A British truck pulls an antiaircraft gun across
a duty track in Syria

June 8-21
Middle East, Syria
An Allied force of 20,000 Free French, British, and Commonwealth troops, under General Sir Henry M. Wilson, invades Syria from Palestine and Iraq amid fears of increasing German influence in the country. They face 45,000 Vichy French troops under General Henri Dentz, plus naval forces that engage the Allies on the 9th.

In subsequent days the Allies encircle enemy units and use heavy artillery to overcome resistance. Vichy forces abandon the capital, Damascus, to the Allies on the 21st.

June 13
Final Solution, Vichy France
Over 12,000 Jews have been 'interned' in concentration camps after being accused of disrupting relations between Vichy France and Germany. The Vichy authorities are increasingly persecuting Jews and passing legislation to deny them property rights.

June 15-17
Africa, Libya
General Sir Archibald Wavell launches Operation Battleaxe to relieve Tobruk and break the German hold on Cyrenaica. An armored and infantry division crosses the Egyptian-Libyan border around Halfaya Pass, Fort Capuzzo, and Hafid Ridge. The new British tanks brought to strengthen the 7th Armored Division have suffered mechanical problems and their crews have had inadequate training. The understrength Allied divisions suffer heavily against the experienced German armor and antitank guns. Wavell halts Operation Battleaxe after losing 90 of his 190 tanks.

June 17
Politics, Germany
Adolf Hitler decides to launch Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, on June 22. He has an extreme hatred of the Slav people and the communism that rules them. Hitler aims to enslave the 'inferior' Slav peoples, exploit their resources, and occupy their lands as part of his Lebensraum ('living space') policy for the Aryan race.

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