Café Wars
DAVID LEE CORLEY
Copyright © 2018 David Lee Corley
All rights reserved.
DEDICATION
I dedicate this novel to my daughter Danielle Jessica Belfatto. She reminds me of Brigitte Friang, the French war correspondent that wrote about Dien Bien Phu and is in my stories. Danielle has no problem jumping out of a plane and has done so before. She doesn’t have the fear that most people hold in their hearts and charges ahead when in doubt. She is bold, smart and beautiful. She is her father’s child and I love her deeply.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to acknowledge and thank Antoneta Wotringer for her wonderful book cover designs. She is a true artist and has an excellent sense of style.
I also want to acknowledge and thank JJ Toner for proofreading my books. He makes it appear that I can actually spell which most of my family and friends know… I cannot.
I would also like to acknowledge all of the men and women that fought and died on both sides of the conflict during the Algerian War of Independence. I am humbled by the thought that most of the victims and combatants believed in a cause and were willing to lay down their lives. We can dispute their ideals and methods but their bravery and dedication to their beliefs should not be in dispute but honored by all.
NOTE FROM AUTHOR
This is a work of fiction based on historical events. It is not history. To create a coherent story and to satisfy the need for brevity I found it necessary to combine characters and create fictional events. In such cases I did my best to remain as genuine as possible to the events and true to the nature of the characters as I saw them. Many of the character names in this story belong to real people. This was done to allow the reader to research the true stories behind these people if they wish.
“War is the continuation of politics by other means.”
Carl Van Clausewitz
PROLOGUE
On May 8, 1945 - VE Day - there was an outpouring of pride and relief. Germany had finally surrendered and Europe was once again free from the fascist menace. The war in Europe was over, while the war in the Pacific continued but that war too would soon wind down and everyone knew it.
Europeans and American servicemen were packed into the streets and squares of every city for one enormous block party. There was an abundance of champagne and pats on the back. Bands played on every corner, the people sang patriotic songs and revelers danced in circles with their arms interlocked. The police did what they could to keep things under control until they themselves were overcome by the merriment or too drunk to care. Politicians with generals at their side pontificated to cheering crowds. There was a military parade down the Champs-Élysées in Paris where onlookers packed twenty deep along the boulevard waving French flags.
It was the end of a war and the beginning of another…
Setif was a French Algerian market town west of the country’s second largest city - Constantine in northern Algeria. There was a drought and famine in the region. Colonial militia leaders had been spinning conspiracy theories as to its cause. It was foolish propaganda but most of the colonists were farmers with little education, and were superstitious. The colonial militias gained in numbers and were determined to protect their fellow colonists.
The Algerians outnumbered the French colonists nearly four to one in the region. Nationalism had been growing as the war in Europe drew to an end. The Algerians were hopeful that the French would release their country in exchange for the loyalty they had shown during the war when France was overrun by Germany and the Free French government found its new home in Algiers.
The French had other ideas and had been shoring up their military position as troops and resources from the war in Europe became available. France’s politicians were determined to reestablish the French colonies in North Africa and Southeast Asia. The French government would need the revenue from the colonies to rebuild France which had suffered greatly during German occupation.
Algerian protesters began to gather early in the morning and their numbers grew to four thousand by mid-day. Their placards and chants demanded independence. There were some that were willing to settle for an independent Algeria closely associated with France. The rebel leaders realized that once they had won their county’s independence they would still need the French engineers to operate the power stations, waterworks and railroads. Algerians would need access to French universities if the officials that led their country were ever to learn to survive on their own. But independence and self-determination were non-negotiables for the Algerians.
Colonial militia leaders watched as the Algerian crowds grew in strength. To quell the protest, the militia began removing the protestors’ banners and Algerian national flags. The militiamen used the butts of their rifles and long batons if met with resistance. The protestors became more violent, setting fires, breaking windows and overturning the farmers’ trucks and town buses. Both sides had had enough and their frustration reached boiling point. The protestors formed barricades in the streets. The militia saw this as a threat, like a tick digging in.
The militia formed a line in front of the barricades and demanded the protestors disperse. They didn’t. The militia opened fire killing two protestors and injuring several more. The town exploded in violence. The Algerian nationalists killed one hundred and two colonists over the next two days. The militias backed by French soldiers killed over six thousand Algerians. Women were raped and corpses were mutilated on both sides of the conflict.
In the end, the French restored order. Trials were promised but never held. Things were left to simmer then cool. They didn’t…
ONE
March 2, 1954
The hills of eastern Algeria were covered with wheat and semolina fields blowing gently in a hot wind. An Algerian teenager wrapped a wire around a grenade attaching it to a telephone pole. He and his friend had stolen a crate of grenades from the back of a French Army supply truck while the driver took a piss. When the young Algerian was finished he arranged the grenade’s ring so that it stuck out just like the other six grenade rings on telephone poles on the edge of a road. At the far end of the line of telephone poles was his friend armed with a rifle keeping watch for French ground and air patrols.
