Dawn at the Gates of Hell

DAWN AT THE GATES OF HELL tells the story of four young volunteers who enlisted in the Naval Infantry at the age of 17 — from their basic training as young soldiers to the death of some and the end of their posting at the Bab el Assa position on the Moroccan border for the others.
The Algerian War was drawing to a close in 1960. The efforts of the French Army to eradicate the rebellion and its atrocities within Algeria, and then to push back the ALN soldiers beyond the Tunisian and Moroccan borders, were now crowned with success.
The borders sealed by an electrified barrier were the target of ALN troops attempting to cross into Algeria to fill the gaps created by airborne operations. French units patrolled by night in half-tracks along this network in order to detect and counter discreet or forcible crossing attempts.
These attempts took place, by necessity, at night, and so the fighting occurred only at night, which heightened the stress of combat. The violence of these engagements resulted in terrible losses, which were only discovered when a radiant Dawn illuminated the battlefield with its rays.
This story was never written down. It was written to pay tribute to all those conscripts and volunteers who gave "their blood without haggling over it", as Admiral de Brossard states in his preface.