later described as "one of the epics of the war", which resulted in about 300 Germans being killed. The fighting on Crete added a further 274 killed, 507 wounded and 3,102 captured to the division's casualty list. While the majority of the division was in Crete, the 6th Division Cavalry Regiment, which had not been sent to Greece, was detached to the British 7th Armoured Brigade and subsequently took part in Operation Brevity in the Western Desert in May. Following the evacuation of Crete, while the 6th Division began rebuilding in Palestine, the cavalry was allocated to take part in the bloody but successful attack on Vichy French forces in the Syria-Lebanon campaign. Two depleted infantry battalions from the 17th Brigade – the 2/3rd and 2/5th – were also committed and subsequently took part in the drive on Damascus in mid-June. They were later joined by the 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion and together they fought through the campaign until the French capitulated in mid-July. In the process they suffered 168 casualties; total 6th Division casualties for the Syrian campaign amounted to 39 killed and 129 wounded. After the conclusion of the fighting in Syria, the rest of the 6th Division joined the 17th Brigade and undertook garrison duties there. In December 1941, the division received news that the Japanese had attacked on Pearl Harbor and invaded Malaya. Nevertheless, the division remained in Syria over Christmas, during which time they endured a bitterly cold winter that saw heavy snow falls. Finally, in January 1942, the decision was made to withdraw them back to Australia to meet threat posed by Japanese advances in the Pacific. The 19th Brigade departed first and subsequently arrived at Fremantle on 10 March. Meanwhile, the 16th and 17th Brigades were diverted to defend Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from the Japanese. They remained there from mid-March through to early July 1942. The Pacific War Return to Australia While the 16th and 17th Brigades were in Ceylon, the 19th Brigade had proceeded from Fremantle to Adelaide in mid-March, where they remained until April due to a short period of leave being granted. Once the men reported back, the brigade was split up, with the 2/11th Infantry Battalion sent to Western Australia to undertake garrison duty while the brigade's other infantry battalions and the divisional cavalry regiment were sent to the Northern Territory to bolster its defences in the wake of