 The first major threat was a German invasion from the north, from the pro-Nazi Vichy regime in control of Syria and Lebanon.This danger ended after Operation Exporter, the allied invasion of these countries on 8 June 1941, and their liberation from Vichy control.In 1942 a more serious threat emerged as the German Afrika Korps, under the command of Erwin Rommel, threatened to overrun British possessions in the Middle East.