Operation Exporter. Lebanon. British troopship Glengyle (escorted by destroyers HMS Ilex and Hero) departs Port Said, Egypt, and lands 420 British Commandos who aid Australian troops in crossing the Litani River in canvas boats and capturing Vichy French positions. French destroyers Valmy and Guépard from Beirut bombard the Allied troops attacking the Litani River but British destroyers HMS Janus, Hotspur, Isis & Jackal and New Zealand cruiser HMNZS Leander arrive to drive off the French. HMS Janus is badly damaged by the French destroyers (towed to Haifa and then through the Suez Canal to Cape Town, South Africa, for repairs until the end of the year). French submarine Caiman attacks British cruiser HMS Phoebe without success off the Syrian coast. In Syria, British, Indian and Free French troops make slow progress but still meet little resistance from Vichy defenders.
In the Atlantic West of Britain, U-46 sinks British SS Phidias with the deck gun just after midnight (8 crew killed, 40 crew and 3 gunners picked up by British SS Embassage and landed at Sydney, Australia) and U-101 sinks British SS Trevarrack at 6.35 PM (3 lifeboats launch but 38 crew and 7 passengers are never found).
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Were Vichy French troops drafted, or were they volunteers? And if they were volunteers, was it more of a "forced volunteering", or were the people in the Vichy French army more like the people who would join the Milice?
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