The Battle of Deir ez-Zor was part of the Allied invasion of Syria during the Syria-Lebanon campaign in World War II.
The Battle of Deir ez-Zor is noted for the bold outflanking tactics employed by Allied field commander William “Bill” Slim of Iraq Command. These tactics presaged Slim’s employment of similar tactics in 1945 while commanding the British Fourteenth Army in Burma.
The advance units of 10th Indian Division left Haditha on 27 June and captured Abu Kamal without opposition. By 30 June, the main force was concentrated there and moved out on 1 July toward Deir ez-Zor. Progress on the poor road was slow and made more difficult by air attacks from Vichy aircraft but by early afternoon there were units within 9 miles of Deir ez-Zor.[1]
Slim’s original plan was to attack the city from the south-east whilst sending a flanking force wide round the south-east and which would attack along the road to Aleppo in the enemy’s rear. Fuel was running low and the risk of the flanking force running dry and becoming immobile just as it came into contact with the enemy had to be considered. Slim decided that the risk was justified by the opportunity it afforded of taking the Vichy defenders by complete surprise.
The 2/10th Gurkha Rifles attacked from the south-west at 09:00 on 3 July. The flanking column (comprising infantry of 4/13th Frontier Force Rifles and armoured cars of the 13th Duke of Connaught’s Own Lancers) had left Mayadin at 04:15, crossing the Palmyra road running south-west across their path about 20 mi (32 km) from Deir ez-Zor and reaching the Aleppo road by 10:30. As Slim had hoped, surprise was complete and the flanking force advanced rapidly into the city, capturing the bridges intact and destabilizing the defences facing the Gurkhas advancing from the south-east. By 11:00, these positions were abandoned and the two attacking forces joined up in the city. By 15:30, the last opposition in the city had been silenced although the Vichy air force continued to make telling attacks on the Allied ground forces.[2]
Only 100 prisoners were taken because the bulk of the Syrian troops changed into civilian clothes and merged into countryside. However, 50 lorries, nine guns and five aircraft were captured and a considerable haul of arms, ammunition and petrol was made.[3] 
why perhaps to add more French soldiers as a subset of the axis (i know now axis would have three countries) a nice location to blow up buildings and people go to interesting places and kill new people. 
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adding the french guerillas has given us a good tasted for french soldiers and guns. i want more i love the gold order french machine gun a smg or more french rifles yum.
British, India, Syria, Transjordan, French. well i think it could be fun to expand the war. The elephant in the room is the lac of s, aUSTRALIA, nz, cANADA, gERMANY AND iTALY. So it will never happen but it could be a lot of fun to fight outside europe, africa and the pacific. 
this could bring a focus to the nearly 20 percent of axis cassulties of the war (axis germany/italy other european countries and beyond). mu own prejudice for the big three (us-uk-ussr) allies big three axis (Germany/Italy/Japan). many countries fought making it even more of a world war then the first.
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