Operation Brochet

Operation Brochet Part of the First Indochina War Location of the Red River Delta Date August - October 1953 Location French Indochina Result Viet Minh victory Belligerents French Union France State of Vietnam Viet Minh Strength ~9,000 - 15,300 ~10,000 Casualties and losses 96 dead[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 French and South Vietnamese troops and 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 casualties,^[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. 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.