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Marcel Bigeard

⚔️🔒Operation HIRONDELLE, (Raid on Lạng Sơn), Vietnam,
17-21 July 1953

Operation HIRONDELLE, 17 July 1953. The French High Command in Indo-China, acting on time-sensitive intelligence, deployed 2000 paratroopers more than 100km behind enemy lines, destroyed a major Viet Minh logistic hub, then deployed another parachute battalion, a mechanised brigade, and a Naval task force to get them out again. All in the space of 72 hours. The operation did not change the course of the war, but demonstrated the decisivenes and agility of the French Far East Expeditionary Corps

French With Guns During Fighting Break

⚔️ Battle for Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam,
13 March – 7 May 1954

It is difficult to understand the French decision in November 1953 to insert a divisional-sized force into the remote highlands of northern Vietnam. Although the force comprised only about 5% of the French expeditionary forces in Indo-China, it was the best 5%, and ultimately included most of the available parachute battalions from the strategic reserve.