The Battle of Palmyra (1 July 1941) was part of the Allied invasion of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

during the Syria-Lebanon campaign in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. British mechanised cavalry and an

Arab Legion The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of independent Jordan, with a final Arabization of its command taking place in 195 ...

desert patrol broke up a

Vichy French Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

mobile column north-east of the city of

Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second ...

. They captured four officers and 60 men, which provoked the surrender of the Vichy garrison at Palmyra.

Background

In 1941, the

had substantial forces in the region and had allowed their air bases to be used as staging posts by the Germans to send aircraft to take part in the

Anglo-Iraqi War The Anglo-Iraqi War was a British-led Allied military campaign during the Second World War against the Kingdom of Iraq under Rashid Gaylani, who had seized power in the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état, with assistance from Germany and Italy. The c ...

. They had also allowed the Germans to use the railway system to send arms and ammunition to Iraq. On 8 June 1941, the Allies had launched two northerly attacks from

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

and Trans-Jordan into

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

and

to prevent any further interference to Allied interests in the region. By late June,

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

had been taken and the Allied campaign commander,

Henry Maitland Wilson Field Marshal Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson, (5 September 1881 – 31 December 1964), also known as Jumbo Wilson, was a senior British Army officer of the 20th century. He saw active service in the Second Boer War and then during the ...

was ready to launch two further thrusts, this time from western Iraq to complete the capture of Syria. An expanded Brigade group called ''

Habforce Habforce was a British Army military unit created in 1941 during the Anglo-Iraqi War and still active during the Syria-Lebanon campaign during the fighting in the Middle East in the Second World War. Creation and composition Habforce, short for ...

'' had during the Anglo-Iraqi war advanced across the desert from Trans-Jordan to relieve the British garrison at

RAF Habbaniya Royal Air Force Habbaniya, more commonly known as RAF Habbaniya ( ar, قاعدة الحبانية الجوية), (originally RAF Dhibban), was a Royal Air Force station at Habbaniyah, about west of Baghdad in modern-day Iraq, on the banks of the E ...

on the

Euphrates River The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

and had then assisted in the taking of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

. This force was now pulled back to the remote part of Iraq near the Trans-Jordan and Syrian borders. It was tasked with advancing northwest to defeat the Vichy French garrison at

and secure the oil pipeline from

Haditha , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Inbound3292807512093856589نواعير حديثة.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption ...

in Iraq to

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

on the Lebanon coast. ''Habforce'' was well suited to the task in the desert because of the inclusion in its strength of the battalion-sized

Mechanised Regiment, which was made up exclusively of desert-dwelling

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

soldiers. In Palmyra, the core of the French defense was Fort Weygand, located northeast of the ancient ruins. Other posts were placed in the oasis, the ancient city, the hills and at the

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

. The area was defended by the 187 legionnaires of the 15th company of the

6th Foreign Infantry Regiment The 6th Foreign Infantry Regiment (french: 6e Régiment Étranger d'Infanterie, 6e REI) was an infantry regiment of the French Foreign Legion, Foreign Legion in the French Army from 1939 to 1941 and again from 1949 to 1955. History, creations ...

, by Bedouins of the 1st light company of the desert, and some air force crawlers. In total, these forces brought together about 300 men under the command of Commander Ghérardi. On the other hand, the British mobilized a thousand men in battle, commanded by Major-General John Clark. These troops were part of the column of Brigadier

James Joseph Kingstone Brigadier James Joseph "Joe" Kingstone DSO & Bar MC CBE, DL (26 August 1892 – 20 September 1966) was an officer in the British Army during the First and Second World Wars. Military career Kingstone was born in Milton Lilbourne, Wiltshire, ...

of the ''Habforce'' and included the 4th Cavalry Brigade, elements of the Arab Legion of

John Bagot Glubb Lieutenant-General Sir John Bagot Glubb, KCB, CMG, DSO, OBE, MC, KStJ, KPM (16 April 1897 – 17 March 1986), known as Glubb Pasha, was a British soldier, scholar, and author, who led and trained Transjordan's Arab Legion between 1939 an ...

, known as "Glubb Pasha", and the 1st Infantry Battalion of the Regiment of Essex.

The Palmyra actions

''Habforce'' split into three columns (two to make flanking manoeuvres on each side of Palmyra). Each one was guided by a detachment from the Arab Legion; they set off on 21 June. A skirmish with pillboxes on the pipeline a few miles east of Palmyra resulted in the element of surprise being lost. ''Habforce'' surrounded Palmyra, sending the Arab Legion troops out on wide-ranging desert patrols to protect ''Habforce's'' flanks and lines of communication. On 28 June, they captured the French fort of Seba' Biyar (roughly 60 miles south-west of Palmyra), with the small garrison surrendering without a shot being fired. The next day they occupied Sukhna, some 40 miles north-east of Palmyra, which was not occupied by French troops.Steve Rothwell: ''Orders of Battle: Arab Legion''. On the morning of 1 July, Sukhna was attacked by the Vichy 2nd Light Desert Company. The Arab Legion occupiers had been reinforced by a squadron from 4th Cavalry Brigade's

Household Cavalry Regiment The Household Cavalry Regiment (HCR) is an Armoured Cavalry regiment of the British Army based in Bulford Camp in Wiltshire. It is the brother regiment of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment (HCMR) based at Hyde Park Barracks in London - both ...

and after a sharp battle, the French retreated before an enthusiastic charge by Arab Legion troopers and ended up trapped in a box valley before surrendering. Whilst hardly the largest battle of the war, its effect was to cause the 3rd Light Desert Company which was garrisoning Palmyra, to lose heart and surrender on the night of 2 July. This freed ''Habforce'' to move 40 miles west along the pipeline to

Homs Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...

and threaten the communications of the Vichy forces fighting the

Australian 7th Division The 7th Division was an infantry division of the Australian Army. It was formed in February 1940 to serve in World War II, as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF). The division was raised on the British establishment of nine in ...

on the Lebanese coast.

Notes

References

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Background

The Palmyra actions

See also

Notes

References

Further reading