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History Daily

The Failed Assassination of French President Charles de Gaulle

History Daily

Airship | Noiser | Wondery

History

4.42.1K Ratings

🗓️ 22 August 2023

⏱️ 19 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

August 22, 1962. An officer in the French Air Force leads an assassination attempt on President Charles de Gaulle.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:03.7

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0:06.0

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0:20.1

It's the evening of August 22nd, 1962.

0:24.3

French President Charles de Gaulle and his family sit in the back seat of a car as they're

0:28.5

driven through the rainy streets of Paris. They're on their way to a military airfield,

0:33.0

where they're due to catch a plane bound for their country home.

0:36.1

Beside the president's car is a military escort vehicle and two guards on motorcycle.

0:41.4

The small convoy is in the city suburb of Petit Clomont just after 8 p.m. when suddenly

0:47.6

bullets spray the Citroen DS shattering its rear window.

0:51.6

Some of the gunfire comes from a nearby yellow van parked on the side of the road.

0:56.4

Seconds later, more shots are fired from another car parked down the street,

1:00.8

riddling the Citroen and its tires with bullets.

1:03.8

As the car squeals and then skids, the president's son-in-law shouts at the first couple

1:08.9

to get down, take cover. The Gaulle and his wife dock as fast as they can,

1:14.0

as the bullets continue to rain down and the president hears several whiz right by his head.

1:19.4

Keeping his cool, the driver manages to regain control of the Citroen and steps on the gas,

1:24.9

steering them to safety and far away from the would-be assassins.

1:29.2

Cautiously, the first couple lifts their heads, reeling from the ambush,

1:33.5

but as the convoy reaches its airfield destination, they try to maintain an air of normality.

1:39.6

When they step out onto the tarmac, the president acts like nothing out of the ordinary has

1:44.0

happened. Meanwhile, the first lady simply frets over the fate of the jelly chicken she wanted to

...

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