Indochina War

>>32442103
Why do they fight wars indoors in China?

>>32442103
>Vietnam the prequel

Theres very little quality English language material on it, at least compared to the American sequel. I tried looking into it a few years back and the only decent book I could find was Street without joy and a few poorly translated french documentaries. If you spoken french, you might do better than I did though.

Because the French losing another war isn't all that interesting to a lot of people. Dien Bien Phu was some real crazy shit though

>>32442103
They had some pretty looking uniforms

>>32442103
Was it the last time where paratroopers were parachuted in a battle? I can't remember a recent battle where it happened.

>>32442896


That one time in iraq when that ranger colonel wanted a silver star on his jump wings so he ordered a jump on an abandoned airfield

>>32442896
Covert airborne insertions happen regularly, though you won't find any source.
Otherwise, Timbuktu 2013, and I do know there was at least one other at the Mali/Libya border to cut off some jihadists.

>>32442902
Glorious! After a quick search it seems the 2REP jumped by night in Mali, but I'm not sure if it can be considered as a "battle"...

>>32442896
Suez?

2e REP jumped into Zaire (I think)in the late 70s and shreked some people. RLI did a lot of drops in the 70s too.

>>32442960
Battle of Kolwezi.

>>32442103
I also find the indo china war fascinating because as other anons have said it was a prequel to nam.

The reason it doesn't get much coverage is as>>32442183 says. It also has to do with the fact that indochina isn't a place anymore so it seems like another irrelevant war to learn about.

Furthermore, it's in that decade or so long gap of time that the US likes to believe it bought peace for during ww2. Just like korea.

I like to think of these as "Bridge wars". They act as a middle ground in the path go a bigger war or a continuation, just like Korea once again. In military circles, these are important to trace the evolution of technology and tactics but to normies that sort of evolution in war is irrelevant. They prefer the end war that illustrates the total purpose. Ie: vietnam to Korea and indochina or ww2 to the winter war or continuation war

A 1979 documentary in English.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE0GsAhFO0A

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>>32442103
>No US troops involved
Do you need other reasons?

Anyways, french army archives website :

>videos
http://www.ecpad.fr/tag/fonds-guerre-dindochine/

>pictures
http://archives.ecpad.fr/categorie/collections-2/indochine/photosindochine/

You can also see movies by Pierre Schoendoerffer, that was a cameraman at Dien Bien Phu and did a couple movies about Indochina (317th Platoon, a masterpiece if you like psychological war movies, and Dien Bien Phu, the most accurate portrayal of the battle you'll get, sadly crippled by poor actors and pacing. Also the Anderson Platoon, a documentary about a US platoon in Vietnam, that allowed him to return there to film)

>>32442896
Apparently the french did some combat jumps in Africa during the last decade, but they don't talk much about it.

>>32443175
>but they don't talk much about it.

By not talking much about it do you mean announcing it and releasing media of the drop taking place

>>32442902
TF Viking tied up like......13 divisions.

It was hardly an uncontested jump.

>>32442945
they were used as a stop group , while the French marines and commandos moved up ,the one French foreign legion officer told me they were sent in with very little and were thinned out

>>32443180
There was the drop on the Timbuktu airport. But I remember an interview where a french colonel talked about half a dozen combat drops by name, not all of them in Mali, and that isn't stuff you see in the news.

>>32442896
France has a SAS unit although they aren't called SAS anymore

>>32443186
lmao, are you serious?

>>32443862
>they were used as a stop group
>they were sent in with very little and were thinned out
Is that supposed to be a clever tactic?

>>32445374
Thats one of the primary uses for airborne troops.

>>32446136
But isn't a "stop group" a critical position? I would have send them with solid means.

>>32446198

Absolutely, and that's why airborne troops specifically train to perform those types of operations. Deploy to either an enemy's flank/rear/ dead space to fill a gap / key terrain, set in a defense and wait for the heavy/armor/mechanized assets to arrive, or disrupt the enemy by forcing them to focus in a new direction.

The alternative would be trying to have a group of motorized or mechanized troops push through your front lines or swing around a flank as fast as possible to secure and hold the area, and sometimes that doesn't work because of the limitations associated with ground transport.

