The Syria–Lebanon campaign, also known as Operation Exporter, was the liberation of Syria and Lebanon from German control in June and July 1941 by British Commonwealth forces during the Second World War.
On 1 April 1941, after the Iraqi coup d'état, Iraq was controlled by Iraqi nationalists led by Rashid Ali al-Gaylani, who appealed for Italian and German support. The Anglo-Iraqi War (2–31 May 1941) led to the overthrow of the Ali regime and the installation of a pro-British government. During this conflict, Admiral François Darlan allowed German aircraft to use Vichy airfields in Syria for attacks against the British in Iraq. The British invaded Syria and Lebanon in June to prevent the Axis powers from using the Syrian Republic and French Lebanon as bases for attacks on Egypt, during an invasion scare in the aftermath of the Axis victories in the Battle of Greece (6–30 April 1941) and the Battle of Crete (20 May – 1 June). In the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) in North Africa, the British fought Operation Battleaxe to end the siege of Tobruk and the East African Campaign (10 June 1940 – 27 November 1941) in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The French conducted a vigorous defence of Syria but, on 10 July, as the 21st Australian Brigade was on the verge of entering Beirut, the French sought an armistice. At one minute past midnight on 12 July, a ceasefire came into effect and ended the campaign. The Armistice of Saint Jean d'Acre (Convention of Acre) was signed on 14 July at the Sidney Smith Barracks on the outskirts of the city. While the surrender was being held, Time magazine referred to the Syria–Lebanon campaign as a "mixed show", and the campaign to this day remains relatively unknown, even in the countries that participated in it.
Background
On 28 May 1941, Admiral François Darlan, on behalf of Vichy France, signed the Paris Protocols, an agreement with the Germans which granted Germany access to military facilities in Vichy-controlled Syria. The protocols remained unratified, but Charles Huntziger, the Vichy Minister of War, sent orders to Henri Dentz, the High Commissioner for the Levant, to allow aircraft of the German Luftwaffe and the Italian Regia Aeronautica to refuel in Syria. Marked as Iraqi aircraft, Axis aircraft under Fliegerführer Irak landed in Syria en route to the Kingdom of Iraq during the Anglo-Iraqi War. Darlan, a confirmed Anglophobe, allowed the German and Italian aircraft to use Syrian airfields partly because of attacks on Vichy French ships by the British. He calculated that, since July 1940, 167 French ships had been seized by British forces.
Under the Paris Protocols, an agreement was also made for the French to launch an offensive against the British-held Iraqi oilfields, a proposal put forward by Darlan. As well as the use of Syrian airfields, the Germans also requested permission from the Vichy authorities to use Syrian railways to send armaments to Iraqi nationalists in Mosul. In return for Darlan's enthusiastic pro-Axis gestures, the Germans released 7,000 French prisoners of war, many of whom were professional officers and non-commissioned officers. Despite government prodding, General Archibald Percival Wavell, the Commander-in-Chief of Middle East Command, was reluctant to intervene in Syria, because of the situation in the Western Desert, the imminent German attack on Crete and doubts about the Free French intentions.
Prelude
Vichy Syria
Dentz was Commander in Chief of the Armée du Levant (Army of the Levant), which had regular metropolitan colonial troops and troupes spéciales (special troops, indigenous Syrian and Lebanese soldiers). There were seven infantry battalions of regular French troops at his disposal, which included the 6th Foreign Infantry Regiment of the French Foreign Legion, the 24th Colonial Infantry Regiment and eleven infantry battalions of "special troops", including at least 5,000 cavalry in horsed and motorized units, two artillery groups and supporting units. The Army had 35,000 troops with 35,000 regulars including 8,000 French and 25,000 Syrian and Lebanese infantry. The French had 90 tanks (according to British estimates), the Armée de l'air had 90 aircraft (increasing to 289 aircraft after reinforcement) and the Marine nationale (French Navy) had two destroyers, Guépard and Valmy as well as one sloop, Élan, and three submarines.
