1 - History



1. French Soldier

2. General Navarre (France)

3. Vietnamese

Woman

4. Giap (Viet Minh)

5. Giap (Viet Minh)

6. French Soldier

7. Giap (Viet Minh)

8. General Navarre (France)

9. Colonel Langlais

(France)

10. Lieutenant-Colonel Marcel Bigeard (France)

11. Lieutenant-Colonel

Marcel Bigeard (France)

12. Senator John F.

Kennedy (America)

13. General Navarre (France)

14. Colonel de Castries (France)

15. Secretary Of State

John Dulles (America)

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1. French Soldier

“We occupied Dien Bien Phu between 20th and 22nd November 1953. It took six paratroop battalions and cost the lives of 40 soldiers. We killed almost two whole companies of Viet Minh, so it was worth it. We have built fortifications and increased the number of our troops.”

2. General Navarre (France)

“I want to entice Giap into a frontal attack because then he would be exposed to our superior firepower and air strikes (funded by the Americans). This is the only tactic which I think stands a reasonable chance of success and I am confident because I believe the Viet Minh have no access to anti-aircraft weapons. Although the Viet Minh outnumber us, I don’t think they have enough resources to maintain their army: no trucks, no transport for large weapons, no artillery, no food.”

3. Vietnamese Woman

“The French have seriously underestimated us. They simply don’t understand how far we are prepared to go for our freedom, what lengths we will go to. They are an army, but we are prepared to mobilise our entire people. In order to move equipment and provisions from China and North Vietnam to prepare for the battle, we have formed an army of 20,000 men, women and children to rebuild and widen the Ho Chi Minh trail. We have carved thousands of kilometres of road out of the cloud covered mountains and jungle valleys and we have been ingenious. We have built bridges our of rock and bamboo, submerged under a few centimetres of water so that the French can’t see them from the air. We have been using ordinary bicycles, with strengthened frames as “iron horses” to carry provisions.”

4. Giap (Viet Minh)

“The French believe we have no artillery, but our “steel elephants” will crush them before they realise their mistake. We have the advantage, but it was only achieved through a superhuman effort, by nothing but sweat and muscle. In three months we managed to move giant howitzers and anti-aircraft guns through the dense jungle. It was soul-sapping work. Sometimes it took a whole day to move a piece of artillery just half a kilometre. But once the pieces were in position we camouflaged them so that the French could not see them from the air.”

5. Giap (Viet Minh)

“Deciding on a final assault plan has not been straightforward. Some in the Viet Minh high command want a “swift attack, swift victory” strategy, meaning simultaneous attacks by the army. I support a “steady attack, steady advance” strategy, meaning destroying pockets of resistance one by one. Despite this debate over tactics, we clearly hold the upper hand against the French. The French think their defensive positions are strong, but actually they are vulnerable and exposed. Some of their defences are incomplete. We control all the roads, so the French will not be able to re-supply or escape.”

6. French Soldier

“We are confident of beating these little yellow men. After all, we are a great Colonial Power. The Viet Minh have never succeeded before in defeating an entrenched fortification. They have no tanks or aircraft, while we are supplied by the Americans. They have no experience in coordinating an attack using infantry and artillery, while the great French nation has been wading war for hundreds of years. They don’t even have any experience in coordinating day light operations. We will be victorious.”

7. Giap (Viet Minh)

“The Party Central Committee has stated that we can accept only victory, not defeat. The original date for the start of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu was to be 25th January. However, the French have recently been strengthening their fortifications. Uncle Ho says we must attack only when sure of victory, so I am advising that the “swift attack, swift victory” strategy is simply too risky. The date for the battle will be postponed and I will move my command post to high up in the mountains to Muong Phang, where I will have a brilliant view of the French camp.”

8. General Navarre (France)

“I had hoped to entice Giap into a frontal attack. But we are facing huge disappointment. The Viet Minh have apparently built a network of fortifications and trenches all the way from the mountains, down to the plains, to within 400m of our positions. They wage combat by day and by night, even under our bombardments. Their grip over us now is vice-like. I had no idea things could go this way.”

9. Colonel Langlais (France)

“The battle for Dien Bien Phu began on 13th March 1954. The Viet Minh barraged our positions for an hour. It was a massacre. Five hundred of our troops were killed in that first hour. Our artillery commander, Colonel Charles Piroth, was unable to silence the Viet Minh artillery because it was so skilfully hidden in the hills. Rather than face the dishonour, he has committed suicide.”

10. Lieutenant-Colonel Marcel Bigeard (France)

“The battle for Dien Bien Phu is going disastrously for us. Outpost Beatrice was taken with huge loss of life for our soldiers. We dropped Napalm on the Viet Minh, but they took Outpost Gabrielle and Outpost Anne-Marie using suicide squads. I as sent in as commander of the reinforcements. When I got there, I found Colonel de Castries, the senior commander, too afraid to come out of his shelter.”

11. Lieutenant-Colonel Marcel Bigeard (France)

“We have lost our airfield. The Viet Minh artillery was too strong, and we never even expected them to have artillery. The wounded can no longer be evacuated and we cannot resupply. We have only four surgeons remaining and casualties are mounting. Some are saying our defeat is imminent and inevitable. But I keep telling the men that we must hold on. The Americans will not abandon us. The Free World will not let us down.”

12. Senator John F. Kennedy (America – not yet President!)

“Nixon has a plan, Operation Vulture, to drop three small tactical atomic bombs on the Viet Minh. But I disagree. No amount of American help can conquer an enemy which is everywhere and at the same time nowhere. The Viet Minh have the covert support of the people and we cannot win against that.”

13. General Navarre (France)

“There is no doubt that if the Americans were to help us now we could win at Dien Bien Phu. Now that the Americans have abandoned us, they will inevitably have to get involved in Vietnam in future years. More fool them!”

14. Colonel de Castries (France)

“We have fought for 55 days of hell. We have lost 15,000 men. We are exhausted, demoralised and beaten. I have informed Hanoi of our desperate situation and gained their agreement to surrender.”

15. Secretary Of State John Dulles (America)

“There is a “Determination To Fight, Determination To Win” Viet Minh flag flying over the French command bunker at Dien Bien Phu. The French troops are being force marched to North Vietnam and we have received reports that many are dying. The fall of Dien Bien Phu is setting off alarm bells about the Domino Theory. It may become necessary for America to become involved in Vietnam, because free people can never remain free unless they are willing to fight for their interests.”

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