The Algerian war emptied France’s officer corps of its finest leaders
Evidence
In the army as a whole, senior officers — the men of forty in Algeria — weighed down by all the burden of bad dreams and stresses that the past had imposed on their beloved army, left prematurely, settled down to writing their memoirs, or withdrew entirely. General André Beaufre, France’s greatest military thinker, who resigned rather than take command over a still bitterly divided army, died early. General Gambiez, the ill-starred Commander-in-Chief at the time of the 1961 generals’ putsch, retired in 1967 and took up writing history. Colonel Trinquier, the tough para leader during the Battle of Algiers, went to Katanga as a mercenary before the end of the Algerian war, then retired to devote himself to viticulture. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1665
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the broader theme of the ‘dirty war’ officers’ post-war fates seen in studies of Algeria veterans. — connects to: Algerian war manpower losses strained France’s economy more than military outlay; The French army’s officer caste eroded from colonels down to lieutenants — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 511