Opération Hirondelle
Opération Hirondelle was an airborne operation by the French Expeditionary Force during the Indochina War . In July 1953, the deployed paratroopers were able to destroy supplies and weapons stores of the Viet Minh at Lạng Sơn in Tonkin .
background
Commander-in-chief Henri Navarre initially pursued a more defensive warfare in Indochina, which is why he avoided offensive operations, especially with deep penetrations into the territories controlled by the Viet Minh. During his stay in France , however, he allowed the Commander-in-Chief in Tonkin, René Cogny , to carry out a limited airborne operation against the logistics bases of the Viet Minh at Lạng Sơn that had already been identified through reconnaissance. The place was ideally located at the intersection between Colonial Roads 1 and 4 for the Viet Minh and an important supply hub.
Course and consequences
On July 17, 1953, three paratrooper battalions were deployed separately near Lang Son. These included the 6th Colonial Paratrooper Battalion , the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion of the Foreign Legion and the 8th Shock Battalion. A total of around 2,000 paratroopers were dropped. The troops were supported by 10 bombers and around 50 fighter planes. The units were able to quickly put the local Viet Minh troops on the defensive and photograph large quantities of weapons and ammunition and then destroy them. Thereafter, the units withdrew without major losses to a meeting point with the Groupe mobile 5 , which had been brought up overland , in order to retreat to the French-controlled area with this via the RC 4 . This took place on schedule until July 19, 1953.
In the international media, the successful execution of the operation meant a gain in prestige for Commander-in-Chief Navarre.
Individual evidence
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↑ a b Frederick Logevall: Embers of War - The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam, New York, 2013, p 363
Martin Windrow: The Last Valley - Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam, Cambridge 2004, S 194, p. 215 - ↑ Frederick Logevall: Embers of War - The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam, New York 2013, p. 363