Army of the Levant
Not to be confused with Jaysh al-Sham (2014).
The Army of the Levant (Arme du Levant) identies
the armed forces of France and then Vichy France which was drawn mainly from minority groups within Syria it-
occupied, and were in part recruited from, a portion of
the "Levant" during the interwar period and early World
War II.
1 Origins
French General Henri Gouraud on horseback inspecting French
colonial troops at Maysalun.
In September 1919, Lloyd George and Georges
Clemenceau entered an agreement to replace the British
troops occupying Cilicia by a French force.
First elements of this new army came from the former
156me division dinfanterie of the Allied Army of the
Orient, under general Julien Dueux command. This di-
vision de Cilicie included a metropolitan regiment, the
412me rgiment d'infanterie, a colonial rgiment, the
17me rgiment de tirailleurs sngalais, a French Ar-
menian Legion regiment and the 18me rgiment de
tirailleurs algriens. In 1920 this division became the rst
of four divisions du Levant.
In 1920, the French were given a mandate over Syria and
Lebanon by the League of Nations. During this period
Syria was known as the French Mandate of Syria and
Lebanon was known as the French Mandate of Lebanon.
From 19 April to 26 April 1920 the San Remo Confer-
ence was held in Sanremo, Italy. After this conference
was concluded, the short-lived monarchy of King Faisal's
was defeated at the Battle of Maysalun by French troops
under the command of General Mariano Goybet, during
the Franco-Syrian War. The French army under General
Henri Gouraud then occupied the Mandate of Syria and
the Mandate of Lebanon.
A force called the Syrian Legion was raised by the French
authorities shortly after the establishment of the two man-
dates. This comprised both cavalry and infantry units and
self.
2 Inter-war period
Following the Druse revolt of 1925 to 1927, the Syr-
ian Legion was reorganised into the Special Troops of
the Levant (Troupes Speciales du Levant) augmented by
North African infantry (tirailleurs) and cavalry (spahis),
French Foreign Legion (Lgion trangre), and Colonial
Infantry/Artillery units (both French and Senegalese).
The whole force constituted the Army of the Levant and
was responsible for keeping order in both French man-
dates during the interwar period.
Circassian cavalry of the Army of the Levant with their comman-
der Colonel Philibert Collet.[1]
The French Mandate Administration followed a princi-
ple of divide and rule in organising the Troupes Spe-
ciales. As far as possible the Sunni Muslim Arabs, who
made up about 65% of the population of Syria, were
excluded from service with the Troupes Speciales, who
were drawn mainly from Druze, Christian, Circassian and
Alawi minorities. During the period from 1926 to 1939,
the Army of the Levant included between 10,000 and
12,000 locally engaged troops organised into: ten battal-
ions of infantry (mostly Alawis), four squadrons of cav-
alry (Druze, Circassian and mixed Syrian), three com-
panies of camel corps (mharistes), engineer, armoured
car, and support units. In addition, there were 9 com-
panies of Lebanese light infantry (chasseurs libanais) and
22 squadrons of Druze, Circassian, and Kurdish mounted
infantry forming the auxiliary troops (Troupes Supple-
mentaires). This latter force provided a form of military
1
2 4 ARMY OF THE LEVANT DURING WORLD WAR II

