Indochine

I'm looking for stories of skirmishes and lesser battles during the Indochina war written by those who participated. Can anyone here recommend any books (which are still possible to buy through French Amazon or FNAC etc) which offers this, with details, OoB and so on?

A topic with the same subject here :
https://estafette.forums-actifs.net/t3663-indochine-conseil-de-lecture

for DBP from the vietnamese point of view you have "Dien Bien Phu vu d'en face : Paroles de bô dôi"
you have also the big book of Lucien Bodard that tells a lot of "inside sorties" from 48 (IIRC) to 52. I re-read the Vinh Yen part yesterday and you have a lot of information from the french point of view, from soldiers to commanders. You also have his own opinion as he was on the battlefield on the 15/01/1951 as a journalist
http://www.amazon.fr/Guerre-dIndochine-Lenlisement-Lhumiliation-Laventure/dp/2246552915/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298900748&sr=1-2

I saw this one to
http://www.amazon.fr/rizi%C3%A8res-souffrance-Combattants-Indochine-1945-1954/dp/2749900646/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298900918&sr=1-14
but I don't know really what it is worth.

For me the Bodar book is trully an astounding one and gives a lot of insights of what really was the indochina war. Remeber that he is not a soldier, he is a journalist and thus has at the same time a wider and a more restricted view of the events.

Thanks, I will look into all of this.

Basically what I'm searching for are encounters up to company level. Encounters not large but part of important battles when a lot was hanging on a thread. It could be something from RC4, the three battles around the delta in 1951, perhaps Hoa Binh / Tu Vu. It could be 6 BPC fighting withdrawal from Tu Le or the intial battle when Na San was nearly overrun. There can can be the fighting between the GCMA and VM between Son La and Tuan Giao in 1953 or at Plaine des Jarres during the same year. Of course, there are a couple of fights at Dien Bien Phu when everything could have ended then and there.

from what I remember he is present in lesser fights in the thai country in 1949 around Lai Chau, or maybe Lao cai, I don't remember. But there is no such thing like oob, he only cover it as a journalist.
Yesterday I briefly read the part from the arrival of "king john" to the end of the battle of Vinh Yen. There is no really battles except Vinh Yen itself and Tien Yen.
that is a long time since I read this book and I don't remember what it say about RC4 and later battles.

and if you are interested you have a smaller battle with the destruction of the GM100 at the Mang Yang pass battle in 54, after DBP in central annam
see here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mang_Yang_Pass#Ambushes
http://www.troupesdemarine.org/traditions/histoire/gm100_indochine_1954.pdf
http://www.troupesdemarine.org/federation/ancre_dor/340/dossier.pdf

Kim Kanger a écrit:Thanks, I will look into all of this.

Basically what I'm searching for are encounters up to company level. Encounters not large but part of important battles when a lot was hanging on a thread. It could be something from RC4, the three battles around the delta in 1951, perhaps Hoa Binh / Tu Vu. It could be 6 BPC fighting withdrawal from Tu Le or the intial battle when Na San was nearly overrun. There can can be the fighting between the GCMA and VM between Son La and Tuan Giao in 1953 or at Plaine des Jarres during the same year. Of course, there are a couple of fights at Dien Bien Phu when everything could have ended then and there.

Oh oh, are you working on a new wargame about Indochina war ?

I would bet on a scenario preparation instead

Fix a écrit:I would bet on a scenario preparation instead

Mais pour quel jeu ?

Mais pour quel jeu ?

Well, let's say a company offered me to do a game. So it will probably be a nice trio:

Tonkin - Dien Bien Phu -

Then it is definitely time for me to move on into another conflict.

Kim Kanger a écrit:

Mais pour quel jeu ?

Well, let's say a company offered me to do a game. So it will probably be a nice trio:

Tonkin - Dien Bien Phu -

Then it is definitely time for me to move on into another conflict.

go back on Algerian War - there are some interesting simulations to be done...

A new "Ici" game but...faster

Kim Kanger a écrit:A new "Ici" game but...faster

a tactical one... I have some ideas for a long, long time...

A tactical for Algeria...well, I'm not sure. But for Indochina, for sure.

what about a ici on the portugese colonies (mozambique et angola)? This is not a subject often covered and this is interesting

Fix a écrit:what about a ici on the portugese colonies (mozambique et angola)? This is not a subject often covered and this is interesting

+1

Or rather Rhodesia and Mozambique together. I know Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) quite well and I have for a long time thoght that I would like to do a game of that conflict.

Quite interesting, no doubt...

Rhodesia/Zimbabwe why not ? Anything that covers these not so well known insurgent wars in Africa will be interesting.

Even more original would be a game on the conflict which took place in Cameroon between UPC independantists and French colonial authorities. Eventually, UPC - backed up by China to some extent - was crushed along with thousands of civilians.

This is an almost unknown story in France although it was one of the most brutal insurgent wars in the French Sub-Saharan colonies.

A book was recently published in that topic (it's in French and I haven't read it): Thomas Deltombe, Manuel Domergue, Jacob Tatsita, KAMERUN!, une guerre cachée aux origines de la FrançAfrique, 1948-1971,éditions La Découverte, 2011

Having said that, this is may be not an originality contest

tyrkir a écrit:Even more original would be a game on the conflict which took place in Cameroon between UPC independantists and French colonial authorities. Eventually, UPC - backed up by China to some extent - was crushed along with thousands of civilians.

This is an almost unknown story in France although it was one of the most brutal insurgent wars in the French Sub-Saharan colonies.

A book was recently published in that topic (it's in French and I haven't read it): Thomas Deltombe, Manuel Domergue, Jacob Tatsita, KAMERUN!, une guerre cachée aux origines de la FrançAfrique, 1948-1971,éditions La Découverte, 2011

Having said that, this is may be not an originality contest

Je suis en train de le lire... lourd, lourd, lourd... Faut-il que j'aime le Cameroun !

Merci du tuyau. C'est un sujet qui m'intéressait beaucoup (j'avais même pensé faire ma maitrise sur l'UPC avant de bifurquer sur la marine danoise pendant la grande guerre du Nord) mais vu ton retour je vais sans doute m'abstenir...

tyrkir a écrit:Merci du tuyau. C'est un sujet qui m'intéressait beaucoup (j'avais même pensé faire ma maitrise sur l'UPC avant de bifurquer sur la marine danoise pendant la grande guerre du Nord) mais vu ton retour je vais sans doute m'abstenir...

Je t'en dirai plus prochainement - j'ai du mal à avancer dedans. Il est bien documenté mais on sent l'esprit partisan d'entrée de jeu. ça sent la thèse, bien construite... j'attends d'arriver au cœur du sujet... Mais à mon avis, ça va être long long long...

Legion Wargames will soon open a whole new set of wargames for preorder. If you wish you can already now sneak in and preorder Dien Bien Phu.

Go to http://www.legionwargames.com/legion_dien_bien_phu.html

Kim Kanger a écrit:Legion Wargames will soon open a whole new set of wargames for preorder. If you wish you can already now sneak in and preorder Dien Bien Phu.

Go to http://www.legionwargames.com/legion_dien_bien_phu.html

Well ! Super !
Preorder done !

Kim Kanger a écrit:I'm looking for stories of skirmishes and lesser battles during the Indochina war written by those who participated. Can anyone here recommend any books (which are still possible to buy through French Amazon or FNAC etc) which offers this, with details, OoB and so on?

Bernard Fall : http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=bernard+fall&x=0&y=0

Especially Street Without Joy.

Bernard Fall has participated at two wars as journalist. He died after stepping on a mine during a patrol in a strategic sector for the guerrilla, where already he patrolled with the french.