Don’t Mention The War
Fighting the French in Syria and Lebanon, 1941
A Public Lecture by Lt-Col Ron Lyons (retd)
The Syria-Lebanon theatre of the Second World War has become the great undiscussed warzone. Don’t mention the war!
In June 1941 Commonwealth, Australian and Free French forces invaded Syria, out of concern that Germany may begin using bases occupied by the Vichy French. Operation Exporter is probably one of the most misunderstood and forgotten campaigns of World War II. It was a complicated mixture of strategic imperatives around airfields and oil, politico-diplomatic manoeuvering, and improvisation with scarce military resources.
Lieutenant-Colonel Ron Lyons (retired) discusses this often forgotten Second World War campaign. Ron served for many years as an office of the Australian Army Reserve and subsequently as a military historian and battlefield guide. He is also Vice-President of The Military History Society of New South Wales and Vice President of The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies New South Wales.
Lecture Time & Venue
Saturday, 7 September 2024, 10:30AM-11:30AM, Auditorium, Anzac Memorial Hyde Park, corner Elizabeth and Liverpool Streets, Sydney CBD. Admission is free of charge but a donation would be appreciated. For further information call 0419 698 783 or email: president@militaryhistorynsw.com.au.
Our Venue – Anzac Memorial Hyde Park
The current venue for The Military History Society of New South Wales lecture program will be the Auditorium at the Anzac Memorial Hyde Park, corner of Elizabeth and Liverpool Streets, Sydney CBD. Numerous bus services stop at the location and Museum railway station is only 160 metres away. The venue will be opening its doors at 10:30AM sharp.
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Captain Albert Poland of the Royal Navy recorded his Second World War service in daily notebooks including the eight-month Siege of Tobruk by Rommel’s Afrika Korps, from April to November 1941.
Hurricanes to Russia By Denis Smith
Denis Smith's talk tells the largely unknown story of HMS Argus, the aircraft carrier which transported 24 RAF Hurricane fighter planes to Russia in 1941.
Breakout from Normandy By Robert Muscat
This lecture is the Society’s contribution to 75th anniversary commemorations of D-Day. By end June 1944 the word most feared by Allied senior commanders and politicians was “stalemate”. US First Army and British Second Army units made few inroads into Normandy since the D-Day landings on 6 June.
No Ground Given, 2/27th Battalion AID at Mission Ridge and Brigade Hill, Kokoda, By Adrian Clack
At the battles of Mission Ridge and Brigade Hill, 7-8 September 1942, in the legendary Kokoda Trail Campaign, three sister battalions of the AIF were together for the first time.
Sectioning a Leopard Tank By Paul Handel
Over three decades from 1976 to 2007 the Leopard 1 Tank was the work horse of the Australian Army’s 1st Armoured Regiment. In 2015 the Australian Army History Unit (AAHU) received support for a project to section or “cut-in-half” a Leopard Tank so that students in armoured vehicle courses could see the interior of a main battle tank.