Caro, June 7.
German technicians and officers stationed in Beirut have taken over almost complete charge of Syrian Government affairs, travellers who arrived in Cairo from Syria declared yesterday. They doubted, however, whether any great force of German ground" troops had been landed as yet.
Competent quarters who have extremely close knowledge of the present situation in Syria said they believed that only chaos to the worst could result if Vichy fully complied with the Axis mach'natlons in Syria.
It was recalled that General Henri Dentz, High Commissioner to Syria, recently stated that the French Army would defend the country and the Syrian population for the French.
This was considered questionable as in recent weeks French commanders, pilots and soldiers have rallied in increasing numbers to the "Free French" forces of General Charles de Gaulle.
The French Army of the Levant was not considered an efficient fighting force since it consists of a motley crowd of Syrian, Senegalese, Armenian and Indo-Chinese troops. Some of these were said to be led by officers who were against Vichy and might follow the example set by Colonel Collet, who recently deserted to Palestine.—United Press, Rhodes and Allepo Raided London; June 7. An aerodrome in the island of Rhodes, and Aleppo, in Syria, were among targets heavily bombed by the R.A.F. yesterday.
Bombs straddled the runways and fell among hangars and other buildings on the airfield attacked at Rhodes, causing a number of violent explosions, which were followed by fires.
In the raid on Aleppo, one Italian plane was destroyed by a.direct hit. Bombs were also seen to burst on hangars, and columns of thick black smoke rose from the aerodrome after
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