TheArmy of the Levant (French:Armée du Levant) identifies the armed forces ofFrance and thenVichy France which occupied, and were in part recruited from, theFrench Mandated territories in theLevant during theinterwar period and earlyWorld War II. The locally recruited Syrian and Lebanese units of this force were designated as the Special Troops of the Levant (Troupes Spéciales du Levant).
In September 1919,Lloyd George andGeorges Clemenceau entered an agreement to replace the British troops occupyingCilicia with French soldiers.
A year later, in 1920, theLeague of Nations gave the French a mandate overSyria andLebanon, forming theMandate for Syria and the Lebanon. That year, from April 19 to April 26, theSan Remo conference was held inSanremo,Italy. After this conference was concluded, the short-lived monarchy ofKing Faisal was defeated at theBattle of Maysalun by French troops under the command of GeneralMariano Goybet, during theFranco-Syrian War. The French army under GeneralHenri Gouraud consequently occupied Syria.
The first elements of this new army came from the former156th Infantry Division of theAllied Army of the Orient, under GeneralJulien Dufieux [fr]. This division from Cilicia included a metropolitan regiment (the 412th Infantry Regiment), two colonial regiments (the 17thSenegalese Tirailleurs and the 18thAlgerian Tirailleurs), and aFrench Armenian Legion regiment. This division became the first of four divisions in the Levant.
A complementary force called the Syrian Legion was raised by the French authorities shortly after the establishment of the mandate. This comprised both cavalry and infantry units and was drawn mainly from minority groups within Syria itself.[1]
Following theDruze revolt of 1925–1927, the Syrian Legion was reorganised into the "Special Troops of the Levant" (French:Troupes spéciales du Levant). The Special Troops were under French command but had some Syrian and Lebanese officers. The Army of the Levant was made up of North African infantry (tirailleurs) and cavalry (spahis),French Foreign Legion (French:Légion étrangère), andColonial infantry and artillery units (both French andSenegalese). Both Army of the Levant and Special Troops were responsible for keeping order in the French mandate during theinterwar period.
TheFrench mandate administration followed a principle of divide and rule in organising theTroupes Speciales. To a large extentSunni Muslim Arabs, who made up about 65% of the population of Syria, were excluded from serving with theTroupes Speciales, who were drawn mainly from theDruze,Christian, Circassian and'Alawi minorities. From 1926 to 1939, the Army of the Levant included between 10,000 and 12,000 locally engaged troops organised into: ten battalions of infantry (mostly 'Alawis), four squadrons of cavalry (Druze, Circassian and mixed Syrian), three companies ofCamel cavalry (méharistes), engineer, armoured car, and support units.
In addition to the regular units listed above, there were nine companies of Lebanese light infantry (chasseurs libanais) and 22 squadrons of Druze, Circassian, and Kurdishmounted infantry forming the auxiliary troops (Troupes Supplétives). This latter force provided a form of military police (gendarmerie) for internal security purposes and were primarily deployed in the areas of their recruitment. Some of the Lebanese units were trained as ski troops formountain warfare and wore the berets of the French elite mountain infantry (Chasseurs Alpins).
The Circassian cavalry (Groupement d'escadrons tcherkesses [ar;fr]) originated with Muslim refugees from theNorth Caucasus region who fled Tsarist Russian expansion during the nineteenth century. An estimated 850,000 sought refuge in theOttoman Empire, of whom 30,000 settled in Syria and served in frontier regions as mounted tribal irregulars. From this role, they entered into French service after 1920.[3]
By 1938, theTroupes Speciales numbered 10,000, with 306 officers, of whom only 88 were French. TheHoms Military Academy (École Militaire) was established atHoms to train Syrian and Lebanese officers and specialistnon-commissioned officers (NCOs). French policy continued to favour the recruitment of specific ethnic and religious minority groups. GeneralCharles Huntziger, the French military commander in Syria, stated in 1935: "we mustn't forget that the Alawis and Druzes are the only warlike races in our mandate and make first-rate soldiers among whom we recruit our besttroupes speciales".[4]
Units ofgendarmerie, mobile guards and rural guards were deployed for domestic security purposes in specific regions (Grand Liban, Aleppo and Damascus). TheGendarmerie Syrienne numbered approximately 2,600 indigenous personnel with about 50 French officers and specialists.[5]
When AdmiralHenri du Couëdic de Kerérant took command in June 1924, the Naval Division of the Levant (DNL) was mainly composed of the command ship, the armoured cruiserWaldeck-Rousseau, three armed warships,Bethune,Baccarat andMondement and two gunboatsAgile andDedaigneuse. TheWaldeck-Rousseau was recalled to France at the end of the year to be disarmed, due to budgetary restrictions. It was not replaced, but a number of other ships, including theJeanne d'Arc compensated for this decreased French presence in the Levant.
The Levant Naval Division's area of operation included the eastern Mediterranean, theSea of Marmara and theStraits, as well as theBlack Sea, theRed Sea and theGulf of Aden (avisoDiana) A naval commander headed land services in Beirut; reporting, in peacetime, to the admiral commanding the Naval Division of the Levant and, in wartime, to theHigh Commissioner of the Levant.
