Battle of Bab El Oued

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The Battle of Bab El Oued (French: Bataille de Bab el Oued ) or The Siege of Bab el Oued was part of the Algerian War (1954–1962) in the broadest sense . While the war was actually taking place between the Algerian liberation movement and France, French troops clashed here with terrorists from the French nationalist group Organization de l'Armée Secrète (OAS). The battle lasted from March 23 to April 6, 1962.

background

OAS uprising on March 19th

The OAS was an organization of white nationalist " pieds noirs " who lived in French Algeria and were in opposition to the policies of Charles de Gaulle . They wanted to prevent Algeria from becoming independent. On March 19, 1962, President de Gaulle had agreed an armistice between France and the National Liberation Front (FLN), the so-called Treaties of Évian . The OAS decided to dig into its stronghold of Bab El Oued , a district of Algiers traditionally inhabited by members of the European working class . Here one wanted to fight against the Evian agreements with violence.

Siege of Bab el Oued (from March 23rd to April 6th)

The battle of Bab el Oued was mainly a battle between the French gendarmerie and the OAS (represented by the Delta Commandos ). The gendarmerie used M8 Greyhound armored vehicles to control the exits into the city. Suspicious buildings were monitored from the air by T-6 . In addition, T-28 aircraft were used, which took off and landed from the Boufarik air base (30 kilometers from Algiers). Particular attention was paid to any snipers posted on rooftops. As part of the attack, naval artillery support from the destroyers Surcouf and Maille-Brézé ( destroyers of the T 47 class) was planned. However, this proved impractical and was called off. Most of the troops landed to siege the area had been transported with these destroyers on March 2nd. In support of the Bab-el Oued, 200 OAS Maquis fighters marched from Algiers to Ouarsenis , a mountainous region between Oran and Algiers. They tried to capture two French military outposts. In doing so, they relied on the support of local Muslim tribes who wanted to remain part of France. Colonel Albert Brothier prevented this and fought the group with members of the Foreign Legion in several days.

Arrest of General Jouhaud (March 25)

On March 25, 1962, General Edmond Jouhaud (Adjutant to the Commander of the OAS Raoul Salan and Commander of the OAS-Oranie, the Oran division of the OAS) was arrested at the Hôtel d'Oran Panorama with his adjutant, Commander Julien Camelin.

Massacre on Rue d'Isly (March 26th)

The massacre on Rue d'Isly (today's name Rue Larbi Ben M'hidi ) took place on March 26th. Here Pied-Noirs demonstrated largely peacefully against de Gaulle. Many of these protesters had links with the OAS. At the barrier at the Grande Post they encountered 45 French soldiers of the 4e régiment de tirailleurs algériens (4e RTA) (4th regiment of Algerian rifles); these fired into the crowd. According to historian Benjamin Stora , 35 people died and around 150 were injured. Six French soldiers were later murdered in an OAS ambush.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Time magazine , Volume 8, p. 119. Time Incorporated, 1962
  2. ^ Labor research, Volume 51, p. 112. Labor Research Department, 1962
  3. ^ Harrison, Alexander (1989). Challenging De Gaulle: The OAS and the counterrevolution in Algeria (1954–1962) . Greenwood press, p. 120. ISBN 0-275-92791-1
  4. ^ Martin Evans: Algeria: France's Undeclared War . Oxford University Press, 24, ISBN 978-0-19-280350-4 , p. 315.
  5. ^ Benjamin Stora, Les mots de la guerre d'Algérie , Presses Universitaires du Mirail, 2005, p. 18
  6. ↑ 26 mars 1962, la fusillade de la rue d'Isly à Alger ( memento of the original of February 23, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Ligue des droits de l'homme (LDH, Human Rights League), article based on the results of Benjamin Stora, Histoire de la guerre d'Algérie , La gangrène et l'oubli and Sylvie Thénault, Histoire de la guerre d'indépendance algérienne , based (French) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ldh-toulon.net