Battle of Bab El Oued

Modern day view of Bab el Oued

Date	23 March – 6 April 1962
Location	Bab El Oued, Algiers, Algeria
Result	French government forces took control of Bab-el-Oued

Belligerents

France

Organisation armée secrète (OAS)

Commanders and leaders

Charles Ailleret

Raoul Salan

Casualties and losses

15 killed
77 wounded

20 killed
60 wounded

The Battle of Bab el Oued (French: Bataille de Bab el Oued) was a military confrontation which occurred during the latter stages of the Algerian War (1954–1962). The battle was between the Organisation armée secrète (OAS), a militant group opposed to Algerian independence, and the French army in a traditionally working-class European quarter of Algiers from 23 March to 6 April 1962.

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.

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. As part of the attack, naval artillery support from the T 47 class destroyers Surcouf and Maillé-Brézé was planned, though it soon became evident that this was not practical and the bombardment was called off. 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.

...
Wikipedia