police (gendarmerie) for internal security purposes and the Special Troops of the Levant (Troupes Speciales du
were primarily deployed in the areas of their recruitment. Levant).[2]
Some of the Lebanese units were trained as ski troops for The regular French troops consisted of four battalions of
mountain service and wore the berets of the French elite the 6th Foreign Infantry Regiment (according to Dentz,
mountain infantry (Chasseurs Alpins). these were the best troops available to the Vichy French
By 1938, the Troupes Speciales numbered 10,000, with command) and three battalions of the 24th Colonial In-
306 ocers of whom only 88 were French. A mili- fantry Regiment (French regulars enlisted for overseas
tary academy (cole Militaire) was established at Homs service). The latter were brought up to strength by amal-
to train Syrian and Lebanese ocers and specialist non- gamating them with two garrison battalions of Senegalese
commissioned ocers (NCOs). troops to form the Mixed Colonial Regiment (Regiment
Mixte Coloniale).[2]
The Troupes Speciales were formed by 11 battalions of
3 Uniforms and insignia infantry: three Lebanese light infantry battalions (batail-
lons de chasseurs Libanais) and eight Syrian battalions
Uniforms of the Troupes Speciales varied according to (bataillons de Levant). In addition, there were two ar-
arm of service but showed a mixture of French and Lev- tillery groups and supporting units. The special troops
antine inuences. Indigenous personnel wore either the included at least 5,000 cavalry organized in squadrons
keyeh headdress (red for Druze and white for other of around 100 men each. Included in the cavalry force
units), fezzes or turbans. The Circassian mounted troops were 15 squadrons of Circassian cavalry of which three
wore a black full dress that closely resembled that of were motorized. The Troupes Speciales were led by in-
the Caucasian Cossacks, complete with astrakhan hats digenous ocers and non-commissioned ocers with a
(see photograph above). A common feature across the small cadre of French ocers.[2]
Troupes Speciales was the use of violette (purple-red) The African troops comprised six Algerian, three
as a facing colour on tunic collar patches, belts and kepis. Tunisian, three Senegalese, and one Moroccan rie
Squadron or branch insignia often included regional land- (tirailleur) battalions.[2]
marks such as the cedars of Lebanon or the main mosque
of Damascus. The contingent of North African cavalry consisted of the
4th Tunisian, the 1st Moroccan, and the 8th Algerian
Spahis and amounted to about 7,000 men. Most were on
4 Army of the Levant during horseback or in light trucks, while a few were equipped
with armored cars. There was also a mechanized cav-
World War II alry element provided by the 6th and 7th African Light
Horse (Chasseurs d' Afrique) which totalled 90 tanks
On 22 June, after the Fall of France, the forces in the Lev- (mostly Renault R-35 with a few[3]
Renault FTs) and a sim-
ant sided with the Vichy Government of Marshal Philippe ilar number of armored cars.
Ptain. In 1941, British Commonwealth, Free French The artillery available to the Vichy French consisted of
and other Allied forces launched Operation Exporter, 120 eld and medium guns and numbered about 6,700
the Syria-Lebanon Campaign. They attacked the Army men.[3]
of the Levant from the British Mandate of Palestine and
from the Kingdom of Iraq, recently occupied during the
Anglo-Iraqi War. On 8 June 1941 at 2 am, British,
4.3 French air forces
Australian, and Free French forces crossed into Syria and
Lebanon.
The Vichy French Air Force (Arme de l'Air de Vichy) in
the Levant was relatively strong at the outbreak of hostil-
4.1 French command ities in 1939. But, in 1940, many of the aircraft stationed
in Syria and Lebanon were sent back to Metropolitan
During "Operation Exporter, the Army of the Levant France. This left the Vichy French in the Levant with
was commanded by General Henri Dentz. Dentz was only a number of obsolete models. However, alarmed
also the High Commissioner of the Levant. Lieutenant- by the growing threat of British invasion, a ghter group
General Joseph-Antoine-Sylvain-Raoul de Verdillac was was dispatched from Algeria before the invasion. Once
second in command at the time of the British invasion. the ghting started, three additional groups were own
from France and from North Africa. This brought the
strength of the Vichy French air force in Lebanon and
4.2 French ground forces Syria up to 289 aircraft, including about 35 state-of-the-
art Dewoitine D.520 ghters and some new, US-built
In 1941 the Army of the Levant was still divided into Glenn Martin 167 light bombers. This initially gave the
troops from Metropolitan France, colonial troops, and Vichy French an edge over the Allied air units. But the
 3

loss of Vichy French aircraft was very high: 179 air- Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire
craft were lost during the campaign, most having been
destroyed on the ground.[4] Syria-Lebanon Campaign
Vichy French Air Force
4.4 French naval forces Army of Africa (France)

Two destroyers and three submarines of the French Navy French Colonial Forces
(Marine Nationale) were available to support the Vichy
History of the Arme de l'Air (19091942)
forces in the Levant.
History of the Arme de l'Air (colonial presence
19391962)
5 Polish Brigade French colonial ags

On 12 April 1940, after the invasion and fall of Poland, French Colonial Empire
the Polish Independent Carpathian Rie Brigade was
formed from Polish exiles in the Levant. While not part List of French possessions and colonies
of the Army of the Levant, the brigade specialized in
mountain warfare and was to be the Polish addition to
Allied plans for landings in the Balkans. On 30 June, the 8 References
brigade was transported to Palestine.
Buckley, Christopher (1977). Five Ventures. Lon-
don: HMSO. ISBN 0-11-772196-4.
6 End of French rule Keegan, John (1979). World Armies. London:
Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-17236-1.
Following the Vichy defeat in 1941, the French and
African components of the Army of the Levant were for Mollo, Andrew (1981). The Armed Forces of World
the most part repatriated to their territories of origin. A War II. New York: Crown. ISBN 0-517-54478-4.
minority (including some Lebanese and Syrians) took the
opportunity to join the Free French Forces.
Free French General Georges Catroux took control of 9 Footnotes
Syria after the defeat of the Vichy French. On 26 Novem-
ber 1941, shortly after taking up this post, Catroux recog- [1] Time Magazine, Mixed Show
nised the independence of Lebanon and Syria in the name [2] Andrew Mollo, p.144
of Free France. Even so, a period of military occupation
followed. [3] Andrew Mollo, p.145

On 8 November 1943, after elections, Lebanon became [4] Andrew Mollo, p.146
an independent state. On 27 February 1945, Lebanon
declared war on Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. [5] John Keegan World Armies ISBN 0-333-17236-1

On 1 January 1944, Syria followed Lebanon and also be-

came an independent state. On 26 February 1945, Syria
declared war on Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan.
The Troupes Spciales had remained in existence during
the military occupation, still under French authority until
August 1945. Most then transferred to the new Syrian
Army. The founders of the post-independence Lebanese
Army also trained as ocers in the Troupes Spciales.[5]
10 External links
The New York Times (October 3, 1922). Gauroud
Doubts Turks Want Syria. (PDF). Retrieved Octo-
ber 26, 2009.
Mixed Show.. Time Magazine. June 23, 1941.
Retrieved October 26, 2009.

7 See also
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Lebanon)

1936 Syrian general strike

League of Nations
4 11 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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