COLLAPSE EXPECTED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 24000, 25 June 1941, Page 7

COLLAPSE EXPECTED

RESISTANCE IN SYRIA

OIL SUPPLIES EXHAUSTED

HOPES OF POPULACE > (Reed. 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, June 24 Allied forces are in contact with Vichy troops west of Damascus, says a British official wireless report. In the town itself the situation is quiet. British troops have reached Palmyra, where they are now meeting with resistance from a Vichy column. On the other fronts the situation remains unchanged and fighting is continuing. General Fourgeres, former Com-inander-in-Chief in the Levant, accompanied by his wife and daughter, has arrived at Istanbul from Beirut, bound for Vichy. A French officer in the party predicted that the Syrian campaign would be over within eight days, been use the Vichy troops had exhausted their oil supplies. Allied forces are now astride the road from Damascus to Beirut and it is possible that the headquarters of the Vichy forces have been captured. The Beirut authorities claim that the town was heavily shelled by the Royal Navy early this morning. Troop Concentrations The Damascus correspondent of the Times says an air reconnaissance haj shown that the Vichy troops are concentrating as if to defend the big quadrilateral covering Beirut, based on the Lebanese Mountains. The Vichy correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain reports that British naval units and a Vichy light naval division fought an engagement off Beirut throughout the night. There are no details. It is authoritatively stated that tha Allies have completed the capture o\ Mezze and also have occupied two forts in the Meriiyun sector. Syria has taken the first step toward the independence which the Allies promised. The Syrian National Government has broken all tics with the Yichy delegates and has declared a general amnesty as a prelude to the new freedom. Angry Population To-day, a fortnight after the Allies entered Syria, the Union Jack and the Free French Flag and the Syrian National Tricolour wave over the mascus Town Hall. There are free men in Damascus to-day who were prisoners for 20 years for anti-French activities. The Vichy troops have retired from the last range of hills overlooking Damascus, their backs now exposed to the angrv Syrian population, and with many of the Vichy General Staff prisoners in Allied hands the people ol Damascus are hoping for a swift conclusion of the campaign. The Australians' daring resulted in the capture of half the Vichy Genera] Staff who lied from Damascus, reports the British United Press correspondent. After contacting Indian forces, which had penetrated beyond the" city, the Australians pushed on north of the capital to the Damascus-Beirut road, where they surprised a group of Vichy officers, taking prisoner two colonels, three majors and four captains. Damascus is practically undamaged. No more than eight or nine British i shells fell in the city, all being directed at military objectives.

CALL TO YUGOSLAVS

KING PETER'S PLANS

AIR FORCE RECRUITS

(Reed. 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, June 24 King Peter of Yugoslavia has revealed plans to rally Yugoslavs in England and abroad to fight the Axis. "There are 1,000,000 Yugoslavs in America alone," he said. "I hope to enlist 7000 for the Air Force, for which purpose equipment has been promisee under the I.ease-and-Lencl Act. I an resolved to fight to the bitter end."