Charles Piroth

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Charles Piroth (1906 - March 15, 1954 in Điện Biên Phủ , French Indochina ) was a French officer . He was the commander of the artillery at the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ .

Life

Piroth took part in the Italian campaign during the Second World War. When Vietnam was reoccupied, Piroth came to the country as a battalion commander with the rank of major with the expedition group under Major General Leclerc . He was deployed in South Vietnam and, given the lack of artillery targets, he and his men were deployed as infantrymen. Piroth earned a reputation as a popular and brave officer. Piroth was wounded in 1946 when his unit was ambushed. Piroth lost his left arm in the process.

Piroth committed suicide at the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ on March 15, 1954, when it became clear that his artillery could not effectively suppress enemy fire.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Martin Windrow: The Last Valley - Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam, Cambridge 2004, pp. 342–343
  2. ↑ Frederick Logevall: Embers of War - The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam, New York, 2013, p 430
personal data
SURNAME Piroth, Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French artillery commander at Dien Bien Phu
DATE OF BIRTH 1906
DATE OF DEATH March 15, 1954
Place of death Dien Bien Phu