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| [[File:Captured French Martin 167F at Aleppo 1941.jpg|thumb|{{centre|Captured French [[Martin Maryland|Martin 167F]] at Aleppo 1941}}]] | [[File:Captured French Martin 167F at Aleppo 1941.jpg|thumb|{{centre|Captured French [[Martin Maryland|Martin 167F]] at Aleppo 1941}}]] |
| Dentz was Commander in Chief of the ''Armée du Levant'' ([[Army of the Levant]]), which had regular metropolitan colonial troops and ''troupes spéciales'' (special troops, indigenous Syrian and Lebanese soldiers).<ref name=Mollo144>Mollo (1981), p. 144.</ref> There were seven infantry battalions of regular French troops at his disposal, which included the [[6th Foreign Infantry Regiment]] of the [[French Foreign Legion]], the [[24th Colonial Infantry Regiment]] and eleven infantry battalions of "special troops", including at least 5,000 cavalry in horsed and motorized units, two artillery groups and supporting units.<ref name=Mollo144/> The Army had {{nowrap|35,000 troops}} with {{nowrap|35,000 regulars}} including {{nowrap|8,000 French}} and {{nowrap|25,000 Syrian}} and Lebanese infantry. The French had {{nowrap|90 tanks}} (according to British estimates), the [[Vichy French Air Force|''Armée de l'air'']] had {{nowrap|90 aircraft}} (increasing to {{nowrap|289 aircraft}} after reinforcement) and the ''Marine nationale'' ([[French Navy]]) had two [[Guépard class destroyer|destroyers]], [[French destroyer Guépard|Guépard]] and [[French destroyer Valmy|Valmy]] as well as one Sloop, the Élan and three submarines.<ref>Playfair (2004), pp. 200, 206.</ref><ref>Long (1953), pp. 333–334, 363.</ref> | Dentz was Commander in Chief of the ''Armée du Levant'' ([[Army of the Levant]]), which had regular metropolitan colonial troops and ''troupes spéciales'' (special troops, indigenous Syrian and Lebanese soldiers).<ref name=Mollo144>Mollo (1981), p. 144.</ref> There were seven infantry battalions of regular French troops at his disposal, which included the [[6th Foreign Infantry Regiment]] of the [[French Foreign Legion]], the [[24th Colonial Infantry Regiment]] and eleven infantry battalions of "special troops", including at least 5,000 cavalry in horsed and motorized units, two artillery groups and supporting units.<ref name=Mollo144/> The Army had {{nowrap|35,000 troops}} with {{nowrap|35,000 regulars}} including {{nowrap|8,000 French}} and {{nowrap|25,000 Syrian}} and Lebanese infantry. The French had {{nowrap|90 tanks}} (according to British estimates), the [[Vichy French Air Force|''Armée de l'air'']] had {{nowrap|90 aircraft}} (increasing to {{nowrap|289 aircraft}} after reinforcement) and the ''Marine nationale'' ([[French Navy]]) had two [[Guépard class destroyer|destroyers]], [[French destroyer Guépard|Guépard]], and [[French destroyer Valmy|Valmy]] as well as one Sloop, the Élan and three submarines.<ref>Playfair (2004), pp. 200, 206.</ref><ref>Long (1953), pp. 333–334, 363.</ref> |
| On 14 May 1941, a [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) [[Bristol Blenheim]] bomber crew flying a reconnaissance mission over [[Palmyra (modern)|Palmyra]], in central Syria, spotted a [[Junkers Ju 90]] transport taking off, with more German and Italian aircraft seen later that day. An attack on the airfield was authorised later that evening.<ref>Richards (1974), p. 338.</ref> Attacks against German and Italian aircraft staging through Syria continued, and the British claimed six [[Axis powers|Axis]] aircraft destroyed by 8 June. Vichy French forces shot down a Blenheim on 28 May, killing the crew, and forced down another on 2 June.<ref name=Sutherland43>Sutherland & Canwell (2011), p. 43.</ref> French [[Morane-Saulnier M.S.406]] fighters also escorted German [[Junkers Ju 52]] aircraft into Iraq on 28 May.<ref name=Sutherland43/> The RAF shot down a Vichy [[Martin Maryland|Martin 167F]] bomber over the British [[Mandatory Palestine|Mandate of Palestine]] on 6 June.<ref>Shores & Ehrengardt (July 1970).</ref> While German interest in the French mandates of Syria and Lebanon was limited, [[Adolf Hitler]] permitted reinforcement of the French troops by allowing French aircraft ''en route'' from [[Algeria]] to Syria to fly over Axis-controlled territory and refuel at the German-controlled [[Eleusina]] air base in [[Greece]].<ref>Shores & Ehrengardt (1987), p. 30.</ref> The activity of German aircraft based in Greece and the [[Dodecanese Islands|Dodecanese]] [[Italian Islands of the Aegean]] was interpreted by the British as support for Vichy troops, but although Dentz briefly considered accepting German assistance, he rejected the offer on 13 June.<ref>de Wailly (2016), p. 246.</ref> By the end of the Anglo-Iraqi War, all 14 of the original German [[Messerschmitt Bf 110]] aircraft sent to Syria and five [[Heinkel He 111]] and a large number of transport aircraft had been destroyed by the British.<ref>Sutherland & Canwell (2011), p. 44.</ref> | On 14 May 1941, a [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) [[Bristol Blenheim]] bomber crew flying a reconnaissance mission over [[Palmyra (modern)|Palmyra]], in central Syria, spotted a [[Junkers Ju 90]] transport taking off, with more German and Italian aircraft seen later that day. An attack on the airfield was authorised later that evening.<ref>Richards (1974), p. 338.</ref> Attacks against German and Italian aircraft staging through Syria continued, and the British claimed six [[Axis powers|Axis]] aircraft destroyed by 8 June. Vichy French forces shot down a Blenheim on 28 May, killing the crew, and forced down another on 2 June.<ref name=Sutherland43>Sutherland & Canwell (2011), p. 43.</ref> French [[Morane-Saulnier M.S.406]] fighters also escorted German [[Junkers Ju 52]] aircraft into Iraq on 28 May.<ref name=Sutherland43/> The RAF shot down a Vichy [[Martin Maryland|Martin 167F]] bomber over the British [[Mandatory Palestine|Mandate of Palestine]] on 6 June.<ref>Shores & Ehrengardt (July 1970).</ref> While German interest in the French mandates of Syria and Lebanon was limited, [[Adolf Hitler]] permitted reinforcement of the French troops by allowing French aircraft ''en route'' from [[Algeria]] to Syria to fly over Axis-controlled territory and refuel at the German-controlled [[Eleusina]] air base in [[Greece]].<ref>Shores & Ehrengardt (1987), p. 30.</ref> The activity of German aircraft based in Greece and the [[Dodecanese Islands|Dodecanese]] [[Italian Islands of the Aegean]] was interpreted by the British as support for Vichy troops, but although Dentz briefly considered accepting German assistance, he rejected the offer on 13 June.<ref>de Wailly (2016), p. 246.</ref> By the end of the Anglo-Iraqi War, all 14 of the original German [[Messerschmitt Bf 110]] aircraft sent to Syria and five [[Heinkel He 111]] and a large number of transport aircraft had been destroyed by the British.<ref>Sutherland & Canwell (2011), p. 44.</ref> |
Okumaya devam et...