Infantry Brigade, under Brigadier John Fullerton Evetts, supplied three twelve-man squads, including officers, to the new unit. The men were taken from the Royal Ulster Rifles (squad commanded by Lieutenant Bala Bredin), the Royal West Kent Regiment (squad commanded by Lt. Michael "Mike" Grove) and the Manchester Regiment (squad commanded by commanded by Lt. Robert "Rex" King-Clark). Twenty-five Jews were assigned to the unit as supernumerary policemen, all of them Haganah members. The Jews were selected by Haganah regional commanders and by Yitzhak Sadeh, commander of the FOSH units in the Haganah. Later, 50 more Jews were assigned to the SNS, also from Haganah cadres. The success of the SNS caused the establishment of a fourth SNS-like unit in the Plain of Sharon, tasked with guarding the electric power line. During 1939, every British brigade in Palestine established their own Special Night Squads, although without Jewish participation. Wingate left the SNS in October 1938, for a leave in England. During his leave he was involved with the Zionist opposition to the Woodhead Commission report, meeting with such notables as Malcolm MacDonald, then secretary of the colonies, Beaverbrook and Churchill. This was frowned upon by Wingate's commanders, who dismissed him from command of the SNS and returned him to GHQ intelligence during November 1938. Bredin replaced Wingate as commander of the SNS, until it was disbanded. The SNS continued to operate in the original form until January 1939 when, due to British policy change, the Jewish supernumeraries were forbidden from participating in offensive operations. Thereafter, the Jewish SNS served mainly on prison guard and garrison duties. They were disbanded during September 1939. The British government eventually considered Wingate to be a security risk. He was posted out of Palestine and his passport was stamped "NOT ALLOWED TO ENTER PALESTINE". The Special Night Squads came to be considered one of the first special forces units constituted by the British and have been seen by some historians as being a forerunner of the Special Air Service (SAS). Operational activities The Special Night Squads' primary task was to defend the Iraq Petroleum Company pipeline, which was frequently attacked by Arab insurgents. The squads also raided known insurgent bases, such as the villages of Daburiyya and Khirbat Lid. The force's success caused the cessation of attacks on the pipeline and brought a decrease of insurgent activity in the area. It is presumed that about 12.5%