July 5, 1962 - Roger Degueldre (pictured), 37-year-old commando leader of the Right-wing extremist Secret Army Organization (OAS), was executed by a Government firing squad early today, a French news agency reported. Journalists outside the Fort D’Ivry on the outskirts of Paris saw a procession of motor vehicles arrive, bringing officials, lawyers, and the condemned man from Fresnes Prison. Soon afterward came a fusillade, which marked the execution, followed by the single shot of the coup de grace. Degueldre was sentenced to death last month on charges of complicity in the murder of more than 20 persons. Four police witnesses from the Algiers force told the high military tribunal that sentenced Degueldre to death that he had organized Secret Army killer squads. They said he had personally ordered the murders of the Algiers police superintendent, Roger Gavoury, and of a British Vice Consul, Alfred Fox.
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