THE BATTLE OF DIEN BIEN PHU

THE BATTLE OF DIEN BIEN PHU

The Battle of Điện Biên Phủ was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist-nationalist. The battle occurred from March to May 1954 and culminated in an ample French defeat that influenced negotiations over the future of Indochina at Geneva.

The hedgehog concept was based on French experiences at the Battle of Na San. In late November and early December 1952, Giáp attacked the French outpost at Na San, which was essentially an "air-land base", a fortified camp supplied only by air. Giáp's forces were beaten back repeatedly with very heavy losses. The French hoped that by repeating the strategy on a much larger scale, they would be able to lure Giáp into committing the bulk of his forces in a massed assault. This would enable superior French artillery, armour, and air support to decimate the exposed Viet Minh forces but, at Điện Biên Phủ, Giáp spent several months stockpiling ammunition and emplacing heavy artillery and AA guns before making his move.

Starting in December, the French, under the command of Colonel Christian de Castries, began transforming their anchoring point into a fortress by setting up 7 positions. The fortified headquarters, PC Gono was centrally located, with positions "Huguette" to the west, “Gabrielle” to the North, "Claudine" and “Isabelle” to the South, "Dominique" to the Northeast, ”Anne-Marie” to the Northwest and “Eliane” to the Southeast.

The position represented in this diorama is PC Gono where the 1^st BEP 
(Bataillon Etranger de Parachutiste) was in reserve.