SMASHING INTO DAMASCUS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIX, Issue 21995, 21 June 1941, Page 7

SMASHING INTO DAMASCUS

BRITISH ULTIMATUM REJECTED Heavy Fighting Reported By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright (Rec. 10 p.m.) LONDON, June 19. Following General Dent*’? rejection of the British ultimatum, Allied troops, heavily supported by bombers, are smashing their way into Damascus. An official report from Beirut states that Indian and Free French forces to-day advanced six mile* and entered the suburbs of the capital. Unconfirmed reports state that General Sir Archibald Wavell ha* arrived in Syria to conduct an intensified offensive, and the Imperial reinforcements are arriving. French counter-attacks previously reported as menacing British communications in several places have petered out because of lack of troops to replace tired units which have been battling for 12 days. A Beirut communique reports that British naval units bombarded the region north of Sidon, but a French Levant naval division shelled the British positions at Sidon. The report adds that Indian troops last night infiltrated into the Mezse region three miles westward of Damascus but were driven out this morning. The French also repulsed an attack against Merjiyun. Further Progress “Progress has again been made in the coastal sector in Syria, while further important positions have been captured just south of Damascus," states a British communique from Cairo. “In the central sector Allied troops successfully reoccupied El Kuneitirah, while a strong Vichy force to Merjiyun has now been surrounded.” The German radio announced to-day that the ultimatum issued by General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson to the

Vichy High Commissioner (General Dentz) for the surrender of Damascus by 5.30 this morning had been rejected. Under the terms of the ultimatum, silence by General Dentz at that hour would be regarded by the British as automatic rejection, A military spokesman to Jerusalem says that cavalry unite of the British forces in Syria have advanced to within 16 miles of Beirut. So far 1200 Vichy officers and men have surrendered to the Allies. A message from Jerusalem states that the Allies are attacking the city. R.A.F. Bombs Enemy Positions A combined force of South African Air Force and Royal Air Force bombers attacked opposing positions which are holding up the British troops near Damascus. At Beirut, shipping in the harbour was bombed, one very near miss being made on a destroyer. Two Vichy aircraft were shot down at Soueida, about sixty-three miles southwest of Damascus. In the coastal sector, Australian patrols are said to have reached Damur, a village thirteen miles south of Beirut. United State* Actjon Firm diplomatic action by the United States has caused Vichy's moderation in Syria, particularly the decision to regard to British penetration as a local incident, says the Madrid correspondent of the “Dally Mail.” Admiral W. D. Leahy, between June 6 and June 15, firmly warned Marshal Petain against full collaboration with Germany and threatened that if action was taken detrimental to Britain, the United States would seize French Guiana and French East Indies, after which action would be taken against Dakar and Casablanca.