The young Algerian readied himself and checked to ensure that his pistol was firmly tucked into the waistband of his pants. He placed his forefinger in the first grenade ring. He called out a warning to his friend, pulled the first grenade ring and took off running down the line of telephone poles. The spoon on the first grenade sprung open starting its timer. As he passed each telephone pole he reached out and grabbed the grenade ring. His friend cheered him on.
The first grenade exploded, shearing off the base of the telephone pole. It crashed to the ground, tearing loose the telephone line from the preceding pole. The young Algerian continued to run and pulled the pin on the last grenade. That was when he heard the crack of a rifle and saw his friend’s head explode like an overripe cantaloupe.
The young Algerian hit the ground creating a cloud of dust and pulled the pistol from his waistband. The telephone poles behind him continued to explode and crash to the ground. His attention was fixed on the horizon. There was a French Army sniper out there somewhere and if he didn’t find him quickly, he would suffer the same fate as his friend. He wished he had his friend’s rifle instead of his pistol but the rifle was too far away to reach without exposing himself further to the sniper. The pistol would have to do. He was a good shot with the pistol. His uncle had served in the Foreign Legion and had taught him to shoot. He was hopeful until the last telephone pole exploded and crashed down on top of him crushing his body like roadkill. His days of blowing up telephone poles were over.
A man rose from
a nearby hilltop and walked down to ensure the two saboteurs were indeed dead. They were. He carried his rifle - a relic from World War I. He was not a French soldier. He was a pied-noir – a foreign settler from Europe - that lived on a farm that had been in his family over seventy years. Hearing a slight tapping sound in his phone’s receiver while talking to his brother in Italy, he had decided to investigate. Sabotage was common in the outlands.
Like most pied-noir, he hated the native Algerians and thought of them as inferior and dirty. He knew they wanted to kill him and his kind. And for what? Trying to scrape a living from the land? He had no sympathy for the two Muslim boys that he had just killed. Technically, one of the boys had killed himself by blowing up the telephone pole but the man would claim the boy’s death as one of his kills when he recounted the events to his family and friends. He would leave their bodies for the crows.
He was not worried about French justice. There was an understanding between the French and the pied-noir who settled in their colonies. The French police and army could not patrol everywhere. Algeria was the largest country in all of Africa with almost one million square miles. The pied-noir and their militias were allowed to protect their communities and farms, even if it meant killing the occasional troublemaker… or two. The French would look the other way.
He was angry about the telephone poles. It would take weeks to get the telephone company to repair the damage. The technicians were very busy these days repairing downed lines. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and walked back to his farm. He had been born in Algeria. He had raised his family here. He would die here. It was his home and he loved it like breath itself.
I will do better next time, thought Lieutenant Colonel Marcel Bigeard as he walked through the highlands of North Vietnam. Bruno, as he was called by his friends, was one of eleven thousand seven hundred prisoners that had fought for the French Army at Dien Bien Phu. After fifty-four days of bombardment from Viet Minh artillery and countless human wave attacks, the French ran out of ammunition. There was some question as to whether they had officially surrendered or simply stopped fighting. Bruno knew that he had not surrendered. He had been knocked unconscious during a final breakout attempt by the men under his command. He was lucky. He had a hard head.
The Viet Minh leaders were ill-prepared for the French capitulation. They had never taken so many prisoners in the entire eight year war. The French had run out of food and water in addition to ammunition and the Viet Minh were expected to feed them. They barely had enough rice to feed their own troops let alone their prisoners. They had no choice but to move the prisoners north to the Viet Minh bases near the Chinese border. It was over three hundred and seventy miles through thick forests and mountainous terrain. More than half of the prisoners would die of disease, dehydration and starvation during the march. It was a disgrace against humanity. It was war.
Bruno understood war. He accepted it. His throat was parched. He had not drunk any water in three days and it hadn’t rained, even though it was monsoon season. A cruel joke from mother nature. It was hot during the day while they marched and freezing cold at night when they tried to sleep. It never occurred to Bruno that he wouldn’t survive. It wasn’t that he was afraid of death. He was the bravest man he knew. He was sure he would die in battle, not on a Sunday afternoon stroll through the mountains. At least he thought it was Sunday. He had lost track.
At the beginning of the march he had helped those that fell, or collapsed, to get back on their feet and continue. The Viet Minh killed anyone who was too weak to continue. They saw it as humane. Better the bayonet than to suffer until they finally died of dehydration or starvation. After a week, as hundreds, then thousands, died, Bruno began to believe they were correct. He let his men fall and rest in the clouds of dust until they were released from their agony by their capturers’ bayonets, or simply died.
The bayonet was not for him. He was a paratrooper and a commander at that. It was important that he show himself as a good example to his men. It was his duty to live to fight another day.
