One arrested courier’s betrayal crippled the O.A.S. ground network

Evidence

On 7 September Gingembre — his briefcase stuffed with incriminating documents — flew from Paris to Algiers. With him on the plane was Colonel Debrosse himself, the head of the Algiers gendarmerie, whose men had suffered so appallingly at the hands of “ultra” sharpshooters on that “bloody Sunday” of 24 January 1960. Debrosse settled an old score by arresting Gingembre, who, says Susini, “immediately began to talk at the top of his voice”. On the resultant information, police in France swooped to arrest a number of senior French army officers. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1493

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: how a single indiscreet courier undid a whole underground movement — the fragility of clandestine organizations to talkers.
• XREF: connects to: One captured courier nearly destroyed the O.A.S. and its metropolitan network; The Gingembre betrayal nearly destroyed the entire O.A.S. leadership — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1493

Related

• One captured courier nearly destroyed the O.A.S. and its metropolitan network (similarity 0.96)
• The Gingembre betrayal nearly destroyed the entire O.A.S. leadership (similarity 0.88)
• An informer’s tip let police map the O.A.S. leadership structure (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• The Gingembre betrayal nearly destroyed the entire O.A.S. leadership #exemplifies (0.70) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1493