French Far East Expeditionary Corps
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Far East Expeditionary Corps | |
---|---|
Corps Expéditionnaire Français en Extrême-Orient | |
Active | 1945 – 26 April 1956 |
Country | France |
Allegiance | French Army |
Type | Expeditionary Force |
Size | 115,000 (1947)[1] |
Equipment | French, British, American |
Engagements | First Indochina War |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Jean de Lattre de Tassigny |
The French Far East Expeditionary Corps (French: Corps Expéditionnaire Français en Extrême-Orient, CEFEO) was a colonial expeditionary force of the French Union Army that was initially formed in French Indochina in 1945 during the Pacific War. The CEFEO later fought and lost in the First Indochina War against the Viet Minh rebels.
The CEFEO was largely made up of voluntarily-enlisted indigenous
History
Composition
The CEFEO was largely made up of voluntarily-enlisted indigenous
In 1954, CEFEO included 177,000 men, including 59,000 indigenous people. Colonial soldiers made up the bulk of the ground forces. Between 1947 and 1954, 122,900
From September 1945 to the cease-fire in July 1954, a total of 488,560 men and women served in Indochina:[2]
- 223,467 French from metropolitan France
- 122,920 Algerians, Tunisians and Moroccans
- 72,833 Foreign Legionnaires (including Germans, Italians, Spaniards, Hungarians, Poles, Ukrainians, Georgians, Czechs and numerous other nationalities)
- 60,340 Sub-Saharan Africans
In early November 1953, the
Pacific War (1945)
The CEFEO was created in early 1945 as a replacement for the older
First Indochina War (1946–1954)
In 1946, nationalist, then communist popular rebellion movement rose up against established colonial rule in the
Dissolution (1956)
After withdrawal of the last CEFEO troops from the independent Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in 1956, the corps was disbanded by General Pierre Jacquot.
Commanders
- Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (1945–46)
- Jean Etienne Valluy(1946–48)
- Roger Blaizot (1948–49)
- Marcel Carpentier (1949–50)
- Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (1950–51)
- Raoul Salan (1952–53)
- Henri Navarre (1953–54)
- Paul Ély (1954–55)
- Pierre Jacquot (1955–56)
Far East Forces
North West Operation Group (Groupe d'Opération Nord-Ouest, GONO)
- Commander: General Christian de Castries (1954)
Far East Ground Forces (Forces Terrestres en Extrême-Orient, FTEO)
North Vietnam Ground Forces (Forces Terrestres du Nord Vietnam, FTNV)
- Commander: General René Cogny (1954)
South Vietnam Ground Forces (Forces Terrestres du Sud Vietnam, FTSV)
Among the French ground forces in the Far East was the
- Commanders:
- Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu (1946–47)
- Emile Bollaert(1947)
- Vice-Admiral Auboyneau (1952–54)
- Commander: Contre-Admiral Bosvieux (1952)
Far East Air Forces (Forces Aériennes en Extrême-Orient, FAEO)
Among the aircraft supplied to the French in Indochina in 1950-51 were
At the beginning of April 1954, Lt. General Earle E. ("Pat") Partridge, Commander of the U. S.
Caldara decided to judge the situation for himself. On April 4, 1954, in the dead of the night, he flew his B-17 with an American crew over the valley of Dien Bien Phu, repeated the mission later with a French C-47 Dakota; and then once more with the B-17.[5] The overall plan was simple enough; the two wings of B-29s from Okinawa and the one from Clark Air Base would rendezvous east of the Laotian capital of Vientiane, head for their target; and exit from Indochina via the Gulf of Tonkin.[5] The French at the highest levels seemed to have no idea of the power of the 98 Superfortresses.[5] This bombing mission was never approved as Winston Churchill was against it.[5] Late that month on 29 April 1954 C-124 Globemasters from the 322nd Air Division were in the process of air-lifting into Indochina the brand-new 7th BPC (Bataillon de Parachutistes Coloniaux), en route from Europe to Vietnam via Colombo, Ceylon.[5] Thus U. S. Air Force aircraft and personnel were actively involved in Vietnam in 1954.[5]
Notable personnel
- Jacques Massu (10e DP)
- Marcel Bigeard (6e BPC)
- Roger Trinquier (GCMA)
- Jean Sassi (GCMA)
- Pierre Schoendoerffer (SCA)
- Raoul Coutard (SPI)
- Mohamed Oufkir
See also
References
- ^ Windrow, Martin (1998). The French Indochina War 1946-1954. Osprey Publishing. p. 11.
- ^ a b Les Forces Françaises en Extrême-Orient
- ^ Departure of the French U.N. Korean battalion Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine, French newsreels archives (Les Actualités Françaises), November 5, 1953
- ^ Martin Thomas (1997). "Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 28, 1997". Retrieved 2010-01-02.
- ^ ISBN 978-0306811579.
External links
- CEFEO uniforms Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine
- Indochina Order of Battle, 1 February 1942
- (in French) FEFO French resistance in Indochina (1943-1945)
- (in French) Veterans federation website
- (in French) CEFEO evolution (French Defense archives)
- (in French) CEFEO train Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine