The crisis infuriated the French leader Charles de Gaulle and almost brought Britain and France to the point of war.

After the Ottoman defeat there in World War I and as a result of the Treaty of Sevres, they were then ruled under a French mandate given by the League of Nations at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

[8] The crisis proper began on 19 May when demonstrations in Damascus involved firing on the grounds of the French hospital; about a dozen people were injured but none were killed.

This relief column was ambushed leading to the deaths of French soldiers and the Syrian capture of artillery and armoured vehicles.

On 29 May, French troops stormed the Syrian parliament and tried to arrest the President Shukri al-Quwatli and the speaker Saadallah al-Jabiri but both managed to escape.

The French began shelling with artillery and mortars while colonial Senegalese troops were sent in, who committed acts of looting and wanton destruction.

[16] Churchill, hoping to maintain favour with the Arabs, said he would do what he could, but his relationship with Charles de Gaulle was at a low ebb following his visit to Paris the previous year, in spite of his efforts to preserve French interests following the Yalta conference.

Churchill agreed but needed the backing of the United States and the Soviet Union in which to send British troops against the French.

In Hauran French troops were rounded up and disarmed – their weapons distributed to young men hoping to march towards Damascus to help the central government.

At the same time the Syrian Prime Minister Faris al-Khoury was at the founding conference of the United Nations in San Francisco, presenting Syria's claim for independence and also ordered the fighting to stop.

[2] On 1 June, Paget ordered his force to invade Syria from Transjordan, with troops and tanks of the 31st Indian Armoured Division.

[18] The Manchester Guardian reported the event with patriotic delight: I marched into Damascus with the sailors ... while crowds of surprised Damascenes clapped their hands.

[22]On 2 June, De Gaulle realized nothing could be done and reluctantly arranged a ceasefire – Oliva-Roget was later sacked, but a furious row broke out between Britain and France.

[23] The next day with the ceasefire in place – two troops of 'A' Squadron of the Kings Dragoon Guards encamped on the Damascus race course, they escorted high-ranking French officers who were otherwise unable to move about the town safely.

Two troops of 'B' Squadron, known as Mannforce, went on 6 July to Latakia, where a fight had broken out the previous day after a French military vehicle ran over a child, resulting in his death.

On 10 July Mannforce, together with the 2nd Sherwood Foresters, were called to Baniyas when the French opened fire on the town with mortars and machine guns.

With control restored there Lieutenant Mann then took a party to the Turkish frontier to bring back the horses and French officers of their Cavalry unit, whose men had deserted.

[24] Continuing pressure from Syrian nationalist groups and the British intervention forced the French to withdraw completely from Syria to Lebanon by the end of July and by this time the Mandate had effectively been erased.

[12] The British force took a more prominent role in the policing of Syrian cities and designated tribal areas over the Summer and Autumn of 1945.

[26] The UK and the US had viewed the French military action in Syria as a potential catalyst for further unrest throughout the Middle East and a detriment to British and American lines of communication in the region.

[16] In October, the international community recognized the independence of Syria and Lebanon, and they were admitted as founding members of the United Nations.