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Dien Bien Phu

One of the great battles of the twentieth century, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu ended the first Indo-China war. In November of 1953 General Henri Navarre began Operation CASTOR, dropping 2200 Paratroopers, the cream of the French Expeditionary Corps, into the valley near Dien Bien Phu where they easily defeated the Viet Minh and began establishing defensive positions. By the end of the first week the French had 4,500 men in the valley, totally dependent on air supply. The Viet Minh observed the French buildup from the surrounding hills, but the French failed to detect the Viet Minh buildup.

By mid-March of 1954, the French commander, Col. de Castries, had over 10,000 men in the valley; the Viet Minh had nearly 50,000 combat troops and over 30,000 support personnel, with an additional 23,000 troops maintaining supply lines to the border with China. The siege of the French garrison began on March 13. The last French flight into the garrison came on March 27. By mid-April the Viet Minh, under the command of General Giap, had suffered 6,000 killed and 12,000 wounded. The last stage of the battle began on April 29 and lasted without letup until the French surrendered on the evening of May 7. During the siege the French suffered 1,600 dead, 4,800 wounded, and 1.600 missing. The Viet Minh took 8,000 prisoners. Two plans to rescue the garrison were in place: Operation CONDOR , an infantry thrust from Laos, came too late; Operation VULTURE, a massive U.S. intervention in the form of air strikes, fell through when U.S. President Eisenhower could not secure British support.

The battle of Dien Bien Phu spelled the end of French colonialism in Asia. In France politicians blamed the Indo-China debacle on the mmilitary, although the goernment had not provided the troops or resources necessary to win the war. A new French government under Pierre Mendes-France extricated the nation from Indo-China.

Resources:

Kolko, pp. 80-83

Langguth, pp. 72-80

Web Sites: Dien Bien Phu Official Site

Web Sites: CNN Interactive