The Syria–Lebanon Campaign (1941)

41

The Pittsburgh Press (June 19, 1941)

BRITISH PULL ANOTHER ‘DAKAR,’ VICHY SAYS

Vichy, June 19 –
After 12 days of fighting, the British are still outside Beirut and Damascus and Vichy circles are saying that the “blitzkrieg” of the British Syrian commander, General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, may be a krieg but is not a blitz.

Military experts believe Britain has made the same mistake it did at Dakar by not attacking Syria with sufficient forces to reduce resistance immediately – a reason for self-congratulations as far as the French are concerned.

Last night’s radio appeal by Vice Premier Admiral Jean Darlan to the Free French soldiers fighting with the British in Syria asking them to rejoin the colors and unite with their French compatriots in defending the territory confided to France was regarded here as an appeal to the Frenchman’s sense of justice. There is a vast difference between De Gaullists who are mere victims of that propaganda and the authors of that propaganda, it is stressed.

According to news reaching here, many De Gaullists in Syria are joining the loyalist camp daily.

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42

ALLIED TROOPS BELIEVED STORMING DAMASCUS
By Sidney J. Williams, United Press staff writer

London, June 19 –
Allied forces are believed to be storming the ancient city of Damascus after a Vichy troop refusal to surrender, it was said authoritatively.

A British ultimatum to surrender the city, in order that it might be spared the ordeal of battle, had expired at 5:30 a.m. (11:30 p.m. Wednesday ET).

It was “very probably” that operations against the city, believed to be the oldest inhabited city in the world, started immediately after the expiration of the ultimatum, authoritative informants said.

British Empire and Free French troops had been massed east, west and south of Damascus awaiting the order to attack.

General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, the Allied commander-in-chief, had broadcast from Jerusalem last night the ultimatum to General Henri Dentz, the Vichy commander:

My troops are on the outskirts of Damascus. I do not wish to endanger the inhabitants of the city and I appeal to you to withdraw from the city. Otherwise, military action will be taken.

Should you refuse the responsibility for the city is yours. I expect an answer by tomorrow at 5:30 in the morning.

I send this message over the radio as the only means of reaching you. Send your answer by airplane with a white ensign, which will be respected.

It was reported from Ankara that General Sir Archibald Wavell, British commander-in-chief on the Middle East, had arrived at Baghdad to direct a big Allied attack in Syria from the Iraqi frontier.

U.S. Department of State (June 19, 1941)

740.00119 European War 1939/732: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Comal General at Beirut

Washington, June 19, 1941 — 7 p.m.

104.

The following message has just been received from the British Embassy in Washington:

  1. You may assure the State Department that His Majesty’s Government would be very ready to consider satisfactory arrangements whereby our strategic requirements in Syria are fully safeguarded. Far from desiring to impose any dishonourable terms on General Dentz His Majesty’s Government are fully prepared to accord full honours of war to him and other civilian and military officers who have only done what they conceived to be their duty by their Government.

  2. There is therefore no question of General Dentz or any other civilian or military official being condemned to death or to any other penalty.

  3. The following is outline of terms which we would be prepared to accept:

i) Negotiations for cessation of hostilities, to be carried on between General Wilson9a representing Commander-in-Chief and Vichy authorities in Syria.

ii) Hostilities to cease at once and Vichy forces to concentrate in selected areas. All the compliments of war will be accorded.

iii)
(a) Surrender of all war ships and of all naval establishment intact. Note: Should this be unacceptable, alternative has been authorized.

War ships to be handed over intact for internment and subsequently to be reduced to care and maintenance basis at Beirut. With power to move as ordered by Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean if safety considerations demand it.

In either alternative return of the ships after the war to a friendly France or compensation is guaranteed.

(b) Other ships including British and harbour services to be handed over intact.

iv) All aircraft whether Vichy or Axis and war material to be handed over undamaged.

v) All service personnel to be given the opportunity to join the Free French. Those who do not wish to do so will be repatriated as and when possible.

vi) The High Commissioner, his Staff and all French officers and nationals other than those who are prepared to remain will be repatriated as and when possible.

vii) All ports, all communications, fuel, stocks and guns to be handed over intact for our use.

viii) The exact position of mine fields will be disclosed.

ix) The Administration and public utility services to be maintained and operated for the time being under Allied Military direction.

x) Cable and wireless services to cease operations and to be handed over intact.

