BATTLES IN FOCUS DIEN BIEN PHU
Paperback – 28 April 2004 English text
by David Stone (Author)
The French strategy of seeking to establish a fortified base
across the Viet Minh's route to and from Laos provoked an awesome struggle that
lasted from November 1953 to May 1954. During this time Dien Bien Phu,
surrounded by 2000 ft hills and thus difficult to re-supply by air as the
French had intended, became the scene of fearful contests between the locally
savvy men of General Giap and the hapless French forces who, losing one
strongpoint after another, were finally trapped in Dien Bien Phu garrison. The
French lost the cream of their strategic reserve in the region and, within
months, were agreeing to the independence of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. David
Stone, a British Army officer of the post-World War II era, leads the reader
through the complex nature of this significant action.