ~ is co-ordinated With the established United Nations communications system. :5. UNEF air support 12. As of September 1957, air support for UNEF consists of two Royal Canadian Air Fbrce flights, 114 and 115. The 114 communication flight, based in Naples, has four C-l19 aircraft. It is responsible tor the heavy lift of ~ails, priority cargo and passengers between Egypt and Italy. In the early period of the operation, twelve C-119s were employed. The 115 communication flight is based at the UNEF air station at El Arish (which was at Abu Suweir prior to 5 September) , and has four otter and two DC-3 aircraft. This flight provides reconnaissance, medical evacuation and internal transport support for UNEF. / ." .. """"'''''''- :I'fmfilt-__ -, A/3694 English Pa~7 4. Deployment 13. The major deployment of UNEF is along the Egypt-Israel Armistice De~arcation Line and along the international frontier to the south of the Gaza Strip. This involves a line of qui~e considerable total length which, for the most part, runs in rugged terrain.