DEFENDING SYRIA

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4562, 20 April 1942, Page 4

DEFENDING SYRIA

NEW ZEALANDER’S MOVE STRATEGICAL PROSPECTS The transfer of New Zealand troops from Egypt to join the Allied forces in Syria is not surprising, in view of a possible eastward drive by the Axis this spring south, as well as north, of the Black Sea, or when it is remembered that intense heat will end the campaigning season in the Libyan desert three or four weeks hence. More obviously than ever (states the New Zealand Herald), Syria is now a key-State, whether the enemy is content with a fresh thrust through south Russia towards the Caucasus or whether he is also planning a new advance from the Balkans through Turkey, or the capture of Cyprus and a landing on the Syrian coast. THE 1941 CAMPAIGN Syria’s importance became evident to the lay observer in April of last year, when Rashid Ali made his coup d’etat in Iraq. The treachery of Vichy enabled the Germans to send about 30 aircraft with agitators and other “specialists” to aid the rebels, using Syrian aerodromes as refuelling points en route, and this led to the repeated bombing of the Rayak, Palmyra, and Damascus airfields by the Royal Air Force. The insurrection collapsed at the beginning of June. The British Government and General Sir Archibald Wavell then decided, in the interests of the Turkish ally and of Iraq, to counter a possible airborne invasion of Syria by occupying the country, where German and Italian agents were numerous and very active. On June 8 an Empire and Free French force under General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson crossed the Palestine frontier and began an advance along the coast toward Beirut and towards Damascus by other routes between the mountain ranges. VICHY’S CAPITULATION For political reasons, blitz tactics were not adopted, in spite of stiff resistance met by Australian troops on the coast road. Meanwhile a British column was advancing westward from Iraq along the oil pipeline towards Palmyra and Homs, while another pushed up the Euphrates in the direction of Aleppo, and a third moved along the Turkish border in the north. Damascus fell on June 22, the Vichy forces were gradually enveloped, and on July 12, the High Commissioner, General Dentz, capitulated. Subsequently, Syria and Lebanon were constituted republics under Free French and British influence. Hitler’s attack upon Russia while the Syrian campaign was in progress had made their strategic importance more vital than ever, and it was further underlined in August when Britain and Russia had to end German influence in Iran by armed force and set up a new regime in order to ensure that there should be an uninterrupted flow of war supplies to the eastern front. BROAD MOUNTAINOUS REGION The former French mandated territory of Syria consists of a broad coastal belt of mountains, and highlands, only falling to a low level in the plain north of Antioch, now Turkish territory. To the east of this is the Middle Euphrates Valley, and southward of the latter a desert area. The mountains, in a number of parallel chains, rise to 10,000 feet in the Lebannon Range, which culminates in the south in the outstanding peak of Hermon, 8000 feet. The higher regions are covered in snow for a large part of the year. Climatic conditions vary, and the richest and best-watered lands in the area are the grain fields in Hauran, the garden country around Damascus, and the eastern slopes of the Lebanon mountains, with their vineyards and gardens.