The Battle of Algiers began in January 1957, as the Algerian War gathered pace and the 1st R.E.P. was repeatedly committed to action. In the novel’s account, the battle is also a marker in Creasy and Guido’s developing comradeship: Guido had become a Legionnaire first class by then, and the two men were increasingly treated as a formidable military partnership.

Creasy and Guido During the War

After an earlier pursuit near Palestro, Creasy shared his rations with Guido and advised him on combat weapons. Guido, who carried a pistol and four spare clips, was urged to rely instead on his submachine gun and carry additional magazines. He took Creasy’s instruction seriously, regarding his sergeant as a model. By the time the Battle of Algiers began, Guido had made his mark and earned promotion.

Their relationship had grown gradually. At first, their few conversations were mostly about military matters, but as Guido’s knowledge increased, their exchanges became discussions between equals. The silences between them were comfortable rather than strained; each eventually recognized that he had found a friend. As the war intensified, Colonel Dufour recognized both their ability and their friendship. The regiment was constantly in action, and Creasy and Guido were assigned together whenever possible. Their partnership became well known throughout the Legion.

The Regiment and the Political Crisis

The account places the Battle of Algiers within a wider conflict over the future of Algeria. When it became apparent that de Gaulle was planning a political settlement, white settlers, the pieds noirs, reacted furiously and erected barricades in Algiers in defiance of the army. Many professional soldiers sympathized with them, particularly the para units, which had borne much of the fighting.

The gendarmes were ordered to clear the barricades, with two para units, including the 1st R.E.P., sent in support. Both units dragged their feet, and the gendarmes suffered many dead and wounded. The account does not detail the Battle of Algiers’s individual engagements; instead, it connects the battle’s wartime setting to the regiment’s position in the political confrontation that followed.

The Regiment’s Later Course

After the barricade operation, Colonel Dufour was relieved of command. The high command placed Elie Denoix de St. Marc temporarily in charge rather than appointing an officer selected for political reliability. St. Marc was described as tough, idealistic, and brave, and his men revered him. In 1961 he led the regiment into the generals’ rebellion against de Gaulle. The 1st R.E.P. became central to the plan, even arresting Gambiez, the Army Commander-in-Chief, but the expected support from the rest of the Legion did not materialize.

The rebellion failed. On April 27, 1961, the 1,200 Legionnaires of the 1st R.E.P. dynamited their barracks and fired their ammunition into the air before leaving Zaralda. Pieds noirs lined the route and wept as the paras drove away singing Edith Piaf’s “Je ne regrette rien.” This later episode belongs to the regiment’s history rather than to the Battle of Algiers itself, but it frames the battle-era partnership of Creasy and Guido within a Legion whose military service became entangled with a political rupture.