On 14 May 1941, a Royal Air Force (RAF) Bristol Blenheim bomber crew flying a reconnaissance mission over Palmyra, in central Syria, spotted a Junkers Ju 90 transport taking off, with more German and Italian aircraft seen later that day. An attack on the airfield was authorised later that evening. Attacks against German and Italian aircraft staging through Syria continued, and the British claimed six Axis aircraft destroyed by 8 June. Vichy French forces shot down a Blenheim on 28 May, killing the crew, and forced down another on 2 June. French Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 fighters also escorted German Junkers Ju 52 aircraft into Iraq on 28 May. The RAF shot down a Vichy Martin 167F bomber over the British Mandate of Palestine on 6 June. While German interest in the French mandates of Syria and Lebanon was limited, Adolf Hitler permitted reinforcement of the French troops by allowing French aircraft en route from Algeria to Syria to fly over Axis-controlled territory and refuel at the German-controlled Eleusina air base in Greece. The activity of German aircraft based in Greece and the Dodecanese Italian Islands of the Aegean was interpreted by the British as support for Vichy troops, but although Dentz briefly considered accepting German assistance, he rejected the offer on 13 June. By the end of the Anglo-Iraqi War, all 14 of the original German Messerschmitt Bf 110 aircraft sent to Syria and five Heinkel He 111 and a large number of transport aircraft had been destroyed by the British.
Palestine and Iraq
The British-led invasion of Syria and Lebanon aimed at preventing Germany from using the Mandatory Syrian Republic and Greater Lebanon, controlled by Vichy France, for attacks on Egypt as the British fought the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) against Axis forces in North Africa. In September 1936, the French had ceded autonomy to Syria but it retained rights to maintain some armed forces and two airfields in the territory. The British were concerned about potential attacks by Nazi Germany from Syria and Lebanon, or that the Germans might gain access to airfields there. An additional concern related to the possibility of German troops on the Eastern Front linking up with Vichy forces if Germany defeated the Soviet Union, by advancing south through the Caucasus. Both contingencies were unlikely, but would have exposed Allied forces in Egypt to a northern front at a time when all available resources were needed to halt Axis advances from the west. On 1 April 1941, after a coup d'état, Iraq, on the eastern border of Syria, came under the control of nationalists led by Rashid Ali, who was willing to appeal for German support. The Anglo-Iraqi War (2–31 May 1941) led to the installation of a pro-British government.
British forces to the south of Syria in Mandate Palestine were under the command of General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson and consisted of the 7th Australian Division (minus the 18th Brigade, which was in North Africa, besieged at the siege of Tobruk), Gentforce with two Free French brigades of the 1st Free French Division (including two battalions of the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade attached to the 1st Free French Brigade) and the 5th Indian Infantry Brigade (4th Indian Infantry Division) with artillery, engineers and other support services attached to form the 5th Indian Brigade Group. In northern and central Syria, Iraq Command (Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Quinan) was used in the campaign to attack from the east, consisting of the 10th Indian Infantry Division, elements of the 17th Indian Infantry Brigade (8th Indian Infantry Division) and Habforce, the 4th Cavalry Brigade and the Arab Legion, under John Glubb (Glubb Pasha). Commando and raiding operations were undertaken by No. 11 (Scottish) Commando from Cyprus, as well as Palmach paramilitary and Mista'arvim squads from Mandatory Palestine.
Air support was provided by squadrons from the RAF and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Ground forces on the coast were supported by bombardments from Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) units of the Mediterranean Fleet. At the beginning, Air Commodore L. O. Brown, the Air officer commanding (AOC) HQ RAF Palestine and Transjordan had the understrength 11 Squadron (Blenheim Mk IV), 80 Squadron, re-equipping with Hawker Hurricanes, 3 Squadron RAAF, converting to Curtiss Tomahawks, 208 (Army Co-operation) Squadron with a flight of Hurricanes and X Flight (Gloster Gladiators). A detachment of Fleet Air Arm (FAA) 815 Naval Air Squadron (Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers) in Cyprus and 84 Squadron (Blenheims) in Iraq were to co-operate.
