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Coll 6/93 'Syria – Situation in after the capitulation of France 1940: Allied operations against :–' [138r] (275/1003)
The record is made up of 1 file (500 folios). It was created in 23 Jun 1940-28 Jul 1941. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
Cypher Telegram
FROM PALESTINE
High Commissioner (sir Ho MacMlchael)
Secretary of State for the Colonies•
D. 17th June f 1941.
R. 17th ff M 23.65 hrs.
IMMEDIATE .
No. 867. SECRET
Addressed to the Colonial Office repeated to Cairo No. 71212.
Your telegram No. 1056.
1. Following lines being followed by the Free French;
A. Dents has long had an agreement with Darlan to allow Germany
by infiltration to establish themselves in Syria and to use it
as a base against Britain.
B. The Free French have intervened to prevent Syria being handed
over piece by piece to Germany as Jndo~China is being handed over
to the Japanese. Darlan is deceiving you when he says that there
are no Germans in Syria. Some of them may have left but only
because the Allies approach.
C. Honour does not demand that French troops should obey Darlan’s
orders to resist their comrades. The Darlan who now orders the
French troops in Syria to fire on their fellow Frenchmen Is the same
who ordered them not to fire on the invading German.
D. Darlan s past career shows him to be a bungler and a not very
honest one. It was he with his peculiar sense of honour who
precipitated the Druse revolt. His record is full of such
blunders.
2. The communique issued by H.M.G, on the 8th June provides
good material for use by ourselves towards the French and native
population alike but so far concerns the latter and with reference
to paragraphs 3 and 9 of Cairo Unnumbered Empax telegram of the
14th June I would stress ( (2 corrupt groups) No. 386) t he
advisability of avoiding any unnecessary parade of altruistic
sentiments and sympathies for the political aspirations of the
people of Syria and the Lebanon until we have considerably more
assurance than we have now regarding Free French reservations,, *
* Distributed as Moat Secret.
About this item
- Content
This file documents British policy and Allied operations regarding Syria and Lebanon, following the defeat of France in June 1940. It documents preparations for a British-Free French military campaign in Syria [Operation Exporter] and concludes with correspondence regarding armistice terms, following the Allied forces' victory.
The file's principal correspondents are the following: the British Consul, Damascus (Alfred John Gardner); the British Consul-General, Beirut (Godfrey Thomas Havard); the High Commissioner, Palestine (Harold MacMichael); His Majesty's Ambassador in Cairo (Miles Wedderburn Lampson); His Majesty's Ambassador in Bagdad [Baghdad] (Basil Newton, succeeded by Sir Kinahan Cornwallis); His Majesty's Ambassador in Angora [Ankara, Turkey] (Sir Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen); His Majesty's Ambassador in Washington (Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, referred to in the correspondence as Viscount Halifax); His Majesty's Minister, Jedda (Hugh Stonehewer Bird); Commander-in-Chief, Middle East (Archibald Wavell); officials of the Foreign Office.
The file includes discussion of the following:
- British concerns that Italy will seek to gain a foothold in Syria following France's defeat.
- British policy in the event of the French authorities in Syria and Lebanon being unable to defend their interests.
- The prospects of independence for Syria.
- The possibility of British intervention in Syria.
- The cessation of exports from Syria to Palestine.
- The arrival in Syria of an Italian armistice commission.
- The detention of three British ships and their crew in Beirut in August 1940, under orders from the Vichy Government.
- Proposals for a Free French coup d'état in Syria.
- Rumours in early 1941 that the Vichy French authorities in Syria are considering some kind of regime change, either by instituting some form of nationalist government, or by installing a monarch, such as Amir Faisal [Fayṣal bin ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd], son of Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd].
- British policy towards the nationalist movement in Syria.
- The precise wording and timing of a proposed Free French declaration (to be supported by a British declaration), proclaiming the independence of Syria and Lebanon, to be delivered by General Georges Catroux on behalf of General Charles de Gaulle.
- Preparations for a Free French-British military intervention in Syria.
- The Allied forces' military campaign in Syria, which commenced on 8 June 1941.
- The armistice terms to be offered by the Allies to the Vichy authorities following the cessation of hostilities in Syria, with the United States Consul General at Beirut acting as an intermediary.
The French language material consists of a final draft of the aforementioned Free French declaration (folio 160).
The file includes three dividers which give a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence (folios 2-4).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (500 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 501; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 6/93 'Syria – Situation in after the capitulation of France 1940: Allied operations against :–' [138r] (275/1003), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2166, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100048396969.0x00004e> [accessed 23 April 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2166
- Title
- Coll 6/93 'Syria – Situation in after the capitulation of France 1940: Allied operations against :–'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:28v, 31r:31v, 33r:33v, 35r:69v, 71r:81v, 83r:101v, 103r:159v, 161r:165v, 167r:188v, 190r:199v, 201r:204v, 206r:206v, 208r:229v, 231r:247v, 249r:250v, 252r:259v, 261r:284v, 286r:501v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence