contribution to stopping the Vichy French counter-stroke. Blackburn's area of responsibility was briefly expanded to include all the routes east of the Jordan as far as Quneitra. To cover this he was allocated squadrons of light tanks and Bren carriers, as well as a British dressing station to handle casualties. On 19 June his force was ordered forward towards Damascus. This involved a drive to Sheikh Meskine then a journey north, which took nearly two days due to the state of the roads. Meanwhile, Blackburn was recalled to Rosh Pinna in Palestine to receive orders from the commander of the Damascus front, Major General John Fullerton Evetts of the British 6th Infantry Division, who directed him to assist the "weary and disheartened" Free French forward to Damascus. To achieve this task, his force was trimmed to a reinforced company of the 2/3rd and five anti-tank guns, totalling around 400 men. Blackburn arrived at Free French headquarters on 20 June, where he was told that their attack had faltered about south of Damascus. On the left flank of the Free French force was the Australian 2/3rd Infantry Battalion, attacking from the southwest towards the town of Mezze to the west of Damascus. The planned Free French attack was scheduled to go forward at 17:00, but they did not move. Blackburn again drove forward, but the Free French again refused to budge. To get the attack moving, Blackburn ordered one platoon of machine gunners forward to a trench about closer to Damascus. The Vichy French did not fire on them, and the couple of Vichy French tanks that appeared were engaged with Boys anti-tank rifles. The Senegalese Free French troops then came forward to the Australian-held trench. Blackburn then ordered the rest of his men forward. This process, of the Australian machine gunners advancing and the Free French following, was repeated by Blackburn until the forward troops had advanced a total of and reached the outskirts of Damascus. In the latter stages, the Vichy French began to respond with small arms and artillery, and their tanks and snipers forced a halt for the night. In the meantime, the 2/3rd Infantry Battalion had captured Vichy French positions to the west of Damascus and cut the road to Beirut. In the morning of 21 June, the Free French began to advance; Blackburn's machine gunners supported them and protected their right flank in case of