24 Aug 01
On 22 August 1962, terrorists of the OAS - the Secret Army Organisation - made an attempt on the life of the French leader President Charles de Gaulle. They believed de Gaulle had betrayed France by yielding Algeria to the Algerian Nationalists. As dusk fell, de Gaulle's black Citroen DS was speeding down the Avenue de la Liberation in Paris at 70 mph when 12 OAS men opened fire on the car. However, because they saw the open-fire signal too late, most of their bullets hit the Citroen from behind, bursting its tyres and causing it to go into a front-wheel skid. Some shattered the rear window as chauffeur Marroux wrestled with the wheel and accelerated out of the skid, but deGaulle and his wife emerged unscathed by keeping their heads down. Thanks to its hydropneumatic suspension, the DS was able to limp safely to Villacoublay where a helicopter was waiting to take the de Gaulles to their country retreat. These events were the basis for Frederick Forsyth's book (and subsequent film starring Edward Fox) The Day of the Jackal.
