Georges Nyo

Georges Yves-Marie Nyo (* 1895 , † 1980 ) was a French Général de division of the colonial troops and commander in southern Vietnam in the early stages of the Indochina War .

After graduating from Saint-Cyr Military School , Nyo began a career with the French colonial troops . From the 1930s onwards, he served in Indochina , where he was involved in fighting rebels in the mountains of the Annamite Cordillera .

After France surrendered in World War II in 1940 , Nyo was part of the Vichy Army. In 1943 he moved to North Africa , where he joined the Free French forces . By the end of the war he achieved the rank of Général de brigade .

Already in August 1945 Nyo was appointed commander of the newly established 3rd Colonial Infantry Division (3rd DIC) (this division had fought under General Falvy in 1940 in the Montmédy section of the Maginot Line and was effectively disbanded after the defeat). The division , which after the reorganization comprised around 17,000 men, was shipped to Indochina in February 1946 and joined the local expeditionary corps (CEFEO) . War-like conditions have ruled Indochina since Hồ Chí Minh , the leader of the Việt Minh , proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam six months earlier after the collapse of Japan as a result of the August Revolution . Nyo's 3rd Colonial Division, together with the 9th Colonial Division, which had already arrived in December, made it possible to stabilize the situation, at least in the more densely populated areas, so that the British-Indian troops under General Gracey could withdraw.

Nyo was given jurisdiction over southern Vietnam ( Cochinchina and southern Annam ) and tried to drive the Việt Minh troops out of this part of the country entirely. However, since he did not have enough troops available for a comprehensive occupation of the country, Nyo applied the strategy of "rotating pacification " ( pacification tournante ), in which his troops moved from one region to the next. This method was of little help against the Việt Minh experienced in guerrilla warfare ; instead, high civilian casualties followed, as the Việt Minh often collaborated with locals who had helped the French after the French troops had moved to another region . Although France and the Việt Minh had agreed to cease hostilities in both the March 6th Agreement and the Modus Vivendi in September 1946, Nyo continued to crack down on "rebellious elements" and "armed gangs", which he did in one the order issued on October 30th was also explicitly identified again. In return, the Việt Minh increasingly increased their infiltration of the southern areas and terrorized the pro-French Vietnamese.

On November 3, a peace talks took place in Hanoi between Nyo, now in the rank of Général de division , and the Việt Minh representative, Hoàng Hữu Nam, on the situation in South Vietnam, which ended with no results. A few weeks later, the situation escalated in the bombing of Haiphong , which led to the outbreak of the Indochina War . In December, Nyo was appointed the first regional commander of South Vietnam, which was in fact a confirmation of his previous post. After more than a year in which little had changed in the south, Nyo was replaced by General Latour du Moulin in February 1948 .

In 1955, Nyo was assigned to the reserve squad and went into retirement.

Individual evidence

1. Jump up ↑ Gilbert Bodinier: Le retour de la France en Indochine: 1945-1946 , Service historique de l'Armée de terre, 1987, p. 65
2. ^ Jacques Dalloz: Dictionnaire de la Guerre d'Indochine: 1945-1954 , Armand Colin, 2006, entry NYO, Georges
3. ^ Stein Tønnesson : Vietnam 1946: How the War Began , University of California Press , 2009, p. 96
4. ↑ troupesdemarine.org: Nyo Georges Yves-Marie (1895 - 1980)
5. ^ David G. Marr: Vietnam: State, War, and Revolution (1945-1946) , University of California Press, 2013, p. 246
6. ↑ see for example: Genevieve de Galard: Angel of Dien Bien Phu: The Lone French Woman at the Decisive Battle for Vietnam , Naval Institute Press, 2013, Annex Chronology A: French Indochina War