The Day of the Jackal 1972 - Infamous Assassinations TV - Days that Shook the World TV -
August 1962 was a stormy time for France. Many people felt that president Charles de Gaulle had betrayed the country by giving independence to Algeria. The Day of the Jackal 1972 starring Edward Fox & Michael Lonsdale & Cyril Cusack & Timothy West & Derek Jacobi & Terence Alexander & Michel Auclair & Alan Badel & Denis Carey et al, director Fred Zinnemann, voice
Today’s execution must surely mean that the OAS is finished once and for all. ibid. news
This job depends on absolute secrecy. ibid. Fox
If the Jackal wasn’t Calthrop, then who the hell was he? ibid. rozzer
August 23rd 1962 Paris: Charles de Gaulle, President of France, is back at work as usual after having survived the latest attempt on his life the previous day. Infamous Assassinations: The Attempt on General De Gaulle
De Gaulle has made many enemies over the years. But of all those who wish him ill none is more dangerous than a secretive group of ex-French Army officers. They hate and despise him for granting independence to the former French colony of Algiers. The officers see this as the ultimate betrayal. ibid.
Meanwhile the OAS continues its bloody terror campaign, now planting bombs in French towns and cities, causing widespread carnage, alarm and confusion. In addition, Algerian immigrants are singled out and attacked, with more than a hundred dying violently. ibid.
By now attempts on De Gaulle’s life had become almost commonplace. So much so that one of them is the subject of a classic film The Day of the Jackal, and a book of the same name by British author Frederick Forsyth. ibid.
22nd August 1962 ... A gang of armed men pace out the street. They have an audacious plan to assassinate Charles de Gaulle, the President of France. It’s an operation they have been rehearsing for weeks. Down to the last second. Twenty seconds is all they need to kill the president and topple the French Republic. The future stability of Europe lies in their hands. Days that Shook the World s2e5: Conspiracy to Kill, BBC 2004
Disillusioned factions in the French military tried to organise a coup against de Gaulle. They failed. But extremist factions have formed a secret army called the OAS intent on killing De Gaulle and restoring Algeria to French rule. ibid.
Amazingly, neither he nor Madame [Yvonne] de Gaulle have a scratch on them. ibid.
Forensics found one bullet had lodged itself in the headrest of de Gaulle’s seat. Had he not ducked down at that precise moment he would have been shot through the head. ibid.
A massive investigation quickly identifies the conspirators. Within a few weeks most of the gang are behind bars. ibid.
Only at the age of eighty years age did he stand down in April 1969. ibid.