Le 1er Novembre dans la Mitidja

November 1st in Mitidja

On the night of November 1, 1954, around fifteen mujahideen groups participated in operations in the Mitidja region. Two of them attacked several barracks, including the arms depot in Boufarik and the Bizot barracks in Blida, allowing weapons to be recovered, while other attacks failed to reach the ammunition depots.

The leaders of the Revolution also targeted strategic infrastructures such as roads, railways and posts, causing panic within the colonial authorities, even though they had a reinforced intelligence system. Among the actions carried out successfully, it is worth mentioning the planting of bombs at the Baba Ali paper factory, the destruction of railway lines in Boufarik and the cutting of telephone lines, as shown in documents provided by the leadership of the mujahideen of the wilaya of Blida.

These operations were coordinated by former militants of the Special Organization (OS), including Souidani Boudjemâa, Ahmed Bouchaïb and Rabah Bitat. These actions targeted the colonial economic and military infrastructures, with a particular emphasis on the barracks to seize weapons, indicated Abdelkader Fekair, history teacher at the University of Khemis Miliana (Aïn Defla). Predictably, the response of the French colonial authorities to the military operations carried out in the Mitidja region was very violent. The colonial army surrounded the affected areas. It deployed large numbers of troops and engaged in clashes with the mujahideen, some of whom were injured, and launched extensive search and arrest operations. In contrast to this repression, the population of Blida welcomed with joy the announcement of the outbreak of armed struggle.

For residents, the Revolution represented the path to freedom and the end of French colonial oppression, according to the testimonies of mujahideen and residents who experienced this historic event. Tayeb Bensersoura, a native of the region, now 81 years old, remembers “the great joy” felt that day, although he was only around ten years old at the time. Above all, he remembers the suffering and discrimination imposed by the colonizer, even on children.

Families, he testifies, constantly reminded their children of their right to live freely in their country and this awareness was the cement of a people united around their Revolution, perceived as salvation in the face of colonial injustice. He evokes the pride and joy he felt seeing his compatriots defy the French army, despite its power.

THERE