  1. His Majesty’s Government suggest that the United States Consul General should be instructed to get into touch with General Wilson who is being authorised to give him full information. We shall be grateful for Consul General’s personal services as an intermediary.

You are authorized to act as an intermediary in the event the French authorities desire you to do so. If you receive a request to assist in an arrangement for the cessation of hostilities, you are authorized to communicate with General Wilson. Please keep the Department fully and promptly informed by telegram of all developments.

HULL

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43

The Pittsburgh Press (June 20, 1941)

FIERCE BATTLE RAGING IN DAMASCUS SUBURBS
By H. L. Percy, United Press staff writer

London, June 20 –
Vichy troops are resisting fiercely Allied forces which have penetrated the garden suburbs of ancient Damascus and are trying to fight their way through to the famous “Street Called Straight” which bisects the town, dispatches said today.

Indian troops had forced their way into the Mezzeh Airport section west and southwest of Damascus. A Free French force on the south which had advanced up the railroad, was believed to be taking the brunt of Vichy resistance. A third force was approaching the city from the east.

The Vichy commanders were reported to have thrown a heavy force of tanks and armored cars against the Free French and seemed determined that if anybody took Damascus, it would not be the Free French forces.

Confidence was increasing here that the fall of Damascus was near at last, and that the capture of Beirut and the collapse of Vichy resistance was in sight.

Capture of Damascus would put the Allies in command of the central railroad junction and of most arterial roads.

British planes made a half-hour dive-bombing attack last night on docks, naval units and warehouses at Beirut, Vichy forces headquarters reported.

News from the Beirut area on the coast was scant. Some reports said that Australian patrols were still about 12 miles south of the city; others that Allied artillery was within shelling distance.

A column which had advanced between Beirut and Damascus was believed to be making progress and was expected to swing westward in an attempt to trap the defenders of Beirut.

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44

ATTACK ON DAMASCUS REPULSED, VICHY SAYS

Vichy, France, June 20 (UP) –
Vichy troops, with their backs to the gates of Damascus, repulsed an Allied attack on the Syrian capital and took 400 prisoners, official Beirut dispatches reported tonight.

The principal Anglo-Free French attack, the dispatches said, was being directed at the Mezzeh Airdrome, five miles southwest of Damascus.

An attack directly against the city was launched by two English battalions, it was reported, but they were driven back with a loss of 400 men taken prisoner.

U.S. Department of State (June 20, 1941)

740.00119 European War 1939/733: Telegram

The Consul General at Beirut to the Secretary of State

Beirut, June 20, 1941 — 11 p.m.
[Received June 20 — 6:45 p.m.]

232.

For Secretary and Under Secretary. Please inform British Embassy that in view of certain developments in the local situation I would suggest confining ourselves for the moment to communicating informally to Conty only paragraphs 1 and 2 and perhaps substance of subheadings 1, 2, 5 and 6 under paragraph 3. That is really about all he asked for and the rest we can tell him as soon as French authorities have definitely decided to discuss terms.

ENGERT

740.00119 European War 1939/733: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Consul General at Beirut

Washington, June 20, 1941 — midnight.

107.

British Embassy conveying sense of your message to London. In the meantime Embassy asks that you communicate sense of your message and any other useful information to General Wilson through the American Consulate at Jerusalem if you can communicate with him. General Wilson is fully informed and has already been authorized to deal with you.

HULL

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45

The Pittsburgh Press (June 21, 1941)

HILL OVERLOOKING DAMASCUS CAPTURED IN FIERCE BATTLE
By Ned Russell, United Press staff writer

London. June 21 –
Allied troops have stormed and captured a dominant hill seven miles southwest of Damascus against fierce Vichy resistance, it was said authoritatively today.

On the coast, Allied forces are advancing slowly northward toward Beirut, it was said.

British planes bombed the French outpost at As-Suwayda, where the Vichy garrison is now believed to be surrounded by Jabal al-Druze tribesmen friendly to the Allies.

Fierce fighting was reported between Allied and Vichy troops in the ancient orchards and gardens surrounding Damascus.

It was believed that Allied troops had now consolidated their hold of the Mezzeh Airport in the outskirts.

Mezzeh commands a good road to Beirut and a narrow gauge railroad which links Damascus with Beirut via Riyaq.

