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Curious Coincidence. History never repeats itself verbatim, but it sometimes plagiarizes itself. In 1918 Syria was owned by the Turks. The man who rolled it up for the British that fall was General Sir Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, and he threw a three-pronged spear: one prong aimed at Beirut, two prongs at Damascus. In 38 days the three prongs joined in victory at Aleppo. Serving under Allenby was brilliant, 35-year-old Brigadier Archibald Percival Wavell, who went on to write his military master's life and follow in his footsteps as Commander in Chief of the British Imperial Forces in the Middle East. Now Wavell is General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson's master.
General Wilson is said to be using three to four divisions at present in the Syrian campaign, plus an unknown number of native troops, perhaps 400 planes. Part of his forces are De Gaullist Free French under General Georges Catroux, who opened hostilities by proclaiming independence for Syria and Lebanon and then sent his men into Djebel Druse, home of the rough & tough Druses, who hate the Vichy French and are expected to join the Allies.
Also helping the Allies will be colorful General Philibert Collet, who escaped into Trans-Jordan recently with bloodthirsty detachments of Circassian and Ismaili tribesmen. Vichy authorities had suspected him of De Gaullist leanings and dispatched him away from the border to Damascus. Mme. Collet took a room in a Damascus hotel in her husband's name and a junior officer was stationed there to answer phone calls until she and the General could make their getaway. At the frontier, guarded by quick-firing Senegalese, Mme. Collet stepped on the gas of her husband's car, hooted the horn and sped over. Impressed by the noise, the native corporal called the guard to attention and solemnly presented arms.
Cracked colorful General Collet: "That was surely the first time a man, soon to be condemned to death, received an official salute."
The Vichy French forces who will defend Syria number about 45,000, no more than a third of whom are white. They are said to be short of equipment, oil (since the British took Mosul) and morale. The invading British began to test this alleged morale shortage by first giving towns and garrisons a chance to surrender, turning the heat on if they would not.
While the top French officers in Syria were reported pro-Vichy, the younger officers and lower ranks were believed pro-Free France. Just prior to the British jump-off, General Henri Dentz, the Syrian High Commissioner, was yelping to Vichy for loyal aviators and anti-aircraft crews: "Germans, if necessary." General Dentz has been wrathful about the British ever since he had to turn over Paris to the Germans last June.
Vichy denied there were any German troops in Syria. Marshal Henri Philippe Petain bleated foul blow and declared the hopes of France were with the defending forces.
The German counter to the invasion did not come at once. Last week the Nazis confined their outward Middle Eastern activity to bombing Alexandria twice, killing 500, making 50,000 flee the city on trucks, bicycles, goat carts. The Axis even went so far as to announce that the Syrian campaign was entirely a fight between the former Allies. It was that, but plenty more besides.