Infamous Assassinations
I Will Survive
Most assassins are calculating people. They spend weeks, months or even years planning their attacks. How close can they get to the target? How tough is the security? What's the best weapon to use? But, no matter how meticulous the planning, when the stakes are at their highest so, too, is the risk that something will go awry.
Non-Cooperation Policy
Ian Ball, the disturbed young man who tried to kidnap Princess Anne on March 20, 1974, had an eye for detail. His obsessive planning included a pre-written ransom note demanding that the Queen deliver a £3 million ransom to him in person. But Ball's planning couldn't help him when it came to the crunch.
The Princess's aides, members of the public and nearby policemen all rushed to her assistance when he ambushed her car armed with two handguns. Ball simply lacked the force of character to make events go his way. He shot four people during his attack but totally failed to make anyone cooperate with him - including Anne herself. "(Not) bloody likely," she retorted when Ball demanded that she go with him.
Divine Intervention?
As Mehmet Ali Agca waited for Pope John Paul II's car to make its way through the crowds in St Peter's Square on May 13, 1981, he was close to fulfilling an ambition he had harboured for years. Turkish-born Agca's youth was dominated by petty crime before he became involved with an extreme nationalist group, the Grey Wolves.
In 1979, he was charged with the murder of a Turkish newspaper editor. He escaped from custody and went on the run, hatching a plot to assassinate the Pope - a man Agca regarded as an anti-Islamic "Crusader". The Pontiff was just 10 feet away when Agca opened fire, hitting his target's stomach, right arm and left index finger. Incredibly, the bullets missed all vital organs and the Pope survived. Either John Paul was very lucky that day, or someone was watching over him...
Briefcase Bomb
Adolf Hitler was a control freak. He demanded regular briefings with his generals to check that they were doing his bidding. When Colonel Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg learned that he would be attending a briefing with the Fuhrer on July 20, 1944, in Rastenburg, East Prussia, he knew he had to seize the opportunity to rid Germany of its despotic leader.
Two pieces of bad luck spoiled his plan. Stauffenberg planted a briefcase bomb at the meeting but an unsuspecting aide moved it behind a stout table leg. And the briefing took place in a room with open windows, rather than the closed bunker normally used for such sessions. Even so, everyone in the room was injured to some extent by the explosion and four people died. Hitler's injuries - a perforated eardrum and a damaged right arm - troubled him until his suicide in April 1945.
Driving the General
General Charles de Gaulle was the ultimate survivor. A lot of people wanted to assassinate him but none succeeded. Around 30 attempts were made on de Gaulle's life during his long career. The most determined attacks were made by extreme French nationalists opposed to his policy of seeking independence for Algeria. On several occasions, the General's assassins must have thought that they had got their man. But they failed to allow for the skills of Francis Marroux, de Gaulle's driver.
On September 8, 1961, Marroux accelerated through a wall of flame thrown up by a roadside bomb. On August 22, 1962, de Gaulle's motorcade was attacked by at least two groups of assassins firing machine guns. Once again, Marroux accelerated out of trouble, retaining control of his car despite a blown front nearside tyre. The presidential vehicle was riddled with bullets. "They shot like pigs," the iron-nerved de Gaulle declared once the dust had settled.
Ian Ball, the disturbed young man who tried to kidnap Princess Anne on March 20, 1974, had an eye for detail. His obsessive planning included a pre-written ransom note demanding that the Queen deliver a £3 million ransom to him in person. But Ball's planning couldn't help him when it came to the crunch.
The Princess's aides, members of the public and nearby policemen all rushed to her assistance when he ambushed her car armed with two handguns. Ball simply lacked the force of character to make events go his way. He shot four people during his attack but totally failed to make anyone cooperate with him - including Anne herself. "(Not) bloody likely," she retorted when Ball demanded that she go with him.
Divine Intervention?
As Mehmet Ali Agca waited for Pope John Paul II's car to make its way through the crowds in St Peter's Square on May 13, 1981, he was close to fulfilling an ambition he had harboured for years. Turkish-born Agca's youth was dominated by petty crime before he became involved with an extreme nationalist group, the Grey Wolves.
In 1979, he was charged with the murder of a Turkish newspaper editor. He escaped from custody and went on the run, hatching a plot to assassinate the Pope - a man Agca regarded as an anti-Islamic "Crusader". The Pontiff was just 10 feet away when Agca opened fire, hitting his target's stomach, right arm and left index finger. Incredibly, the bullets missed all vital organs and the Pope survived. Either John Paul was very lucky that day, or someone was watching over him...
Briefcase Bomb
Adolf Hitler was a control freak. He demanded regular briefings with his generals to check that they were doing his bidding. When Colonel Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg learned that he would be attending a briefing with the Fuhrer on July 20, 1944, in Rastenburg, East Prussia, he knew he had to seize the opportunity to rid Germany of its despotic leader.
Two pieces of bad luck spoiled his plan. Stauffenberg planted a briefcase bomb at the meeting but an unsuspecting aide moved it behind a stout table leg. And the briefing took place in a room with open windows, rather than the closed bunker normally used for such sessions. Even so, everyone in the room was injured to some extent by the explosion and four people died. Hitler's injuries - a perforated eardrum and a damaged right arm - troubled him until his suicide in April 1945.
Driving the General
General Charles de Gaulle was the ultimate survivor. A lot of people wanted to assassinate him but none succeeded. Around 30 attempts were made on de Gaulle's life during his long career. The most determined attacks were made by extreme French nationalists opposed to his policy of seeking independence for Algeria. On several occasions, the General's assassins must have thought that they had got their man. But they failed to allow for the skills of Francis Marroux, de Gaulle's driver.
On September 8, 1961, Marroux accelerated through a wall of flame thrown up by a roadside bomb. On August 22, 1962, de Gaulle's motorcade was attacked by at least two groups of assassins firing machine guns. Once again, Marroux accelerated out of trouble, retaining control of his car despite a blown front nearside tyre. The presidential vehicle was riddled with bullets. "They shot like pigs," the iron-nerved de Gaulle declared once the dust had settled.
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