Army of the Levant The Army of the Levant ( " Armée du Levant " ) identifies the armed forces of France and then Vichy France which occupied , and were in part recruited from , a portion of the " Levant " during the interwar period and early World War II . Origins . 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 Conference 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 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 mandates . This comprised both cavalry and infantry units and was drawn mainly from minority groups within Syria itself . Inter - war period . Following the Druse revolt of 1925 to 1927 , the Syrian Legion was reorganised into the " Special Troops of the Levant " ( " Troupes Speciales du Levant " ) augmented by North African infantry ( " tirailleurs " ) and cavalry ( " spahi s " ) , Foreign Legion ( " Légion étrangère " ) , 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 mandates during the interwar period . The French Mandate Administration followed a principle of divide and rule in organising the " Troupes Speciales " . 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 battalions of infantry ( mostly ‘ Alawis ) , four squadrons of cavalry ( Druze , Circassian and mixed Syrian ) , three companies of camel corps ( " méhariste s " ) , engineer , armoured car , and support units . In addition , there were 9 companies of Lebanese light infantry ( " chasseurs libanais " ) and 22 squadrons of Druze , Circassian , and Kurdish mounted infantry forming the auxiliary troops ( " Troupes Supplementaires " ) . 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 for mountain service and wore the berets of the French elite mountain infantry ( " Chasseurs Alpins " ) . By 1938 , the " Troupes Speciales " numbered 10 , 000 , with 306 officers of whom only 88 were French . A military academy ( " École Militaire " ) was established at Homs to train Syrian and Lebanese officers and specialist non - commissioned officer s ( NCOs ) . Uniforms and insignia . Uniforms of the " Troupes Speciales " varied according to arm of service but showed a mixture of French and Levantine influences . Indigenous personnel wore either the keffiyeh headdress ( red for Druze and white for other units ) , fez zes or turban s . The Circassian mounted troops wore a black full dress that closely resembled that of the Caucasian Cossacks , complete with astrakhan hats . A common feature across the " Troupes Speciales " was the use of " violette " ( purple - red ) as a facing colour on tunic collar patches , belts and kepis . Squadron or branch insignia often included regional landmarks such as the cedars of Lebanon or the main mosque of Damascus . Army of the Levant during World War II . On 22 June , after the Fall of France , the forces in the Levant sided with the Vichy Government of Marshal Philippe Pétain . In 1941 , British Commonwealth , Free French and other Allied forces launched " Operation Exporter , " the Syria - Lebanon Campaign . They attacked the Army 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 , Australian , and Free French forces crossed into Syria and Lebanon . French command . During " Operation Exporter , " the Army of the Levant was commanded by General Henri Dentz . Dentz was also the High Commissioner of the Levant . Lieutenant - General Joseph - Antoine - Sylvain - Raoul de Verdillac was second in command at the time of the British invasion . French ground forces . In 1941 the Army of the Levant was still divided into troops from Metropolitan France , colonial troops , and the " Special Troops of the Levant " ( " Troupes Speciales du Levant " ) . The regular French troops consisted of four battalions of the 6th Foreign Legion ( 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 the " Mixed Colonial Regiment " ( " Regiment Mixte Coloniale " ) . The " Troupes Speciales " were formed by 11 battalions of infantry : three Lebanese light infantry battalions ( " bataillons de chasseurs Libanais " ) and eight Syrian battalions ( " bataillons de Levant " ) . In addition , there were two artillery groups and supporting units . The " special troops " included at least 5 , 000 cavalry organized in squadrons of around 100 men each . Included in the cavalry force were 15 squadrons of Circassian cavalry of which three were motorized . The " Troupes Speciales " were led by indigenous officers and non - commissioned officers with a small cadre of French officers . The African troops comprised six Algerian , three Tunisian , three Senegalese , and one Moroccan rifle ( " tirailleur " ) battalions . 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 horseback or in light trucks , while a few were equipped with armored cars . There was also a mechanized cavalry element provided by the 6th and 7th " African Light Horse " ( " Chasseurs d ' Afrique " ) which totalled 90 tanks ( mostly Renault R - 35 with a few Renault FT - 17 ) and a similar number of armored cars . The artillery available to the Vichy French consisted of 120 field and medium guns and numbered about 6 , 700 men . Polish Brigade . On 12 April 1940 , after the invasion and fall of Poland , the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade was formed from Polish exiles in 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 brigade was transported to Palestine . French air forces . The Vichy French Air Force ( " Armée de l ' Air de Vichy " ) 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 to Metropolitan 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 , a fighter group was dispatched from Algeria before the invasion . Once the fighting started , three additional groups were flown from France and from North 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 - art Dewoitine D . 520 fighters and some new , US - built Glenn 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 having been destroyed on the ground . French naval forces . Two destroyers and three submarines of the French Navy ( " Marine Nationale " ) were available to support the Vichy forces in the Levant . End of French rule . Following the Vichy defeat in 1941 , 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 the Free French Forces . Free French General Georges Catroux took control of Syria after the defeat of the Vichy French . On 26 November 1941 , shortly after taking up this post , Catroux recognised the independence of Lebanon and Syria in the name of Free 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 on Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan . On 1 January 1944 , Syria followed Lebanon and also became an independent state . On 26 February 1945 , Syria declared war on Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan . The " Troupes Speciales " 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 officers in the " Troupes Speciales " .