Rotary infil is also out of the question a lot of times due to lack of available aircraft and the fact that you can often carry even less equipment than when jumping out of a plane and the fact just 1xC-17 can carry 100+ combat equipped paratroopers.

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If I may introduce Roger Vandenberghe.

>Born in 1927, health issues with both his father and mother led him and his older brother to be entrusted to other families.
>His father, a disabled Belgian WW1 veteran, died in 1939 from tuberculosis while his Spanish Jewish mother died in deportation during WW2
>Try several times to join the resistance, rejected due to his young age until 1944 when he's accepted into the Corps Franc Pommies.
>First wound in early 1945 by a mine.
>After the war he decided, along his brother, to stay in the army and voluntereed to be send in Indochina in 1947.
>Quickly remarked for his bravery he was promoted to squad leader, commanding indochinese troops (same for his brother, Albert).
>Albert is killed in 1948. Vandenberghe, now without family, multiply raids into enemy territory, using the same tactics as the Viet-minh..
>Heavily wounded the following year (.45 in the chest) and evacuated to France, he asked to be send back.
>End up leading the Commando n°24, made of local soldiers (and ex-Viet-minh).
>Dressed in black, as the Viet-minh, the unit is one of the most efficient of the war. The Viet-minh put a reward on Vandenberghe head.
>Taking advantage of this, he got himself "captured" by his troops and led into a regional Viet command post, destroying it.
>Killed in 1952 during his sleep by one of his men, an ex-Viet-minh.

Knight of the Legion of Honour, Medaille Militaire, 15 citations, wounded 12 times.

De Lattre de Tassigny said of him: "May France give me a hundred Vandenberghe and I will beat the Viet-minh."
De Lattre's son, Bernard, had been killed in action in 1951,his body was retrieved by Vandenberghe and his commando.
Incidentally De Lattre himself died of cancer 6 days after Vandenberghe.

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>>32447338
On the previous pic, to the right, is staff sergeant Tran Dinh Vy, right-hand man of Vandenberghe.
He had had pretty interesting career as he was originally a seminarian which, persecuted by the Viet-minh, joined a first time the French army.
After the French defeat, he joined the ARVN and rose up to colonel.

Forced to flee the country at the end of the Vietnam war, he send his family to the USA before going to France to enlist for the second time, this time in the Foreign Legion where he ended, once again, colonel.

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>>32442896
>>32442960

>>32442896
>what is Rhodesia?
>what is Angola?
>what is Grenada?
>what is Mali?
>what is the invasion of Iraq?
>who are the RLI?
>who are the Rangers?
>who are the 2REP?
>who are the 173rd?
>where can I get bukkaked by five niggers?
The post.

>>32447338
>>32447412
There are a lot of soldiers, but very few warriors. Nice to see that history noticed them.

>>32447338
>Spanish Jewish mother
DROPPED

>>32447617
To be fair, despite their wily, nation destroying ways, kikes make pretty good soldiers.

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>>32447617
>>32447655
Quit blaming Jews for everything.

>>32447420
Central Africa is pretty fucking interesting. Look at Kabila:
>dad becomes president, gets shot
>29 year old wallflower son is selected because nobody trusts anyone else
>tries to turn down job repeatedly
>spends his new political career amassing money to do things he actually enjoys, ie not leading the country
>only real decision is to ensure that the cops and army get paid many many times more than the national average
>hits term limit
>has a meltdown when he realizes that the Congo will want the money back (he keeps it in the bathroom fyi)
>last I checked he locked himself in the presidential mansion, plays PS4 all day and ensures nobody flushes the toilet
This is what happens when /r9k/ is put in charge of a nation.

>>32447570
>Recent
>Half that shits from over 30 years ago
lol, yeah pretty recent when gauged against the birth of Jesus

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>>32447617
Stop blaming the Jews for you own failings

>>32447570
>Rhodesia
>recent

Bump for interest

French Expeditionary Force equipment :

Handguns:

Revolver mell 1873-1874: some of these prescription weapons used during the conquest of Tonkin were spotted here and there during the conflict. Caliber 11mm.
Very rare.

Revolver mle 1892: more modern and much more widespread than the previous model.

Enfield n ° 2 & Welbley mk.IV: coming from the English aid, partly teams the French troops formed in India in 1944.

