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Indo 1945-1954

From Haiphong to Dien Bien Phu
Last update :
25/05/2007

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 		While the "American" war in Vietnam has (deservedly) received great attention as one of the most important struggles in the "Cold War" period, the French Indochina War of the late 40s and early 50s has largely been overlooked - only the image of Dien Bien Phu as an example of utter defeat seems to have achieved any common currency.

This site is jointly written and maintained by Nowfel Leulliot (Paris, France) and Danny O'Hara (St Austell, UK). The authors both have long-standing interests in the Indochina War, and hope to bring various elements of this fascinating conflict to a wider audience. We are both wargamers as well as amateur military historians, and the intention is to include some overviews of the two military systems (French and Vietnamese) in action, with pieces on particular unit types, operations/battles, important factors controlling the actions of either side, specialist equipment/tactics developed during the war, and scenarios/ideas for wargaming the various aspects of the Indochina War. Please mail any comments, criticisms or ideas to the authors.

The site will obviously be somewhat limited initially, but it will grow as time permits. Here are the various parts which are planned for this site (look at the site map for detailed contents) :

  • What's New : So that you know what we're up to... 
  • History : This is the place where you will find the more general articles about the war. 
  • CEFEO : An overview of the French Far-East Expeditionary Corps. 
  • Viet Minh : An overview of the People's Army of Vietnam. 
  • Operations : Some of the major operations and campaigns conducted by the CEFEO and Viet Minh, 1945-54. 
  • Scenarios : Scenarios, both historical and generic, and ideas for wargaming the various aspects of the Indochina War. 
  • Terrain : Photos of representative terrain (not all of Indochina is jungle or rice paddies). 
  • Misc. : Various bits and pieces that don't really fit anywhere else. 
  • Links : Well, every site's got to have them even if there aren't that many. 
  • Site Map : Hopefully this should help you find your way about the site.

Much of the material presented here is translated from French sources, and several bits have not appeared in English before. It is hoped that some interest in researching and wargaming this war will be started by the various pages which we intend to publish, and if anyone does "borrow" text or images from the site, we would appreciate a mention!

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