To the south, the Allies were reported meeting especially stiff resistance from the Vichy troops.

Dispatches from the Middle East emphasized the difficulties of the attacking forces because of the great belt of orchards and vineyards which surround Damascus. Apricot, fig, pistachio and lemon orchards, walnut and poplar groves, vineyards and fields of wheat, barley, and corn abound in a wide area.

It was said that, as long as the Vichy troops held hill positions, they could see into the Allied lines despite the Allied control of the air.

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46

BEIRUT ADMITS ALLIES BREAK THROUGH

Beirut, June 21 (UP) –
Allied troops are infiltrating into the Vichy lines south of Damascus, it was announced today. The statement said:

Our troops are reducing them.

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47

BRITISH GUNS POUND DAMASCUS, FIRES RAGE

Vichy, June 21 –
Official dispatches from Beirut said today that British artillery had begun a bombardment of Damascus yesterday afternoon and had caused serious fires.

The dispatches said that the “Syrian government” had protested through Iraq to Britain against the bombardment, on the ground that there might be serious repercussions among Arabs over the bombardment of a city which to Muslims is holy.

It was not made plain why the “Syrian government” should be concerned at possible anti-British repercussions.

U.S. Department of State (June 21, 1941)

740.00119 European War 1939/733: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Consul General at Beirut

Washington, June 21, 1941 — 1 p.m.

108.

The British Embassy in Washington has referred your suggestions to London and now informs the Department that the British Government agrees to your proposal to communicate informally to Conty only paragraphs 1 and 2 and perhaps the substance of subheadings 1, 2, 5 and 6 under paragraph 3 of the terms quoted in the Department’s 104, June 18, and to communicate the remainder of the provisions to Conty as soon as the French authorities definitely express a wish to discuss terms.

The British Government states that it has no doubt that you will bear in mind that the British terms, as stated in the Department’s 104, were based on an immediate cessation of hostilities.

The British Government is keeping British headquarters in Cairo fully informed, as well as General Wilson in Palestine.

Can you communicate directly with Palestine or Cairo?

HULL

740.0011 European War 1939/12279: Telegram

The Consul General at Beirut to the Secretary of State

Beirut, June 21, 1941 — 8 a.m.
[Received 10:50 a.m.]

233.

Apostolic Delegate came to see me yesterday to inform me that at the request of the head of the Lebanese Government he intended to telegraph to the Vatican proposing that the city of Beirut and its environs be declared a “neutral area” by the belligerents. He inquired whether I would be prepared to telegraph my Government in the same sense.

I said I would be glad to tell Washington of the suggestion and that if my Government thought it feasible it would doubtless inform me on any steps it may be in a position to take. I also told him of the verbal message from Naqqache mentioned in my No. 219.

ENGERT

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48

The Pittsburgh Press (June 22, 1941)

ALLIES CAPTURE DAMASCUS AT POINT OF BAYONET

London, June 21 (UP) –
British and Free French forces, two weeks after they began their invasion of Syria, entered the ancient capital city of Damascus, it was reported officially tonight, and prepared to drive on to the north.

The Allies fought their way through a green girdle of orchards and vineyards around the city and then, as French defenders withdrew, marched in.

In taking Damascus, the “ancient city of Baal” and in recent centuries a major Muslim shrine, the Allies had in their hands the key to southern Syria and a gateway to the north.

The Allies had advanced 80 miles from the Palestine and Transjordan frontiers, smashing through well-placed and strongly defended fortifications most of the way.

In Jerusalem, the Free French radio said the Vichy defenders were definitely in retreat, their supplies and food at an extremely low ebb.

Dispatches from the front said Free French troops drove the defenders out of the city’s defenses at bayonet point.

The Free French started the assault from Al-Kiswah, 10 miles to the south, it was said, They encountered fierce resistance from the French who sprayed them with machine gun bullets from nests of concrete pillboxes.

The attackers finally stormed the pillboxes and drove their occupants out with bayonet attacks, the dispatches said.

At the same time, an Indian division advancing toward Quneitra on the Damascus road seized Mezzeh, where the capital’s airdrome is situatied. Continuing, they seized the heights dominating the modern Damascus-Beirut highway and the narrow-gauge railway linking Damascus and Beirut by way of Riyaq.

