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Lost Command


Erwin

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Started watching "Lost Command" - a 50's movie about the French Algerian colonial war.  Stars Anthony Quinn as a grizzled French Para Colonel captured at Dien Bien Phu and give a colonial parachute regiment to sort out the natives who are bothering the French homesteaders in Algeria.

Plays very well and reminiscent of the sort of movies John Ford and John Wayne made with Muslim extremists/freedom fighters standing in for the Indians and French paras standing in for the US Cavalry - and includes corrupt civilian administration etc.

Good action, and while I can't vouch for historical accuracy, interesting to see French 50's era weapons and uniforms.  They even have helicopters predating their use in Vietnam.

Made me think that this would be another interesting era for CM2 (or CM3).  If BF ever does Korea, one might have most of the graphics for vehicles and uniforms in a French module.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerian_War

 

 

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And of course the definitive English language book about the conflict:

https://books.google.iq/books/about/A_Savage_War_of_Peace.html?id=wuoDDB4Rbz8C&redir_esc=y

For those that prefer free stuff:

There's also Galula's Pacification in Algeria:

https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2006/RAND_MG478-1.pdf

Trinquier's Modern Warfare:

https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/Modern-Warfare.pdf

Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in Algeria:

https://www.rand.org/pubs/documents/D10671-1.html

 

 

 

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Lost Command came out in the 60's, by the way. I haven't seen it, yet at least.

Talking about actual 50's French war films about colonies lost, La 317e Section is a very good pick.

http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=19459033&cfilm=5354.html

Authentic battle scenes, well-written characters who gracefully avoid cliché. Hot-and-humid jungles. Pretty far from the Hollywood that Lost Command seems to have come out of now that I look closer at it.

The film would be quite hard to obtain though. I have it on my computer, however there aren't any subtitles. I can make some.

Edited by Frenchy56
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