Cochinchina in first indochina war

I'm new to forum and group but I have an interest in gaming the Indochina War in 10mm figs. As I'm not versed in French I would appreciate any
info on English books/publications regarding the subject for Cochinchina as most of the writing is for the Tonkin area. I have found "Year of the Tiger"
but little else in that regard.
Thanks,
indotoc

Maybe General Castries can help. This one may be even a tough one for Darby.

Tom

Three quick points:

- Check out "Quicksand War: Prelude to Vietnam", Lucien Bodard. Bodard was a journalist on the ground in Indochina in the 1950s. He gives his observations on the war in the mud and plains in the South, and in the hills of the North.

- I've translated a history of Battalion 303, a Vietminh Mainforce unit that operated north of Saigon from 1948-54. I'll try to post it here.

- I've got, but have yet to translate "LA GUERRE PAR D’AUTRES MOYENS » : RÉFLEXIONS SUR LA GUERRE DU VIÊT MINH DANS LE SUD-VIETNAM DE 1945 À 1951", which is an account of Vietminh operations in the South.

As a general rule, the war in South was less structure and crazier than that in the North. In the South there were a range of religious sects and political parties, and the military action was more dependent on assassination and terrorism.

Tim

Thanks for advice and reference... yes from what I have learned so far, the South was much crazier than North which is why I find it to be (maybe?) more flexible and less chance of making mistakes with the troopers/sects. South has lots of smaller cool blockhouses/forts too. Year of the Tiger has good stuff but I will definitely look into Quicksand War and I'll keep an eye out for "La Guerre Par...". I've yet to check out FFL references as to help in this regard but headed that way soon. As my good friend Garryowen noted to me, " ...may be a bit like Terry and the Pirates". BTW, the book by Seymour Topping (a correspondent during the cold war period) had a couple of interesting chapters on this period for Saigon&Hanoi). If interested I'll find the title again.
Todd

Indotoc,
I like Topping's book. If you're willing to check out the second hand bookshops, a few more to try are:

- "In order to Die", by Henry Ainley. It's an account of a Brit who served in the Legion in the Tay Ninh area. A fun read

- "Strange Company", by Adrian Liddell Hart. Another Brit legionnaire, who served (very briefly) in a Crabe unit, and didn't seem to enjoy it.

- "A Legionnaire's Journey, by Leslie Aparvary. A Hungarian legionnaire who served in the North in the late 1940s.

Tim

Thanks for the book suggestions! I will put them on my list for seeing if I can acquire!
Todd

Good coverage & info of the French Foreign Legion in Indochina is provided in a number of chapters of Douglas Porch's book: The French Foreign Legion-A Complete History of the Legendary Fighting Force. Covers early FFL in the 1860's-1880's as well as the first Indochina war.
There is also a book out (I haven't seen yet) titled "The French Foreign Legion in Indochina" which has good reviews.

I found this most interesting tidbit of information on the French Outpost of Kha Ly in the province ofQuang Binh (northern Annam) but unfortunately there is no map to detail where it is ?? I'm hoping someone out there may know more about this place as it seems an interesting wargame scenario...........................

from pg. 42, In the Year of the Tiger:

" It is not necessary to recount again the battle of Dien Bien Phu; the well of
that literature bubbles to overflowing. Instead we turn to northern Annam, to
what is now the province of Quảng Bình, to examine in microcosm what might
have been had France constrained her effort and constrained ends to fit means.
There on 18 March 1954, four days after the initial Viet Minh assaults on Dien
Bien Phu, the post of Kha Ly found itself completely surrounded by two regular
battalions of the 320th Division. The 3rd Company of the 53rd Battalion of the
Vietnamese National Army held Kha Ly, with Lieutenant Nguyen Am in command.
Including twenty militia, his force came to around one hundred men.
The Viet Minh quickly drew the noose tight. Resupply could only be accomplished
by airdrop.

