THE 25th PARACHUTE DIVISION - ALGERIA 1956-1961

HISTORY - WEAPONS - UNIFORMS - INSIGNIA - EQUIPMENT

This work is dedicated to the 25th Parachute Division in Algeria, spearhead of the French Army's general reserve units in North Africa, whose battles and hopes it shared from 1956 to 1961.

Commanded by officers bearing prestigious names intimately linked to the parachute tradition (Gilles, Sauvagnac, Ducournau), the paratroopers who made up its ranks — whether Metropolitan, Colonial or Foreign Legion, volunteers or conscripts — took part in the fiercest fighting, from the border battles to the major operations of the Challe Plan, in a war that long refused to speak its name.

Swept away in the turmoil of the April 1961 events, the 25th DP, though less publicized than its sister division, remains shrouded in a legendary aura legitimized by the weight of so many freely accepted sacrifices.

Drawing on the most precise sources and illustrated with photographs — the majority previously unpublished — drawn from the archives of numerous veterans, this study of around a hundred pages provides a comprehensive overview of the organization, missions, weapons, uniforms, insignia and equipment of the various units of the division that served under the blue, red or green beret.