Dien Bien Phu 1954

55 Days of Hell The Battle that changed Vietnam's History

Background to the Conflict

After World War II, France was able to reinstall its colonial government in what was then known as Indochina. By 1946 a Vietnamese independence movement, led by communist Ho Chi Minh, was fighting French troops for control of northern Vietnam. The Viet Minh, as the insurgents were called, used guerrilla tactics that the French found difficult to counter.

Preparations for War

In late 1953, as both sides prepared for peace talks in the Indochina War, French military commanders picked Dien Bien Phu as a place for a final push to remove the Vietminh A village in northwestern Vietnam near the Laotian and Chinese borders, as the place to pick a fight with the Viet Minh. Hoping to draw Ho Chi Minh's guerrillas into a classic battle, the French began to build up their garrison at Dien Bien Phu. The stronghold was located at the bottom of a bowl-shaped river valley, about 10 miles long.

Preparations cont.

Most French troops and supplies entered Dien Bien Phu from the air -- either landing at the fort's airstrip or dropping in via parachute. Dien Bien Phu's main garrison also would be supported by a series of firebases -- strongpoints on nearby hills that could bring down fire on an attacker. The strong points were given women's names, supposedly after the mistresses of the French commander, Gen. Christian de Castries. The French assumed any assaults on their heavily fortified positions would fail or be broken up by their artillery.

French Attitudes

In 1953 French commander in Vietnam Henri Navarre decided it was time to draw the Peoples Army out and engage them It was clear that the French were constantly on the defensive and waited for Ho to make the first move Navarre decided that this had to change if they had any chance of succeeding Navarre said it was time to find the tigers lair and destroy him

The Base

Navarre chose the hamlet of Dien Bien Phu, near the Laos border to zero in on the Peoples Army Dien Bien Phu was located in a 16km river valley in a remote corner of NW Vietnam Navarre chose Colonel Christian de Castries to lead the operation His mission was to;
Create a new French outpost Redevelop the old airstrip Launch attacks on the Peoples Army

The Base
By April, 1954 16,000 French troops were based there The base was divided into nine camps named after de Castries mistresses eg Claudine, Beatrice etc The French saw Dien Bien Phu as impregnable They had not tried very hard to hide that it was a massive military base Its lifeline was its airstrip which was able to bring supplies from Hanoi, 1200km away

Weaknesses

Reliant on the airstrip for supplies So isolated and inaccessible that before the airstrip was repaired the first troops had to parachute in The entire base was surrounded by limestone cliffs that climbed to 1600m in places Vulnerable from artillery attacks from the cliffs French dismissed this as an impossibility as the cliffs were too steep and had no roads

Giaps plan

General Vo Nguyen Giap, Commander of the Peoples Army debated what to do with Dien Bien Phu He did not want to lose access to Laos The Dien Bien Phu region was a major opium area Peoples Army used sale of opium on the black market to fund their war Giap decided that to take on the French he would need artillery Mao sent 200 howitzers

Mobilisation

In December, 1953 Giap began moving 60,000 troops towards Dien Bien Phu Also got 20,000 Peasants to start building roads and bridges The problem Giap faced was Dien Bien Phus isolation There were no roads leading to it and needed them to get his artillery within range Roads were built and Russia provided 200 trucks for the task of shipping supplies Troops also carried supplies on bicycles By March, 1954 Giap had his army concealed in the jungles surrounding Dien Bien Phu

The Siege

Giaps major problem was how to get the howitzers up to the cliffs above Dien Bien Phu To have the higher ground would give him a massive advantage Giap solved the problem by having his men disassemble the guns and carry them to the top piece by piece At the top they were simply reassembled By 12 March all the artillery and soldiers were in place above Dien Bien Phu The French had no idea anybody was there, let alone an enormous army Giap then sent a message to all Vietnamese who lived near the base to evacuate

The central French positions at Dien Bien Phu as of late March 1954. The positions in Eliane saw some of the most intense combat of the entire battle

56 Day Siege

On 13 March 1954 the Peoples Army pounded Dien Bien Phu with artillery The base had been severely damaged with 500 French killed Critically the airfield had craters in it making it impossible for aircraft to land The next night thousands of Viet Minh pored into the valley French fought hard and were holding out against the Viet Minh Giaps plan was simple dont let the French sleep Heavy artillery rained down at night on the base and then in the morning Viet Minh soldiers would mount ground assaults

Dien Bien Phu could only be supplied by parachute drop and in the Monsoon conditions 50% of supplies missed their mark and were captured by the Viet Minh Giap then ordered his soldiers to dig a trench surrounding the entire base In 3 weeks Giap had lost thousands of men Hundreds of French were wounded and living in appalling conditions

World Wide coverage

The events at Dien Bien Phu attracted media coverage It was seen as a probable communist victory USA and France even proposed Operation Vulture

Happenings

The heavy Viet Minh bombardment also closed Dien Bien Phu's airstrip. French attempts to resupply and reinforce the garrison via parachute were frustrated -- as pilots attempting to fly over the region found themselves facing a barrage from anti-aircraft guns. It was during the resupply effort that two civilian pilots, James McGovern and Wallace Buford, became the first Americans killed in Vietnam combat. The supply planes were forced to fly higher, and their parachute drops became less accurate.

Viet Minh Strike!

Much of what was intended for the French forces -- including food, ammunition and, in one case, essential intelligence information -- landed instead in Viet Minh territory. The Viet Minh steadily reduced the French-held area Closed off from the outside world, under constant fire, and flooded by monsoon rains, conditions inside Dien Bien Phu became inhuman. Casualties piled up inside the garrison's hospital

Operation Vulture

Operation Vulture

USA to repaint one of their bombers in French colours Then drop an Atomic bomb on Dien Bien Phu Plan dismissed as too risky and potentially provoke USSR

Final Conflict

On 1 May 1954 Giap ordered his troops to attack the base Hand to hand combat was common On 6 May the French surrendered

Outcome

The Peoples Army had lost 8,000 soldiers The French had lost 2,200 11000 prisoners were marched to camps 300km away During the march 3000 died

Outcome of the Conflict

Dien Bien Phu fell to the Viet Minh on May 7. At least 2,200 members of the French forces died during the siege -- with thousands more taken prisoner. Of the 50,000 or so Vietnamese who besieged the garrison, there were about 23,000 casualties -including an estimated 8,000 killed. The fall of Dien Bien Phu shocked France and brought an end to French Indochina. A World Bank official from India, said in a recent interview. "It was a source of great pride in the developing world. A small Asian nation had defeated a colonial power, convincingly. It changed history."

French Soldiers in the middle of a war zone

Soldiers in the small, cramp trenches around Dien Bien Phu

French casualties get urgent care

Victorious Vietnamese Soldiers

Celebrations in South Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh dressed in Vietnamese Soldier uniform

Geneva Conference
What actually did happen at the Geneva Conference

A 1954 peace conference at the end of the First Indochina War, prompted by the stunning French defeat at Dien Bien Phu. The conference issued the Geneva Accords, which divided Vietnam officially into North Vietnam and South Vietnam along the 17th parallel as a temporary measure The Geneva Accords of 1954 declared a cease-fire and divided Vietnam officially into North Vietnam (under Ho and his Communist forces) and South Vietnam (under a Frenchbacked emperor). The Geneva Accords stipulated that the divide was temporary and that Vietnam was to be reunified under free elections to be held in 1956 Promised free Vietnam-wide elections for 1956 (although these elections never occurred).

Geneva Conference

Delegates from all affected nations discuss the future of Vietnam

With the French gone a new power was to emerge