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Today in History: OAS fails to kill Charles de Gaulle

8/22/2026

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Summary

Story summary

On 22 August 1962, OAS lieutenant-colonel Jean Bastien-Thiry led Operation Charlotte Corday, firing on President Charles de Gaulle’s car at Petit-Clamart. The far-right group, founded in 1961 and using bombings and murders to keep Algeria French, failed; de Gaulle emerged uninjured. The plot marked the OAS’s most audacious assassination attempt.

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Story summary

On 22 August 1962, OAS lieutenant-colonel Jean Bastien-Thiry led Operation Charlotte Corday, firing on President Charles de Gaulle’s car at Petit-Clamart. The far-right group, founded in 1961 and using bombings and murders to keep Algeria French, failed; de Gaulle emerged uninjured. The plot marked the OAS’s most audacious assassination attempt.