05-10-2004

Tribute To A Gallant Garrison



By Paul Connors



As Americans remain focused on the daily and ongoing events in Afghanistan and Iraq, where American soldiers and Marines face daily combat with insurgents two anniversaries of significant importance in both world and military history are upon us. The first occurred late last week and the second during the first week of June.



Both are anniversaries of events that played a significant role in contemporary U.S. history, but I will focus on the first one in this article, and devote a later effort to the second.



May 7, 2004 was the 50th anniversary of the end of the siege of the French garrison of Dien Bien Phu in what is now northwestern Vietnam. Fifty years ago, France was still the colonial master of the federated Indo-Chinese states of Laos, Cambodia, Cochin-China, Annam and Tonkin. While many current historians look at the First Indo-China War (1946-1954) as a war of colonial re-conquest by France and a war of national liberation by the Viet-Minh, what is helpful to remember that it something that includes both elements, while not being mutually exclusive of one or the other.



As students of the various conflicts of the latter part of the 20th century will tell you, the French War inevitably led to American involvement in the decades that followed France’s defeat and departure from Indo-China. Rather than debate the wisdom of the later American involvement, I would prefer to pay tribute to a small garrison of men and women who survived 56 days of “hell in a very small place,” the soldiers, sailors, airmen and medical personnel of the French Expeditionary Corps at Dien Bien Phu.



French airborne troops re-occupied the valley of Dien Bien Phu on Nov. 20, 1953 after formulating a plan to deny the use of this critical area to the Viet-Minh and prevent their continued infiltration into the nearby Kingdom of Laos. After a surprise airborne drop on the valley, French paratroops easily routed local Viet-Minh forces and made preparations for the arrival of more units to fortify and garrison what they termed a “fortified hedge-hog.” By March of 1954, the garrison numbered 10,000 men of the Foreign Legion, Colonial paratroops, Moroccan artillery and infantry, Algerian Rifles, a Vietnamese airborne battalion, a squadron of Grumman F-8F Bearcats of the French Air Force, a squadron of armored cavalry (with M-24 Chaffee light tanks) and several battalions of native troops of the local Red and White T’ai tribes.



While the French continued to fortify their positions, the Viet Minh, commanded by the legendary General Vo Nguyen Giap, developed their own plans to bring down a crushing defeat on the French garrison knowing that by doing so, they would render the French position at the upcoming Geneva talks scheduled to commence on May 8, 1954, irrelevant.



The French High Command in Hanoi refused to believe that the Viet Minh would be able to bring large amounts of artillery to bear on the fortress in the valley below, a miscalculation that would ultimately prove fatal.



In the opening barrages that commenced on the night of March 13, 1954, the Viet Minh concentrated the bulk of their artillery barrages of the two outlying stongpoints of Beatrice and Gabrielle. In less than two hours time, the Foreign Legion infantry battalion on Beatrice (1/13 DBLE) was pulverized by the barrage and then completely overrun by the human wave attacks of the first assault waves of Viet Minh infantry. The same fate befell the Algerian riflemen on Gabrielle. In less than four hours, 20 percent of the combat strength of the garrison was killed, captured or declared missing. And that was just the first night.



Witnessing his gross miscalculation, the French artillery commander, Colonel Henri Piroth killed himself. The remaining senior officers, under the command of Colonel Christian Ferdinand de la Croix de Castries, settled in for the long siege.



History now tells us that the French plan to engage Viet Minh forces and deny them access to Laos was filled with errors. Perhaps most significant was the underestimating of a determined enemy, an enemy led by one of the most brilliant self-taught tacticians the modern world has ever seen.



The French garrison operated under the additional handicap of being more than 175 miles from the nearest point of supply. After the valley was completely encircled by Communist forces, reinforcement and re-supply by road became impossible. That meant the garrison could only count on the French Air Force for supplies and the occasional insertion of paratroopers who volunteered to jump in to aid the beleaguered garrison.



As the siege continued, General Giap continued to tighten the noose using the classic tactic of trenching. French Union troops, in one valiant attempt after another attacked and re-attacked the Viet Minh in vain attempts to prevent the complete inundation of the central position. And six kilometers to the south of the main French position, isolated from the firepower of the central redoubt was strongpoint Isabelle held almost entirely by two battalions of the Legion’s famed 13eme Demi-Brigade.



The siege continued and French forces continued to lose ground, men and the ability to resist. The French High Command realized (too late) that they had committed a gross error and that relieving the garrison was impossible. The French government belated appealed to its major military patron, the United States and asked for an air strike by the B-29s at Clark Field in the Philippines. President Eisenhower, not wanting to be tied too closely to a “colonial war,” declined. And with that decision, the fate of the French fortress was sealed.



Although the siege of Dien Bien Phu was actually short when compared to longer battles like those at Khartoum, Leningrad and Stalingrad, it eventually played just as significant a role because of the devastating effect it had on the defeated French colonial army. It helped set the stage for the subsequent involvement by the United States.



The French garrison held out against overwhelming odds and with the handicap of a faulty battle plan for 56 days. Finally, when all hope of relief was lost and with the prospect of continued resistance leading to nothing more than the slaughter of the survivors in the central position surrounding the garrison HQ, Brig. Gen. de Castries notified his superiors in Hanoi that he intended to announce a cease fire, effective at 1730 hours local on May 7, 1954. His immediate superior in Hanoi, Major General Rene Cogny asked that he not run up a white flag and de Castries assured him he would not. Neither officer wanted to provide Ho Chi Minh with a bigger propaganda victory than he had already won.



As the sun fell behind the mountain peaks, Viet Minh troops moved into the main position and began the process of collecting the French troops. They would begin their death march to the Communist re-education camps near the Chinese border, a trip from which less than half would return.



Six kilometers away, the Legion garrison at Isabelle fought on and in the early hours of May 8th, attempted to evade through the wire into the surrounding jungle. Quickly surrounded by thousands of Viet Minh “bo doi,” the survivors fixed bayonets and charged into the massed ranks of enemy infantry. Completely overwhelmed, Isabelle fell at 0130 hours on May 8th. The French garrison at Dien Bien Phu had been completely destroyed.



It is now 50 years since that fateful day, but all over France, survivors of France’s war in Indo-China stop to remember the noble sacrifice of the men and few women of the “Corps Expeditionnaire.” Every year, in a small church in Paris, at exactly 1730 hours on May 7th, a service is held in memory of those valiant units of the French Army that were destroyed at Dien Bien Phu.



Whether one agreed or disagreed with France’s position in that war or even if one mocks the folly of the plan of battle, it is still appropriate to recognize the honor and valor of a small band of soldiers holding out against insurmountable odds and the sacrifices they made on behalf of a nation on the other side of the globe.



And as the Legion battalions at Isabelle were finally destroyed on May 8th, World War II veterans in France, the United States and the British Commonwealth would celebrate the 9th anniversary of VE Day.



As we think of our own troops now in harm’s way in Iraq and Afghanistan, let us not forget that fifty years, a small band of French soldiers had already taken up a cause that would be inherited by American soldiers just ten years later.



Paul Connors is a Senior Editor of DefenseWatch. He can be reached at paulconnors@hotmail.com. © 2004 Paul Connors. Please send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com.

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Ellie