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Old 11-04-2010, 05:12   #5
Pete
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Fayetteville
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The French

Quote:
Originally Posted by akv View Post
...... And while an argument could be made for them being out maneuvered again at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam, didn't their troops fight hard?
Were the troops fighting at Dien Bien Phu French? The Infantry was from the Foreign Legion, Algeria, Morocco and Thailand. The bulk of the Parachute and Artillery also seem to have been "Colonial" or Legion. All the Heavy Mortar units were from the Legion.

The Armoured Cav was made up of the 3 EM / 1 RCC (French).

It does seem the service units - signal, engineers and medical were mostly French.

All the above reminded me of that depressing foreign film about the Moroccans who went to fight with France in WW II. Man, was that film a downer. Ended with the old guy sitting in a small apartment in France with no pension.
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