British forces in reserve included the 6th Infantry Division (with the Czechoslovak 11th Infantry Battalion–East attached to the 23rd Infantry Brigade) and the 17th Australian Brigade. In mid-June, the division with its two infantry brigades came into the line as reinforcements, mainly on the Damascus front, and the southern force was placed under the command of the 1st Australian Corps on 19 June. At the beginning of Operation Exporter, the British and Commonwealth force consisted of about 34,000 men (18,000 Australians, 9,000 British, 2,000 Indian and 5,000 Free French troops). The RAF and RAAF had about 50 aircraft, and the navy contributed the landing ship HMS Glengyle, five cruisers and eight destroyers.
British plan of attack
The British plan of attack devised by Wilson called for four lines of invasion, in Damascus and Beirut, in Palestine, in northern Syria and Palmyra, in central Syria, from Iraq, and in Tripoli (in northern Lebanon) also from Iraq. The 5th Indian Brigade Group (Brigadier Wilfrid Lewis Lloyd) was ordered to cross the Syrian border from Palestine and take Quneitra and Deraa. This was anticipated to open the way for the 1st Free French Division to advance to Damascus. Four days after the commencement of the operation, the force was brought under unified command and was named Gentforce after its French commander, Major-General Paul Louis Le Gentilhomme. The 7th Australian Division (Major-General John Lavarack, succeeded by Major-General Arthur "Tubby" Allen on 18 June when Lavarack took over Australian I Corps) advanced from Palestine along the coastal road from Haifa towards Beirut. The Australian 21st Brigade was to take Beirut, advancing along the coast from Tyre, over the Litani River towards Sidon. The Australian 25th Brigade was to attack the large Vichy French airbase at Rayak by advancing along a route further inland from the 21st Brigade. The operation was also to include a supporting commando landing from Cyprus at the south of the Litani River.
Once the two southern prongs were well engaged, a third force of formations drawn from Iraq Command, was planned to invade Syria. The bulk of the 10th Indian Infantry Division (Major-General William "Bill" Slim) was to advance north-west, up the Euphrates River from Haditha in Iraq (upstream from Baghdad), toward Deir ez Zor and thence to Raqqa and Aleppo. The manoeuvre was intended to threaten the communication and supply lines of Vichy forces defending Beirut from the Australians advancing from the south, particularly the railway line running northwards through Aleppo to Turkey, which was thought by some British strategists to be sympathetic to Vichy and Germany. A group of two infantry battalions from the 20th Indian Infantry Brigade (10th Indian Division) and two from the 17th Indian Infantry Brigade (8th Indian Infantry Division) would operate independently to capture all the territory in north-eastern Syria. The 20th Indian Infantry Brigade were to make a feint from Mosul, and the 17th Indian Infantry Brigade would advance into the Bec du Canard (Duck's Bill) region, through which a railway from Aleppo ran eastward to Mosul and Baghdad. Habforce was in Iraq attached to Iraq Command because it had struck across the desert from the Transjordan border as part of the relief of RAF Habbaniya during the Anglo-Iraqi War. Habforce consisted of the 4th Cavalry Brigade, the 1st Battalion, Essex Regiment and the Arab Legion Mechanized Regiment supported by field, anti-tank and anti-aircraft artillery units, to gather in western Iraq between Rutbah and the Transjordan border. As the thrust up the Euphrates took place, Habforce would meanwhile advance north-westerly to take Palmyra, Syria, and secure the oil pipeline from Haditha to Tripoli.
The invasion would be preceded by the infiltration of commandos from the Palmach, the strike arm of the Haganah, the main underground militia of the Jewish community of Mandatory Palestine. Prior to the invasion, Arabic-speaking Palmach personnel were sent in to gather intelligence and mine key bridges. Just before the operation began two Palmach companies were sent in to perform last-minute reconnaissance and divided into twelve squads. They cut wires, ambushed Vichy troops guarding bridges over the Litani River, destroyed culverts, sabotaged roads, and would act as guides to Australian forces once the invasion began.
Campaign
War on land
Hostilities commenced on 8 June 1941. The battles of the campaign were: