The hunting commandos - Ambush in Algeria

1960 – The Algerian War had been going on for six years. Following the successful operations of the intervention units, the conflict entered its second phase. The FLN's major structures were disorganized, but numerous armed groups were still active, particularly in the mountainous areas. The Challe Plan created a commando unit in each regiment whose role was to track down and neutralize fighters from the FLN battalions, which had split into armed bands. These bands had taken refuge in hard-to-reach areas, which they had made their sanctuaries. The rebels moved into farms, infiltrated villages and towns to commit attacks and threaten the population.

Each hunting commando is assigned a sector of several hundred square kilometers. Its personnel are composed of soldiers from mainland France, as well as harkis and rallied rebels with excellent knowledge of the terrain. The men are equipped with the best light weapons available in the French army. They use dogs.
trackers to guide them in their searches. The commandos are dressed in a manner as disparate as those they are tracking: khaki fatigues, camouflage outfits or djellabas, leather or cloth belts, Bigeard caps, bush hats or cheches, pataugas or ranger boots.

This book is the story of one of the soldiers who served and fought in the L124 commando, one of those small autonomous units specialized in counter-insurgency, and which General Challe nicknamed "The Searching Heads".