WWII IN PHOTOS

Critical events from this month, 80 years ago

VICTORY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

By early July the Syrian-lebanon Campaign was drawing to a conclusion, with Vichy forces defeated at Palmyra on 1 July, before the garrison of Beirut surrendered on 12 July. The campaign involved a large contingent from the Australian 7th Division, as well as Indian, Free French and British troops. It’s estimated that Australian casualties numbered 416 killed and 1,136 wounded, while approximately 1,000 Vichy French troops were killed during the campaign.

ANGLO-SOVIET AGREEMENT

Soviet factory workers read the news of Britain and the USSR’S agreement to cooperate in the war against Germany, signed 12 July. In response to Hitler’s invasion, Winston Churchill had exclaimed: “If Hitler invaded Hell, I would at least make a favourable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons.” The newfound alliance soon saw the Prime Minister and Stalin exchanging correspondence on the progress of the war. Materiel support from Britain to the USSR began in the form of the Arctic convoys, which commenced the following month.

BATTLE OF BIAŁYSTOK-MINSK

During Operation Barbarossa, Army Group Centre’s first thrust was towards the cities of Białystok, Poland, and Minsk, Byelorussia. The German attack involved 3rd and 2nd Panzer Groups, whose swift advance surrounded four Soviet armies, creating large pockets of encircled Red Army troops. By 9 July, these pockets were closed and thousands of Red

Army soldiers captured. Pictured are the remains of a Red Army convoy, destroyed by a German air raid in the Białystok area. As a result of the disaster during the Battle of Białystok-minsk, General Dmitry Pavlov, in command of the Western Front, was executed for treason.

THE WAR CONTINUES

Finnish soldiers move through woodland during the reconquest of the Karelian isthmus and area around Lake Ladoga. In the wake of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, Finland renewed its conflict with the USSR, at first fending off air attacks before advancing into territory that had been ceded to the Soviets after the Winter War. With support from Germany, the Finnish advance eventually drove the Red Army out of the Karelian isthmus. This was the start of the Continuation War, which continued beyond the surrender of Nazi Germany, ending in September 1944.

Left: Georges Catroux and the Duke of Gloucester in Beirut, July 1941. At the end of the Syrian-lebanon Campaign the region was handed back to the Free French forces under Charles de Gaulle.