Operation Brochet

Operation Brochet
Part of the First Indochina War
Location of the Red River Delta
Date August – October 1953 Location near Nam Dinh, Red River Delta, French Indochina Result Viet Minh victory
Belligerents
French Union France French Indochina State of Vietnam	Democratic Republic of Vietnam Việt Minh
Strength
~9,000 – 15,300	~10,000
Casualties and losses
96 casualties [1]	10 dead [1]

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]

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

1. Windrow, p. 245.
2. Windrow and Chappell, p. 39.
3. Windrow, p. 195.
4. Windrow, p. 249.

References

Online

• 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.