On the night of 2 April, Kha Ly came under attack. A blockhouse detached
from the main fort was destroyed after five hours of fighting; ten men lay buried
in the rubble. The Viet Minh sapped their trenches closer to the post. In
the deepest portion of the night, the Viet Minh launched their main assault.
A wave of attackers carried the wall and came crashing into the post itself. The
Communists now occupied two-thirds of Kha Ly. Lieutenant Am called for an
artillery barrage on his position. At four in the morning a Dakota swung low
and dropped a flare, momentarily giving enough light for Am’s men to pour a
murderous, if brief, fire into the Viet Minh ranks. At this point Am guided in
two fighter-bombers and directed them to drop napalm on the enemy-held
side of the fort. While the Viet Minh burned, Am ordered a counterattack.
Unnerved, most of the Viet Minh fled; Am’s men killed the rest. When the sun
came up, the haggard defenders pulled one hundred Viet Minh corpses from
their base. Two hundred more had died in the wire. If the verdict of history
was against Lieutenant Am and his men, they did not know it."

That would make a neat game.

Tom

Hello , I found this
(google traduction)



Marshal-des-logis Bourderie joined Ninh-Giang, in northern Vietnam, "near the Red River delta and the bamboo canal", to support a commando on the ground, using artillery. During two years. Always quick to serve his country "to push back the Communists", Guy then volunteered to be parachuted on Diên-Biên-Phû. He was not selected and therefore did not participate in the battle marked by the French defeat on May 7, 1954. An episode which marked the beginning of the end of the war.

Instead, in 1953, he was sent to Kha-Ly post, named after a small adjacent village, still in the north of the country. The 21-year-old soldier has “twenty men and a Vietnamese company” under his command.
[Kha-Ly's post was surrounded for four months, before falling into the hands of the Vietnamese military.]
Kha-Ly's post was surrounded for four months, before falling into the hands of the Vietnamese military. | PRIVATE ARCHIVES

Soldiers are risking their lives every moment. “Our cook had his throat cut while going to the village for food. A resident tampered with one of our mines and a sergeant lost his life when it exploded. "

The village rises up against the French occupier and the enemy army tightens the noose around the post. “For four months we were surrounded. They insulted us through megaphones and adjusted their bus fire at our post. "

The shots got closer and closer so that one evening the fight began. “Fortunately, we had received an encrypted message alerting us to the attack. "

60 rounds every 5 minutes

A rain of 60 shells every 5 minutes fell on the 5,600 m² camp. Five men lose their lives "and are buried on the ground".

Guy was "knocked out" by a shell exploding a few paces from his command post. Salvation comes from the air. “The aircraft carrier Arromanches sent two Bearcat planes to throw napalm around the post. "

Less than a month after the fighting, Guy was repatriated and replaced. Two weeks later, he learned that Kha-Ly's post had fallen. “It was the last French post in the region. "

Google map ( not sure if it's the good  "Kha Ly)

Very interesting, Thanks! I'm wondering though if these are two different places? My reference
cites that post is in northern Annam (what is now the province of Quảng Bình). I looked up the province and does exist in northern Annam, whereas your Kha-Ly is in Tonkin. Tough war to research due to so little written in English on the military actions. Even the French stuff is hard to get (and I don't speak/read/write French). A super book on the political side of things with limited discussion of military actions is "The Embers of War". Wish someone would write a book in English that covers all the military actions in the first Indochina war but best I've see is "Street Without Joy", a great book but lacking good coverage of the entire war and poor hand drawn (hard to read) maps.

I found this on "mémoires des hommes "
https://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/arkotheque/client/mdh/guerre_indochine/index.php

Last name HUILLIER
First names Gilbert Maurice
Date of death 11/11/1952
Place of death Kha Ly
Country of death Tonkin
Status
2nd class soldier
Unit
2nd RTA

Interesting site! BTW, on google maps & Wikipedia you can look up the province of Quảng Bình which is in Annam. I'm beginning to believe there were two Kha-Ly's (unless "The Year of the Tiger" book had the wrong province). I have found that there was a French air base during the
first Indochina war in Quảng Bình, perhaps there was a fort there protecting the air base but still don't see a Kha-Ly there...... frustrating war documentation.

If Guy Bourderie is still alive I can try to phone him to know where were is post.
I think I found is phone number in Dinan ( France)

Thanks for your consideration but please don't go to that trouble......
What I really need to do is learn French and then do a serious check of their war archives....
OR ELSE MAKE UP A historical fiction SCENARIO