Battle of Bab El Oued
{{Short description|Battle fought in 1962 during the Algerian War}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}
{{Expand French|topic=mil|date=February 2024}}{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Battle of Bab El Oued
| partof = the Algerian War
| image = Battle of Bab El Oued.png
| image_size = 300
| caption = French soldiers taking cover during the Battle of Bab El Oued (March 1962)
| date = 23 March – 6 April 1962
| place = Bab El Oued, Algiers, Algeria
| result = French government victory
| combatant1 = {{flagicon|France}} French Republic
| combatant2 = {{flagicon image|OAS Flag.svg}} OAS
| commander1 = {{flagicon|France}} Charles Ailleret
| commander2 = {{flagicon image|OAS Flag.svg}} Raoul Salan
| strength1 =
| strength2 =
| casualties1 = 15 killed
77 woundedAmouroux, Henri and Courrière, Yves (1988). La France contemporaine, La guxrre d'Algérie, t.IX. Tallendier, p.424 {{in lang|fr}}
| casualties2 = 20 killed
60 wounded
}}
{{Campaignbox Algerian War of Independence}}
The Battle of Bab el Oued ({{langx|fr|link=no|Bataille de Bab el Oued}}) was a violent confrontation which occurred during the latter stages of the Algerian War (1954–1962) between the French Army and the Organisation armée secrète (OAS) which opposed Algerian independence. It took place in Bab El Oued, then a working-class European quarter of Algiers, from 23 March to 6 April 1962.
Context
=The OAS uprising (19 March)=
File:1962-03-22 Algeria tense cease fire.ogv
{{See also|Organisation armée secrète}}
The OAS was an organization of hard-line European "Pieds Noirs" living in (the then-French territory) Algeria who were opposed to the cease-fire announced by French president Charles de Gaulle on 19 March 1962 between French forces and the Front de libération nationale (FLN) forces fighting for Algerian Independence. The OAS decided to dig in at their stronghold of Bab El Oued (a traditionally European working-class area) to fight the Evian Agreements by force.
Siege of Bab el Oued (from 23 March to 6 April)
The Battle of Bab el Oued was principally a battle between the French Gendarmerie Mobile and the OAS Commando Delta. The French government forces used M8 Greyhound armoured cars to control the exits to the town whilst suspicious buildings were surveilled from the air by T-6 and T-28 aircraft departing from Boufarik Air Base. Four T-6s strafed the roofs to clear them from snipers after Army helicopters dropped canisters with tear gas.Time magazine, Volume 8, p. 119. Time, Inc., 1962
As part of the attack, naval artillery support from the {{sclass2|T 47|destroyer|1}}s {{ship|French destroyer|Surcouf||2}} and {{ship|French destroyer|Maillé-Brézé|D627|2}} was planned, though it soon became evident that this was not practical and the bombardment was called off.{{cite web|first=Jean-Michel|last=Roche |url=http://www.netmarine.net/bat/ee/surcouf/index.htm|title=Escorteur d'Escadre Surcouf |language=French|trans-title=Fleet Escort Surcouf|publisher=Netmarine.net|year=2010 |accessdate=6 May 2016}} Most of the troops setting siege to the quarter had been ferried to Algeria by Surcouf and Maillé-Brézé, along with other three destroyers, on 2 March.Labour research, Volume 51, p. 112. Labour Research Department, 1962
In support of Bab-el Oued, 200 OAS maquis marched from Algiers to Ouarsenis, a mountainous region between Oran and Algiers. They tried to capture two French military outposts and gain support from local Muslim tribes loyal to France, but instead these forces were harassed and eventually defeated by French Foreign Legion units led by Colonel Albert Brothier after several days of fighting.Harrison, Alexander (1989). Challenging De Gaulle: The OAS and the counterrevolution in Algeria (1954–1962). Greenwood press, p. 120. {{ISBN|0-275-92791-1}}
=Arrest of General Jouhaud (25 March)=
On 25 March 1962, General Edmond Jouhaud (adjutant to the commander of the OAS Raoul Salan and commander of the OAS-Oranie, the Oran branch of the OAS) was arrested at the Hôtel Panoramic d'Oran with his adjutant, Commander Julien Camelin.
=1962 Isly massacre=
File:Alger-Grande-Poste-1.jpg took place. After independence, the rue d'Isly (which was named after the Battle of Isly) was renamed in honour of FLN commander Larbi Ben M'hidi.]]
The 1962 Isly massacre was an incident which occurred on 26 March 1962 in which a largely peaceful demonstration of anti-independence Pied-Noirs attempted to force their way through French Army roadblocks around the Great Post-Office of Algiers. The demonstrators encountered a roadblock manned by 45 soldiers from the 4th Tirailleur Regiment who fired on the crowd with machine guns. Between 50 and 80 Pied-Noirs demonstrators were killed in the massacre.{{cite book|last=Evans|first=Martin|title=Algeria: France's Undeclared War|date=24 November 2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0192803504|page=315}}
Casualties
According to the historian Benjamin Stora, 15 French soldiers and 20 OAS members were killed during the Battle of Bab el Oued, and around 150 were wounded.Benjamin Stora, Les mots de la guerre d'Algérie, Presses Universitaires du Mirail, 2005, p.18 {{in lang|fr}} Six French soldiers were killed by the OAS in a previous ambush.[https://web.archive.org/web/20070223040138/http://www.ldh-toulon.net/spip.php?article609#nh1 26 mars 1962, la fusillade de la rue d’Isly à Alger],Ligue des droits de l'homme (LDH, Human Rights League), article based on sources from Benjamin Stora,Histoire de la guerre d'Algérie, La gangrène et l'oubli and Sylvie Thénault, Histoire de la guerre d'indépendance algérienne {{in lang|fr}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.adimad.fr/pour-lhistoire/la-bataille-de-bab-el-oued-23-mars-6-avril-1962/ Chillet, La Bataille de Bab-el-Oued, article from the journal Accent Grave n.14 April 1963]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.ecpad.fr/fusillade-a-bab-el-oued-dirigee-sur-le-2e-bataillon-du-73e-rima-au-poste-de-zouaves Fusillade à Bab-el-Oued dirigée sur le 2e bataillon du 73e RIMa au poste de zouaves, ECPAD]
{{coord|36|47|26.53|N|3|2|59.03|E|display=title}}
{{Algerian resistance against French invasion}}
{{Organisation armée secrète}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bab El Oued, Battle of}}
Category:1962 in the Algerian War
Category:Battles of the Algerian War
Category:Organisation armée secrète attacks
Category:Airstrikes conducted by France