Operation Brochet took place during the French Indochina War, between August and October 1953. A combined arms operation, Brochet involved 18 battalions of the French Expeditionary and Vietnamese National Armies fighting against the 42nd and 50th Viet Minh Regiments,[2] fighting in the southern reaches of the Red River Delta near Tonkin in North Vietnam.[3] The 1st and 2nd Parachute Battalions of the French Foreign Legion (BEP),[1][3] and the 1st and 3rd Colonial Parachute Battalions (BPC) took part,[4] as did forces of the Vietnamese National Army.[2] Their objective was to sweep the Delta and remove Viet Minh influence.[2]
| Operation Brochet | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the First Indochina War | |||||||
 Location of the Red River Delta | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|
 Viet Minh | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~9,000 – 15,300 | ~10,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 96 casualties[1] | 10 dead[1] | ||||||
Brochet enjoyed only limited success.[3] By October 11, 1 BEP had lost 96 men against only 10 confirmed Viet Minh war dead,[1] and despite French efforts between 5,000 and 7,000 of the Delta villages remained under Viet Minh control.[2]
Notes
editReferences
editOnline
- Fall, Bernard B. (December 1956). "Indochina: The Last Year of the War. The Navarre Plan" (PDF). The Military Review. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
Printed
- Fall, Bernard B. (1966). Hell in a Very Small Place. The Siege of Dien Bien Phu. London: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81157-9.
- Fall, Bernard B. (1961). Street Without Joy. The French Debacle in Indochina. New York: Stackpole Military History. ISBN 978-0-8117-3236-9.
- Fall, Bernard B. (1967). The Two Vietnams. A Political and Military Analysis (Second ed.). New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Inc.
- Roy, Jules (1963). The Battle of Dien Bien Phu. New York: Carroll and Graf Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7867-0958-8.
- Windrow, Martin (2004). The Last Valley. Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-304-36692-7.