He thought about escaping during the night. The Viet Minh were not very vigilant about watching their prisoners. Where could their prisoners go if they escaped? They wouldn’t last long in the mountains by themselves. Their best hope of survival was the very place the Viet Minh were taking them - the prison camps in the north. They had been told there would be food, water, and even some basic medical supplies at the end of the march. Besides, the Viet Minh and the French were already sitting at the square tables in Geneva negotiating a ceasefire. The French soldiers would probably be released after a few months of captivity. How sad thought Bruno. The Viet Minh are our best bet. And so he marched with the other survivors… one foot in front of the other…
It was dark and muggy like most nights in the highlands of Vietnam. Tom Coyle stood at the edge of an airfield and watched as the Daisy Mae, a C-119 Boxcar Cargo Plane, approached. Both of her engines were smoking badly and she was losing altitude fast. Her landing gear was up, meaning she would land on her belly without wheels.
The aircraft hit the runway with a shower of sparks that lit up the night. Both of the engine props bent under. She bounced into the air and slammed back down again. Her wing fuel tanks ruptured and sparks turned to flames.
One of her tail booms ripped off the back of the wing. The Daisy Mae spun around clockwise as she continued to slide and veered to the left of the runway. Her left wing dug into the wet ground and flipped the entire fuselage into the air. She cartwheeled three times and disintegrated into pieces, throwing off her engines, wings and remaining tail boom. The cargo hold and cockpit stayed together and tumbled to a stop on the left edge of the airfield.
Coyle ran toward the burning hulk. He dodged the burning parts and pieces of sheet metal scattered across the ground. He reached the rear of the hold where one of the rear doors had broken off.
He climbed inside and moved toward the cockpit. Both door hinges were broken and the cockpit door was ajar. He pulled open the broken door and tossed it to one side. He hesitated, afraid of what he would find inside. He entered the cockpit.
It was a tangle of twisted sheet metal with hanging control panels and wires sparking. The entire front of the cockpit had collapsed. The Daisy Mae’s pilots, James “McGoon” McGovern and Wallace Buford were still in their seats. Buford was dead, his neck broken. McGoon groaned, his head bled from pieces of the windshield that had shattered and cut him during the crash. Coyle moved to his side and looked down. A large gash in McGoon’s chest was bleeding badly. McGoon looked up, “Coyle?”
“Hey, buddy. Nice landing,” said Coyle.
“Yeah. One for the history books,” said McGoon, weakly. “How’s Buford?”
“He’s seen better days, McGoon.”
“Dead?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, that’s a shame. He was a good man.”
Coyle looked down at the front control panel sitting on top of the two pilots’ legs. “McGoon, can you feel your legs?”
“Not really.”
“It’s okay. I’m gonna get you outta here.”
“Nah. It’s too late.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m dead, Coyle.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Will you do me a favor?”
“Of course. Whatever you need, McGoon.”
“Take care of my girls, will ya?”
“You know I will.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise, McGoon. I swear. I’ll do it.”
“Good enough. You’d better go.”
“I ain’t leaving without you, McGoon.”
“Yeah ya are. They’re coming.”
“Whose coming?”
“Them,” said McGoon motioning with his head toward the tail of the aircraft.
Coyle turned and saw three Viet Minh soldiers with their submachineguns leveled. They opened fire, spraying Coyle and McGoon with bullets.
Coyle woke in a cold sweat and gasped for breath. Brigitte Friang laid by his side, shaking him awake from his nightmare. “It’s okay, Coyle. It’s not real. It’s just a bad dream,” said Brigitte speaking English.
Coyle had not yet learned enough French to communicate effectively. He calmed and said, “It’s those damned pills they gave me for the pain.”
“You need to be patient and do as the doctors say. You still have a good-sized hole in your shoulder. I think you need the pills.”
“I’d rather live with the pain than the nightmares.”
“Do you want me to get you some water?”
“Yeah. Water would be good.”
Brigitte got up from their bed and exited the bedroom. Coyle lay back down and stared at the ceiling. The hotel room had a coffered ceiling with wood-carved panels painted to match the plaster. It was more luxurious than Coyle was accustomed to and made him feel out of place. Brigitte reentered with a glass of water. Coyle drained it in three gulps. “Thanks. What time is it?”
“A little after two. I’m sorry I woke you.”
“It’s okay, darling. I’ve grown used to it.”
“I’ve got to go back to McGoon’s bungalow,” said Coyle. “I’ve got to find the girls. I think it’s the only way these nightmares will stop.”
“The girls?”
“Nyuget and Chau.”
“McGoon’s whores?”
“Housemates. McGoon’s housemates.”
“It’s the same in French if you pay them.”
“Fine. McGoon’s whores.”
“Are you sure you’re up to it?” said Brigitte.
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