At the end of April the division sailed on the cruise-liner "Paul Doumer", to join a camp in Qastina, Palestine in preparation for the Syria–Lebanon campaign. On the June 8 he became one of the first to cross the Syrian border, on June 18 he obtained the surrender of a Vichy military unit which was carrying a white flag of truce and whilst returning to his motorcycle was shot in the back. He was taken to hospital in Damascus where he died two days later, and was buried in Ramleh, Syria.