[3] In 1928 the APL comprised two British officers and six platoons of Arabs recruited from the various tribes that lived in the foothills or the higher mountainous regions of the protectorate.

[7] In 1942 a six-year process of replacing British Army personnel serving with the APL with RAF Regiment officers and airmen commenced.

[7] During the December 1947 anti-Jewish riots in Aden City, some Arab personnel of the Levies proved ineffective in controlling inter-communal violence and fired indiscriminately into Jewish houses, killing several of the inhabitants.

"Up country" forward bases and garrisons were maintained at Dhala, Mukalla, Seiyun, Beihan, Zinjibar, Ataq.

In 1958 the APL, supported by British troops and the RAF, repulsed border intrusions by Yemeni forces in the Jebel Jihaf region.

A Medium Artillery Battery equipped with eight Ordnance QF 25-pounder Field Guns stationed at Dhale and Mukeiras, and a fifth rifle battalion were raised in 1964, after the Levies had become the Federal Regular Army.

After 1967, most of the troops and many native officers of the Levies joined the newly formed South Yemeni Army, or People's Democratic Republic of Yemen Armed Forces.

British-trained personnel were considered politically unreliable and were purged from the reorganised armed forces of the newly established People's Republic of Yemen.

[11] Officers and other ranks of the Levies were awarded the following: 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.