Only following Operation S J—the Allied conquest of Madagascar (September–November 1942)—and Operation T—the Allied landing in French Morocco and Algeria in November 1942—did one third of the Somali garrison, the first battalion of Senegalese "Tirailleurs" under Colonel Sylvain Eugène Raynal, cross the border into British Somaliland and defect. This prompted the new governor, Christian Raimond Dupont, to offer the British an economic agreement without surrender, but it was rejected. He was informed that if the colony surrendered without firing a shot, the French right to it would be respected in the post-war order. On hearing this, Dupont surrendered and Colonel Raynal's troops crossed back into French Somaliland on 26 December 1942, completing its liberation. The official handover took place at 10:00 p.m. on 28 December.