ALGERIA: Worst Ever

Only two months after French officials proclaimed the rebellion in Algeria “militarily finished,” the three-year-old war passed through its bloodiest week. In five separate engagements, the French killed 427 rebels. The week’s returns from the shambles brought the February total up to 3,900—more than the total U.S. dead in six months of fighting on Guadalcanal. But French casualties were higher than ever before. In February, Paris reported, France lost 297 men, killed in action, compared to 203 a year ago.