France remembers De Gaulle’s close escape depicted in The Day of the Jackal

Wartime leader survived most serious of many assassination attempts 60 years ago in Paris suburb

On 22 August 1962, France's wartime leader Charles de Gaulle survived what would be the most serious of 30 attempts on his life. De Gaulle and his wife, Yvonne, were being driven through a Paris suburb for a flight from Villacoublay military airport, eight miles from the Elysee Palace.

The presidential couple were on their way back to Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, their country home about halfway between the French capital and Strasbourg in the east. They were travelling in a black Citroen DS, followed by an escort vehicle and two motorcycle police officers on Triumph bikes.