Threatened with encirclement if they attempted to hold the capital with its crooked streets and historic walls and shrines, the French defenders withdrew.

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49

DE GAULLE SEES END OF VICHY RESISTANCE

Cairo, June 21 (UP) –
Gen. Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French forces, said tonight that the fall of Damascus “must end Vichy resistance.”

Describing the Syrian conflict as “lamentable,” de Gaulle said:

I am certain that one day all these men will unite and chase the invader from France.

This should serve to make the world understand that nothing is more necessary than to crush Hitler and his system forever.

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50

VICHY’S TROOPS QUIT DAMASCUS UNDER HEAVY FIRE
By Harold Peters, United Press staff writer

Beirut, June 21 –
French troops have evacuated Damascus in the face of increased Allied pressure, it was announced tonight and have taken new defensive positions outside the Syrian capital.

Evacuation of the city, sacred alike to Muslims and Christians, was announced just two weeks after British and Free French forces began their freedom.

The Beirut announcement came after an official communiqué at Vichy, France, disclosed that General Henri Dentz, French High Commissioner to Syria, had reported “the Damascus situation is dangerous,” with the invaders launching a three-sided attack.

The French evacuated, the official announcement said, in order to avoid street-fighting. Earlier it had been announced that Allied forces were “infuriating” south of Damascus after shelling by British guns.

The same announcement disclosed that string Allied motorized forces from Iraq were headed toward Palmyra, the important air base on the oil pipeline in central Syria.

Allied forces had been fighting in the suburbs of Damascus fort several days.

The Syrian capital is believed to be the oldest inhabited city in the world.

In recent centuries, it had become a Muslim shrine, and both the British and French, apparently, were loath to lose the destructive forces of war upon it.

The Vichy communiqué claimed the capture of 1,400 prisoners in all fronts during the day.

U.S. Department of State (June 22, 1941)

740.0011 European War 1939/12323: Telegram

The Ambassador in France to the Secretary of State

Vichy, June 22, 1941 — 11 a.m.
[Received 11:30 p.m.]

729.

In confirming the fall of Damascus this morning Rochat told us that in the light of the invasion of Russia, the affair in Syria seems “of secondary importance now.” “We have” he said, “done enough to save our honor” and only hope it will be quickly over.

We have received reports from several independent sources, one from our Embassy in Berlin and another from a friend in the Foreign Office, that the French have been sending or endeavoring to send troop reinforcements to Syria through Germany and Italy to Salonika and thence by boat. We asked Rochat concerning the truth of these reports and he denied them indirectly. “We have” he said “endeavored to find ways of getting reinforcements to Syria largely to relieve our hard pressed elements there, but we have been unable to find a way. Naval circles issue similar denials but we learn on good authority that a trainload of French soldiers en route through Germany was actually stoned by the local populace at Belfort."

LEAHY

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51

The Pittsburgh Press (June 23, 1941)

BULLETIN

Beirut, Lebanon, June 23 –
Vichy warships were reported in an official communiqué tonight to have seriously damaged a British warship in a naval engagement off the Lebanese coast this afternoon.

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52

The Pittsburgh Press (June 24, 1941)

‘ALL-OUT’ SYRIAN DRIVE ORDERED BY CHURCHILL

London, June 24 (UP) –
Prime Minister Winston Churchill told the House of Commons today that the British High Command in Syria had been given authority to launch an “all-out” offensive to occupy the country as quickly as possible.

Mr. Churchill’s statement was in reply to a question asked at a time when British forces were reported advancing in Syria where it was said Palmyra had been taken.

Mr. Churchill was asked if he could give assurance that the High Command in the Middle East had full authority to take whatever measures appear necessary – however drastic – to occupy Syria at the earliest possible moment and that no restraint on political grounds would be imposed.

Mr. Churchill replied:

Yes. Not only has the High Command full authority but I especially enjoined them to be guided by military consideration alone.

Since the start of the Syrian campaign, the Allied forces had been impeded by instructions to proceed deliberately, avoiding as much as possible fighting of the sort which would have caused big casualties and severe damage to Syrian towns.

Informants said the British column which had reached Palmyra, 135 miles northeast of Damascus, and was reported unofficially to have taken it, had left Iraq about a week ago.

It had latitude either to strike for the Turkish frontier or to proceed along the Kirkuk-Tripoli (Lebanon) oil pipeline, and chose the second course.