Ruby: to compensate for a lack in the field, the French government has acquired several thousand foreign copies of Browning 1906. Note that this weapon was still in the French arsenals in the 80s!

P.A. 35s: national product, manufactured in the National Manufactories of St-Étienne and Châtellerault. Manufactured until 1950.
Its evolution, the P.A. 50 pulling 9mm Parabellum, being produced from August 1953 had very little opportunity to see fire in Indochina.

Colt 1945A1: no need to present it? Very appreciated for its stopping power as well as its robustness.

P38: were used models seized as well as models produced for the French Army as repairs. Those from post-war production destined for the French army are marked svw45 or 46. They come from the Mauser factory in Oberndorf.
Note that the P38 also equipped the CRS and the Gendarmerie.

P08: other weapon of catch. He also saw fire in Indochina but in smaller proportions than his "little brother". Subject to fouling, the machine reveals itself sensitive ...

Walter PP: weapons of catch.

I also read that Spanish copies of the S & W "militar and police" and Colt "new army" were used. The official name of these copies? 92Spanish.

Rifles:

MAS36: repeater gun of caliber 7.5mm. Very simple, robust and arguably the most widespread weapon of conflict. Restored to production after the Liberation.
Models marked G may also use 1937 rifle grenades but without sighting aid.
MAS36 C.R. 39: variant with folding stock in aluminum. The barrel is also shorter. It is a para weapon.
MAS36 L.G. 48: grenade launcher model. Can fire rifle grenades 1937
MAS36 M51: grenade launch model with 22mm shank.

MAS 44: semi-auto model of 7.5mm caliber. Charger of 10coups. Tested in particular by the marine commandos but in low doses.

MAS 49: improvement of previous model. Can carry a bezel or grenade launcher.

Carbine US m1 & us m1A1: widely distributed and appreciated although the "weak" power of its ammunition is often blamed. Intensive use in paratroopers.

M1 Garand: distributed especially to Vietnamese soldiers. The photos of French soldiers in use are very rare (personally, I know one).

Springfield 1903, 1903a1, 1903a3: present in the French arsenals. Used by the Legion for a short time and then sometimes distributed to the supporters. If you have a picture of a metropolitan using one, I'm taker!

US17: widely distributed to local troops and far more present than the previous model.

Lee Enfield: employees at the beginning of the conflict and then distributed to supporters. Note that the weapon remains very prized of the marine commandos because of the blasting grenade launcher.

Mauser G98, K98, K98k, K98AZ: employees anecdotally by the French then the supporters.
We note that ammunition of 7.92 and .303british were manufactured in France to meet the needs ...

Arisaka: taken in japanese, distributed to the supplétifs.

Carcano: several seem to have been brought by the 13th demi-brigade of the Legion. Use VERY anecdotal.


Don't have machine gun and auto rifle.

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10 M24 Chaffee were used by the French during the battle. It was a logistical feat to transport them, they had to be dismantled, transported by plane and brought back to Dien Bien Phu.

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>>32451994
>Don't have machine gun and auto rifle.

From memory, were used:

>SMGs
Sten, Thompson, MP40, MAS 38, MAT49, Hotchkiss Universal, MAS 48, M3.

The M2 carbine was also used by troops coming from the Korean war.

>MGs
St Etienne Mle.1907T, Hotchkiss Mle.1914, FM 24/29, BAR, Bren, M1917 & M1919, M2 Browning, MG 34 & 42
Plus some Japanese and Chinese guns which were used until out of ammo/parts.

>>32452004
Some of them are still there, left where they were disabled/destroyed.
The "Mulhouse", for example, is right next to the airstrip and can be seen when landing on DBP airport.

Some songs, I can translate the lyrics if someone wishes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdWL9eXS2jg
(classical let's met the enemy through fire and steel)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4COA6vNKZ8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mensk0Y6HIs
(interestingly, you have really nostalgic songs that don't talk about war at all. The first one is a love song about a prostitute in saigon, the second one is about opium and dreams)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIISxpGZjck
(last one commemorating the battles of Tu-Le, but made 40 years after the war)

>>32447338
Some people are larger than life. F, Vanden.

>>32451988
It would be quicker to say "everything made between 1900 and 1954". Must have been a logistical nightmare.