Operation Castor
| Operation Castor | |
|---|---|
| Part of Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam | |
| Result | Successful French establishment of the Dien Bien Phu outpost |
11 killed,[2]
52 wounded
Operation Castor
Execution
The
The following day, the second airborne group, "GAP 2" – consisting of 1er Bataillon Etranger de Parachutistes (1 BEP), 8e Bataillon de Parachutistes de Choc (8 BPC), other combat support elements and the entire command and Headquarters group for the Dien Bien Phu operation under Brigadier General Jean Gilles – was dropped in. While on another drop zone, the heavy equipment came down and the engineers quickly set about repairing and lengthening the airstrip.
On 22 November, the last troops of the initial garrison, the 5e Bataillon de Parachutistes Vietnamiens ("Battalion of Vietnamese Parachutists", 5 BPVN), jumped into the valley. In the same "stick" as the commander of 5 BPVN was Brigitte Friang, a woman war correspondent with a military parachutist diploma, and five combat jumps.[5] These troops raised the Dien Bien Phu garrison to its full planned strength of 4,500. On November 30, orders were issued for the garrison to guarantee free use of the airfield, to hold the position to the last man, and to conduct attacks to retard buildups of Viet Minh forces.[6] General Navarre created the outpost to draw the Việt Minh into fighting a pitched battle. That battle, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, occurred four months after Operation Castor.
French order of battle
Aeroportable Division Element (French: , Elément Divisionnaire Aéroporté, EDAP):
- Groupement Aéroporté 1 (GAP 1), (Airborne Group 1)
- GAP 1 Headquarters staff
- 1er Bataillon de Parachutistes Coloniaux (1 BPC) (Colonial Parachute Battalion)
- 6ème Bataillon de Parachutistes Coloniaux (6 BPC) (Colonial Parachute Battalion)
- 2ème Bataillon, 1er Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes ("1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment" II/1 RCP) (Light Infantry Parachute Regiment)
- 17e Régiment de Génie Parachutiste (RGP) (17th Airborne Engineers Regiment)
- 35e Régiment d'Artillerie Légère Parachutistes (35 RALP) (35th Light Artillery Parachute Regiment)
- Groupement Aéroporté 2 (GAP 2), (Airborne Group 2)
- 1er Bataillon Etranger de Parachutistes (1 B.E.P) (Foreign Parachute Battalion)
- 8e Bataillon de Parachutistes de Choc (8 B.P.C) (Parachute Shock Battalion)
- 5e Bataillon de Parachutistes Vietnamiens (5 B.P.V.N) (Vietnamese Parachute Battalion)
References
Notes
- ISBN 0-306-81157-X.
- ^ "DienBienPhu.org". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
- ^ Clodfelter 2008, p. 657.
- ISBN 9780275953058.
- ISBN 9781786256850.
- ^ Fall, 138.
- ISBN 978-0-7434-4490-3.
Sources
- Chen Jian. 1993. "China and the First Indo-China War, 1950–54", The China Quarterly, No. 133. (Mar., 1993), pp 85–110. London: School of Oriental and African Studies.
- Cogan, Charles G. 2000. "L'attitude des États-Unis à l'égard de la guerre d'Indochine" in Vaïsse (2000: 51–88).
- ISBN 0-19-506792-4
- Clodfelter, M. (2008). Warfare and armed conflicts : a statistical encyclopedia of casualty and other figures, 1494-2007. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0786433193.
- ISBN 978-1-84415-318-3
- Farrell, Ryan F. 1991. "Airlift's role at Dien Bien Phu and Khe Sanh". Global Security website. Retrieved: February 19, 2008.
- Friang, Brigitte. 1958. Parachutes and Petticoats. London: Jarrolds.
- ISBN 0-85345-193-1
- Navarre, Henri. 1956. Agonie de l'Indochine. Paris: Librairie Plon. ISBN 978-2-87027-810-9
- Simpson, Howard R. 1994. Dien Bien Phu: The Epic Battle America Forgot. London: Brassey's. ISBN 978-1-57488-024-3
- Vaïsse, Maurice (editor). 2000. L'Armée française dans la guerre d'Indochine (1946–1954). Paris: Editions Complexe.
- ISBN 1-85532-789-9
- ISBN 0-306-81386-6
External links
- Operation Castor at DienBienPhu.org Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
- French ambassador honors U.S. pilots at Castor and Dien Bien Phu, Feb. 25, 2005