General de Gaulle, now Prime Minister of France, left Paris early this morning in a Caravelle aircraft for his visit to Algeria.

It is reported that a hero's welcome awaited him in Algiers at the end of his flight from Paris. The city was garlanded with flags, bunting, and flowers. In the General's honour triumphal arches have been erected along the 15-mile route from the airport to the heart of the city.

The face of General de Gaulle looks out from thousands of placards, plastered over walls everywhere. Electrically lit crosses gleam rom walls, balconies and windows in many parts of the city.

Two million people were waiting to greet him on this the General's triumphal return to Algiers where he formed his first government on French soil 15 years ago. An official said "the whole of the Algiers region is on the march. Entire villages, men, women, and children, moved in on the city after many of them from long distances camped out in the open for the night. Every available form of transport brought them from farms and remote hamlets to the city, and the police had great difficulty in keeping the main boulevards clear.

General Salan, his assistant General Dulac, and General Jouhaud, the Air Force commander in Algeria, who had been summoned by de Gaulle to Paris for consultations and to brief him on the Algerian situation, were expected to be back in Algeria in time to be present at the airport to welcome the new Prime Minister when he landed in Algiers.