Author: Nicole Townsend
The French Australian Review No 72 (Australian Winter 2022): 61-85
https://doi.org/10.62586/GWED7901
This article focuses on Australia’s war with France during the Second World War, when Australian troops partook in the invasion of the Vichy French mandates of Lebanon and Syria in June 1941. It uses various sources, including oral history interviews, memoirs, diaries, and unit histories, to elucidate how Australian troops negotiated relations with the French, who were both friend and foe. In doing so, it sheds light on a lesser-known period in the Australian-French relationship.
Keywords: Australian-French relations, Operation Exporter, Syria, Lebanon, Second World War, Vichy France, Free France.