6e Bataillon Parachutistes Coloniaux, 6e BPC

The battalion was created in Brittany in 1948 under the designation of 6e BCCP (bataillon colonial de commandos parachutistes) and trace its lineage to WWII French SAS. It arrived in Saïgon in 1949 and was rename the 6e GCCP (groupement colonial de commandos parachutistes) on the 1st of Octobre 1950, then 6e BPC (bataillon parachutistes coloniaux) on the 1st March 1951. The battalion was dissolved on its return to France on the 20 August 1951 and then reformed in 1952 to return to Indochina. The battalion was dropped on  DBP during operation Castor on the 20th November. Them for a second time over DBP on the 16th of March 1954 and  fought in the valley until its destruction on the 7th May 1954.  6e BPC is one of the most famous French Airborne battalion and was commanded by one of France most known and decorated general, Marcel Bigeard “BRUNO” and was often referred as Bigeard’s battalion.

“Operation Castor” Dien Bien Phu  

Opération Castor was the French airborne operation to established a fortified air-land base at Dien Bien Phu, an old airstrip built by the Japanese during their 1940-45 occupation. Commanded by Brigadier General Jean Gilles, Castor was the largest airborne operation since World War II. The Operation began on 20 November 1953 , with reinforcements dropped over the following two days. With all its objectives achieved, the operation ended on 22 November.

The French paratroopers of the 6ème Bataillon de Parachutistes Coloniaux (6ème BPC ) and the 2nd Battalion of the 1er Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes (II/1er RCP) dropped over Dien Bien Phu and the operation took 65 of the 70 operational Dakota and all 12 C-119 Flying Boxcar transport aircraft the French had in the area and still required two trips to get the lead elements into the valley. Also dropped in the first wave were elements of the 17e Régiment de Génie Parachutiste (RGP) (“17th Airborne Engineers Regiment”) and the Headquarters group of Groupement Aéroporté 1 
(GAP 1), (“Airborne Group 1”). They were followed later in the afternoon by the 1er Bataillon de Parachutistes Coloniaux (1 BPC ) and elements of 35e Régiment d’Artillerie Légère Parachutiste (35 RALP) and other combat support elements.

The following day, the second airborne group, (GAP 2) – consisting of 1er Bataillon Etranger de Parachutistes (1 BEP), 8e Bataillon de Parachutistes de Choc (8 BPC ), other combat support elements and the entire command and Headquarters group for the Dien Bien Phu operation under Brigadier General Jean Gilles were dropped in. The heavy equipment came down pm another drop zone and the engineers quickly set about repairing and lengthening the old airstrip.

On 22 November, the last troops the 5e Bataillon de Parachutistes Vietnamiens (“Battalion of Vietnamese Parachutists”, 5 BPVN), jumped into the valley. In the same “stick” as the commander of 5 BPVN was Brigitte Friang, a woman war correspondent with a military parachutist diploma and five combat jumps. 
General Navarre created the outpost to draw the Viet Minh into fighting a pitched battle. That battle, occurred four months after Operation Castor and ended up in a defeat for the French on the 7th of May 1954 after massively under estimating the Viet Minh forces and capabilities.

The Battle of Dien Bien Phu did cost the CEFEO over 3,000 men, 1,700 dead and 1,600 missing; 4,400 French soldiers were wounded; 10,300, including the 4,400 wounded, were taken prisoner. The enemy lost at least 8,000 men and had over 15,000 wounded.

The Viet Minh’s victory in Dien Bien Phu heralded France ‘s withdrawal from Indochina. The Geneva Agreements of 21 July 1954 brought an end to the First Indochina War and recognised the democratic government of Vietnam. Out of the 10,300 French soldiers taken prison in Dien Bien Phu , only 3,300 were returned to their families. The others lost their lives along the roads that took them to the Viet Minh detention centres or camps were, they were left without any medical treatment, exhausted, starved or were summarily executed.

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6e BPC, Operation Castor 20th November 1953  

Setting the scene 

At 10.30 on the 20st of November 1953 during Operation Castor, the 6e BPC was dropped as part of the 1st wave of French paratroopers into the valley of Dien Bien Phu. The objective was to secure a WWII-era landing strip and to later construct a fighting camp to draw the Viet Minh into another pitched battle against a well-defended position (similar scenario to Na San). Once on the ground the 6e BPC ran into contact with the Viet Minh 910th Battalion, 148th Regiment, which was conducting field exercise in the area along with a battery from the 351st Artillery Division 
and an infantry company of the 320th Division. 
Fighting persisted until the afternoon when the Viet Minh units eventually withdrew to the south. 

The 6e BPC (450 men strong which included 200 Vietnamese) was dropped as re-enforcement in DBP on the 16th of March and operated from the central position “Claudine” as general reserve for counter attacks, 
unfortunately its strength was quickly eroded after bloody assaults to re take fallen positions. 
The battalion saw its destruction with the rest of the garrison on the 7th May 1954.  

 Re enacted photos are from HQ company showing 
an Officer,  a Radio and a NCO in the valley towards the end of the first day 
of “Operation Castor”.