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53

VICHY DESTROYER SUNK AT BEIRUT

Jerusalem, June 23 – (delayed)
British bombers yesterday (Sunday) destroyed a Vichy French destroyer and set fire to a merchantman in the curse of raids over Beirut harbor.

In the morning, British planes dropped bombs on Vichy French ships. One bomb hit the stern of a destroyer, which has since disappeared from the surface of Beirut waters. In the afternoon, bombers attacked the port again in the face of heavy anti-aircraft fire from a French cruiser, which had arrived during the day, and sank a merchantmen.

U.S. Department of State (June 24, 1941)

740.0011 European War 1939/12395: Telegram

The Consul General at Beirut to the Secretary of State

Beirut, June 24, 1941 — 11 a.m.
[Received 4:26 p.m.]

242.

I called on the High Commissioner this morning and let him read the text of the aide-mémoire the Department telegraphed to Vichy on June 10 and which only reached me a few days ago via Cairo.

As usual, I found that he had not been informed of what Admiral Leahy had said in Vichy and he read the aide-mémoire twice very slowly and carefully underlining some of the phrases. He then looked up and said gravely, “This is pretty strong language! I wonder how Marshal Pétain took it.” He then said he hoped I did not think he was enjoying what he was doing. He went on to say with some vehemence his instructions were to fight to the last man and the last cartridge and being a soldier he would obey orders even if there had to be fighting in the streets of Beirut. I interrupted at this point and asked if he wanted me to take this literally for we had quite a large American colony and some valuable property to think of. He replied that even if there was no actual street fighting there would probably be fighting in the outskirts. At any rate he had nothing to do with policy and it was all up to Vichy.

When General Dentz had calmed down a little, I said one of the reasons why I wanted him to see the aide-mémoire was that I had heard from various sources how highly Marshal Pétain thought of him and how much he trusted his judgment in all matters pertaining to Syria. I therefore hoped very much he would do everything in his power to recommend that this senseless tragedy be not prolonged a day longer than absolutely necessary. He nodded and said he personally had no feelings of hatred toward the British; on the contrary he had many very good friends among them while he had no friends at all among the Germans. It was therefore absurd to believe that he was about to turn Syria over to Hitler when the British attacked although he admitted that the use of Syrian air bases would be a great help to the Germans. However, he assured me he had steadfastly refused all offers of German help in the present conflict.

I was about to leave when he asked me to sit down again and said he wished he could share the confidence I had expressed to him on so many occasions that a victorious Britain seconded by the United States would be able to recreate a world in which France could revive and Frenchmen could live their individual lives without becoming mere units in the community of termites envisaged by Nazis and Communists alike. I reiterated my conviction that such a future was possible provided only we all pulled together and the time to pull together was now.

The interview lasted an hour and we went over some of the ground reported in my earlier telegrams especially my 144, May 14, and 161, May 22. General Dentz tried hard to make light of the military situation in Syria but it was evident from his somewhat forced humor that he did hot really believe he could go on much longer. He also went out of his way to say he was doing all he could for his British prisoners and made no reference whatever to alleged cruelties, firing on ambulances to which they had played up so much. As I took leave he laughed and said, “Anyhow, one thing certain, I shan’t get a KCB for all this!” I laughed, too, and replied as I was in charge of British interests, there was still a chance that he might.

Repeated to Vichy. Please inform British authorities.

ENGERT

740.0011 European War 1939/12279: Telegram

The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in France

Washington, June 24, 1941 — 8 p.m.

507.

Following telegram dated June 21 has been received from Beirut:

740.0011 European War 1939/12279: Telegram

The Consul General at Beirut to the Secretary of State

Beirut, June 21, 1941 — 8 a.m.
[Received 10:50 a.m.]

233.

Apostolic Delegate came to see me yesterday to inform me that at the request of the head of the Lebanese Government he intended to telegraph to the Vatican proposing that the city of Beirut and its environs be declared a “neutral area” by the belligerents. He inquired whether I would be prepared to telegraph my Government in the same sense.

I said I would be glad to tell Washington of the suggestion and that if my Government thought it feasible it would doubtless inform me on any steps it may be in a position to take. I also told him of the verbal message from Naqqache mentioned in my No. 219.

