Ultra settlers mounted multiple improvised assassination attempts on de Gaulle’s tour
Evidence
On the outskirts of the town five “ultras” had been waiting under the orders of an operative known as “Nani”, who had been arrested several times for counter-terrorist acts against the F.L.N. and would later become a leading killer for the O.A.S. They were equipped with a small arsenal of weapons — machine-guns, dynamite and hand grenades — but on realising that they had been outwitted they turned tail dejectedly back to Algiers. At Blida a more bizarre, free-enterprise attempt was apparently in the offing. A handsome young pied noir playboy, tired of life, decided to ram de Gaulle’s helicopter with his private plane. But on arriving over Blida airfield he was appalled to see a veritable cloud of helicopters take off. It was impossible to tell which one was de Gaulle’s. He, too, abandoned the exercise. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1301
Categorization
- XREF: The ‘free-enterprise’ playboy plot echoes the later O.A.S. amateur-versus-professional violence theme. — connects to: Ultras believed they could depose de Gaulle as they had raised him; The ultras staged the uprising to force the army against de Gaulle — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1092; A bodyguard assigned to protect de Gaulle nearly assassinated him in Oranie — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1299 (+1 more)
Related
- Ultras believed they could depose de Gaulle as they had raised him (similarity 0.86)
- The ultras staged the uprising to force the army against de Gaulle (similarity 0.81)
- Pied noir settlers plotted repeatedly to kill de Gaulle over Algeria (similarity 0.80)
- A bodyguard assigned to protect de Gaulle nearly assassinated him in Oranie (similarity 0.80)