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My years as a pilot.
4. Boufarik
1961/63 . The Algérian War.
On July 20th 1961, I showed up at the Paris Air Transit Center that is part
of the air ministry on Victor Blvd. From there I boarded a plane in Le Bourget to Alger. With a small hop, I
land in Boufarik. I had already been on this base in 1955 but under different circumstances (single, calmer situation)
The GLA 45 had all sorts of planes, both twin and single engines. Once again, Flamant 311 and 312 were among them.
We also had NC701 Siebel, NC702 Martinet, DC-3 Dakota, MH1121 Broussard and N1101 Ramier. As my captain license
was only for liaison twin engine, I could only fly the Dakota as a copilot. But this still allowed me to add a
couple liaisons to France thus see my family. I flew all the other planes including the NC701, NC702 and N1101,
which I hadn't flown before. The missions of the GLA 45 were varied and frequent. We had the regular postal run
throughout Algeria. For that we usually used the Martinet or Siebel. We also had to ferry a lot of VIPs (military
and civilian both) for the Alger's headquarter. Destinations were France, Algeria itself and even "Black
Africa".
I remember a round trip Alger - Colomb-Béchar - Fort Trinquet - Dakar.
This was a long trip in a Siebel, especially for the pilot and copilot.
We also had frequent trips to Reggan (the nuclear testing center in the Sahara), Bône and Bizerte (Tunisia).
I also had the opportunity to visit Tamanrasset with the Hermitage of P. de Foucauld in Assekrem. The official
reason for these trips were often unknown to us but we knew that there must have been some tourism involved (which
we benefited from as well).
As far as missions directly related to the war, I only had to perform high altitude flights to help in calibrating
the radar that localized enemy radios close to the Tunisian border. The oxygen masks were normally required for
these flights but we often neglected to wear it totally unaware of the risks involved.
While "fighting" in Algeria, I was still closely following my family's life. We had decided to build
a house on my family's farmland. I took care of the legal paperwork like land acquisition, building permits and
mortgage during my brief leaves. Gallet did the construction where my brother Paul worked. My other brothers
helped as well. The house was completed in May 1962 and we were able to move in right away during one of my leave
at the end of the month. We were really relived to finally be home especially so close to the family farm.
The Evian talks were welcomed news. This meant that I could expect to go home
shortly and for good.
In reality, my request for retirement had to wait another six months before being granted. I was notified in December
1962 that my retirement would be effective February 1st 1963. By applying my vacation, I was able to leave Algeria
for good on new year's day and hang my soldier's hat in the closet. After that I had a couple forms to fill out
which I was able to take care of via mail. I soon started to look for an accounting job that I easily found on
February 1st. That day I started my civilian life in Louhans (S & L)
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GLA-45 insignia: Moon crescent and gazelle.
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