ENGERT

You are requested, unless you perceive objection, to bring this suggestion to the attention of the French Government, stating that the American Government would of course be pleased to lend its facilities for effecting any arrangement which might serve to prevent the destruction of lives and property in Beirut, a city with which the United States has many connections of a cultural and intellectual nature.

The Embassy in London has been authorized, in its discretion, to bring the above suggestion to the attention of the British Government in a similar manner.

WELLES

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54

The Pittsburgh Press (June 25, 1941)

PALMYRA SURROUNDED BY ALLIED TROOPS

London, June 25 (UP) –
British Imperial troops, ordered to take any measures necessary to wind up the campaign in Syria quickly, were said today to be closing in from all sides on Palmyra.

The important desert fortress and airfield on the Iraq-Tripoli oil pipeline in mid-Syria was reported almost surrounded and the final attack was expected shortly. Palmyra’s fortifications were described as being “fairly strong.”

An Allied column, pushing west toward Beirut along the highway from Damascus, 50 miles away, was reported to have captured an important high ground position.

Further west, British troops advancing toward the Damascus-Beirut road through Qatana, 15 miles southwest of the Syrian capital, were said to have encountered resistance from Vichy troops near Yafour, but were reported within a few miles of the highway.

Vichy troops were still resisting in the Marjayoun sector of southern Syria. Another Allied column was reported moving north along the Lebanese coast without opposition.

U.S. Department of State (June 25, 1941)

740.0011 European War 1939/12442: Telegram

The Consul General at Beirut to the Secretary of State

Beirut, June 25, 1941 — noon.
[Received 1:05 p.m.]

245.

Please inform British authorities that Conty told me this morning the French authorities did not feel the time had come to negotiate. And when I said the terms might not be quite the same later he replied peevishly he could not help that. He said the British military effort had been so feeble that at this rate it would take them 2 months to occupy Syria and by that time “the Germans will wipe up the floor with them and occupy Jerusalem within 48 hours.”

He was in such an irascible mood that after a few minutes I merely told him I would come back another day when he felt less bitter.

Most of his bluster was undoubtedly put on and he said several times that naturally they could not hang on forever. Incidentally I hear from the Turkish Consul General in strict confidence that Conty and several other French officials have already obtained Turkish visas. But so long as Vichy continues to issue the instructions mentioned by the High Commissioner in my 242, June 24, they will of course pretend to fight to the last ditch. Regular Gestapo methods are now being employed and even wives of Frenchmen not in official positions have been warned that they must express only views approved by Vichy or their husbands will suffer the consequences.

ENGERT

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COL. PHILIBERT COLLET’S CIRCASSIAN CAVALRY OUTSIDE THE RAILWAY STATION AT DAMASCUS, JUNE 26, 1941.

06, Free French in Damascus (Norman)

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56

The Pittsburgh Press (June 26, 1941)

HEAVY DESERTIONS HIT VICHY TROOPS IN BEIRUT
By Henry T. Gorrell, United Press staff writer

With Australian advance forces, south of Beirut (via Haifa), June 25 – (delayed)
Australian troops, driving north along the coastal road toward Beirut, were within artillery range of Damour tonight and sent emissaries to that town, just south of the Lebanese capital, with a warning to surrender or be shelled.

Advance Australian positions were close enough for me to see the outlines of Beirut clearly with the aid of glasses.

The Australians were bringing up artillery preparatory to meeting General Henri Dentz’s main body of Vichy troops before Beirut. Additional Allied troops are coming up now from Marjayoun where Vichy troops have been put to fight.

An increasing number of desertion among Vichy troops was reported. Three Spaniards from a Foreign Legion battalion defending Beirut said only two companies were left there due to defections. Most of the men in that battalion were Spaniards, who had fought on the side of the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War, they said, and most of them took the first opportunity to escape to the British lines. Lebanese troops are also reported deserting.

A reliable British informant said documents had fallen into British hands indicating that serious friction existed among ranking officers of Vichy’s High Command in Syria and Lebanon over proper defense strategy.

At one place, an Aussie told me:

We stopped at the door of an Arab hut, saw two Arabs sitting inside and moved on. We got about 100 feet away when our corporal roared, “Begawd! They’re not Arabs, they’re not sitting right!” We went back and got them and found that one was a German and the other a Frenchman. Both were Foreign Legionnaires. The giveaway was that they had been sitting on boxes instead of sitting cross-legged on the ground, Arab-fashion.