Uniforms of theTroupes Speciales varied according to arm of service but showed a mixture of French and Levantine influences. Indigenous personnel wore either thekeffiyeh headdress (red for Druze and white for other units),fezzes orturbans. The Circassian mounted troops wore a black full dress that closely resembled that of the CaucasianCossacks, complete withastrakhan hats (see photograph above).
A common feature across theTroupes Speciales was the use of "violette" (purple-red) as afacing colour on tunic collar patches, belts andkepis. Squadron or branch insignia often included regional landmarks such as thecedars of Lebanon or the main mosque of Damascus.
On 22 June, after theFall of France, the forces in the Levant sided with theVichy Government of MarshalPhilippe Pétain. In 1941,British Commonwealth,Free French and other Allied forces launched Operation Exporter, theSyria–Lebanon campaign. They attacked the Army of the Levant from theBritish Mandate of Palestine and from theKingdom of Iraq, recently occupied during theAnglo-Iraqi War. On 8 June 1941 at 2 am, British,Australian, and Free French forces crossed intoSyria andLebanon.
DuringOperation Exporter, the Army of the Levant was commanded by GeneralHenri Dentz. Dentz was also thehigh commissioner of the Levant. Lieutenant-General Joseph-Antoine-Sylvain-Raoul de Verdillac was second in command at the time of the British invasion.
In 1941 the Army of the Levant was still divided into troops frommetropolitan France, colonial troops, and the Special Troops of the Levant (French:Troupes spéciales du Levant).[6]
The regular French troops consisted of four battalions of the6th Foreign Infantry Regiment6e REI (according to Dentz, these were the best troops available to the Vichy French command) and three battalions of the 24th Colonial Infantry Regiment (French regulars enlisted for overseas service). The latter were brought up to strength by amalgamating them with two garrison battalions of Senegalese troops to form a mixed colonial regiment (régiment mixte coloniale).[6]
Thetroupes spéciales were formed by eleven battalions of infantry: three Lebanese light infantry battalions (French:bataillons de chasseurs libanais) and eight Syrian battalions (bataillons de Levant). In addition, there were two artillery groups and supporting units. Thetroupes spéciales included at least 5,000cavalry organized into squadrons of around 100 men each. Included in the cavalry were 15 squadrons ofCircassian cavalry, three of them motorized. Thetroupes spéciales were led by indigenous officers and non-commissioned officers with a small cadre of French officers.[6]
The African troops comprised sixAlgerian, threeTunisian, three Senegalese, and oneMoroccan rifle (tirailleur) battalions.[6]
The contingent of North African cavalry consisted of the 4th Tunisian, the 1st Moroccan, and the 8th Algerianspahis and amounted to about 7,000 Arab and Berber troopers with mostly French officers. Most were on horseback or in light trucks, while a few were equipped with armoured cars. There was also a mechanized cavalry element provided by the 6th and 7th African light horse (Chasseurs d' Afrique) which totalled 90 tanks (mostlyRenault R-35s with a fewRenault FTs) and a similar number of armoured cars.[7]
The artillery available to the Vichy French consisted of 120 field and medium guns and numbered about 6,700 men.[7]
TheVichy French Air Force (French:Armée de l'Air de Vichy) of theFrench Air Force in the Levant was relatively strong at the outbreak of hostilities in 1939. But in 1940, many of the aircraft stationed in Syria and Lebanon were sent back toMetropolitan France. This left the Vichy French in the Levant with only a number of obsolete models. However, alarmed by the growing threat of British invasion, Vichy dispatched a fighter group from Algeria. Once the fighting started, three additional groups were flown in from France and fromNorth Africa. This brought the strength of the Vichy French Air Force in Lebanon and Syria up to 289 aircraft, including about 35 state-of-the-artDewoitine D.520 fighters and some new, US-builtGlenn Martin 167 light bombers. This initially gave the Vichy French an edge over the Allied air units. But the loss of Vichy French aircraft was very high: 179 aircraft were lost during the campaign, most destroyed on the ground.[8]
Two destroyers and threesubmarines of theFrench Navy (Marine Nationale) were available to support the Vichy forces in the Levant.
On 12 April 1940, after theinvasion and fall of Poland, thePolish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade was formed from Polish exiles in the Levant. While not part of the Army of the Levant, the brigade specialized in mountain warfare and was to be the Polish contribution to Allied plans for landings in the Balkans. On 30 June, the brigade was transported toPalestine.
Following theFall of France in 1940, the French and African components of the Army of the Levant were for the most part repatriated to their territories of origin. A minority (including some Lebanese and Syrians) took the opportunity to join theFree French Forces.
Free French generalGeorges Catroux took control of Syria after the defeat of the Vichy French. On 26 November 1941, shortly after he took up this post, Catroux recognised the independence of Lebanon and Syria in the name ofFree France. Even so, a period of military occupation followed. On 8 November 1943, after elections, Lebanon became an independent state. On 27 February 1945, Lebanon declared war onNazi Germany and theEmpire of Japan. On 1 January 1944, Syria followed Lebanon and also became an independent state. On 26 February 1945, Syria declared war onNazi Germany and theEmpire of Japan.
Thetroupes spéciales remained in existence during the military occupation, still under French authority, until August 1945. Most then transferred to the newSyrian Army. The founders of the post-independenceLebanese Army had trained as officers in thetroupes spéciales.[9]