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GERMAN PLANES BOMB DAMASCUS

Cairo, June 26 (UP) –
British Middle Eastern headquarters reported today that Allied artillery and Royal Navy units are bombarding the defenses of Damour, just south of Beirut.

West of Damascus, said the communiqué, British troops made substantial gains despite increasing resistance by French forces.

Radio Jerusalem said German planes had bombed the center of Damascus, causing material damage and 40 casualties, mostly women and children.

U.S. Department of State (June 26, 1941)

740.0011 European War 1939/12519: Telegram

The Ambassador in France to the Secretary of State

Vichy, June 26, 1941 — 5 p.m.
[Received June 26 — 1:30 p.m.]

751.

The suggestion of the Apostolic Delegate at Beirut was brought to the attention of the French Government today together with an indication that the American Government would be pleased to lend its facilities for effecting any arrangement to prevent the destruction of lives and property in Beirut.

Rochat indicated orally that […] would take the suggestion under consideration, adding that the suggestion is a somewhat complicated one especially in view of fact that Beirut is the principal port in that area. He said that he would give us: some indication of his Government’s reaction later.

LEAHY

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The Pittsburgh Press (June 27, 1941)

ALLIES CLOSE IN ON SYRIAN FORT

London, June 27 –
British forces, intensifying their operations in Syria, were reported today to be closing in gradually on Palmyra, the important airfield and fortress in the central desert.

A Free French column, swinging out from Damascus, was said to have occupied Maaraba, a few miles north of the capital, and to have advanced 35 miles to the east in the direction of Al-Qusayr.

An Allied force, advancing along the Damascus-Beirut highway toward the Lebanese coast, was reported to have encountered Vichy artillery concealed in forests and to have stalled 12 miles west of the capital.

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (June 27, 1941)

VICHY ADMITS LOSS IN SYRIA
…
Allied column 50 miles north of Damascus
…
Vichy, June 26 (AP) –
The French acknowledged tonight that British forces in Syria have driven about 50 miles north of Damascus and Al-Nabek and roughly halfway to the important railroad and desert bus route junction of Homs.

French dispatches from the wear front, however, said Al-Nabek was still in the hands of Vichy forces.

These gains were apparently made by the British column which the French this morning said was fighting in the vicinity of Duma, only 10 miles outside of Damascus.

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (June 28, 1941)

DAMASCUS

The battle for Damascus is a reminder that this ancient Biblical city of Syria was a turning point of England’s battle in the Near East during World War I.

A bulletin from the National Geographic Society says:

Damascus then was the city at which “Lawrence of Arabia” aimed the furious Arab revolt in the desert which he described in his best-seller adventure tale, Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

Thanks largely to this mysterious hit-and-run desert warrior from England, Damascus was the World War I birthplace of the Near East virtually as it is mapped today. British capture of the city in 1918 collapsed the shaky structure of the old Ottoman Empire, with its framework of German support, and cleared the way for British and French mandates in the erstwhile Sultan’s realm. Moreover, the hoisting of an Arab flag over Damascus’ Town Hall in the late afternoon of September 30, 1918 signaled the beginning of limited Arab independence.

Damascus had been the Bedouin’s metropolis long before Baghdad began to count its famous 1,001 Arabian Nights. The perennially green Damascus oasis in the Syrian desert was the capital of an 8th century Arab Empire that ruled a narrow band halfway across the known world, from Spain to India. But Damascus had belonged to Turkey for 400 years when the Arabs, in 1916, entered the war with their uprising against Turkish rule.

The link between revolutionary Arabs and the Allied cause was the sickly, shy, undersized blond Oxford student and archeologist, T. E. Lawrence, whom the British Army rejected for frontline duty because of his anemia and short stature. In four seasons of digging up 4,000-year-old Hittite ruins, after a camping trip through Syria on foot on a limited budget, young Lawrence had learned the language and customs of the Arbas, and respected them. He sponsored the strategy of a “fifth column” Arab revolt in the Turkish-held desert north of the Suez Canal.

Finally, while the British under General Allenby made their long drive up the coast of Palestine and Syria toward Damascus, Lawrence rode farther inland with the desert army of Faisal (later King of Iraq) and reached the historic Syrian oasis city first.

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