French military operation in the First Indochina War
Operation Castor
Part of First Indochina War
French Union paratroops dropping from a C-119 over Battle of Dien Bien Phu
Date
20–22 November 1953
Location
Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam
Result
Successful French establishment of the Dien Bien Phu outpost
Belligerents
French Union
France
State of Vietnam
Việt Minh
Commanders and leaders
Jean Gilles Jean Dechaux Henri Navarre
Võ Nguyên Giáp
Strength
4,195 (as of 22 November)[1]
One infantry battalion and one artillery battery
Casualties and losses
By 20 November: 11 killed,[2] 52 wounded
unknown
v
t
e
First Indochina War
Prelude
Masterdom
Haiphong
1946-50
Hanoi
Cao Bằng
Papillon
Léa
Ceinture
Đông Khê
RC4
1951-52
Vĩnh Yên
Mạo Khê
Đáy River
1st Nghĩa Lộ
Hòa Bình
2nd Nghĩa Lộ
Lorraine
Nà Sản
Bretagne
1953
Adolphe
Upper Laos campaign
Muong Khoua
Hirondelle
Camargue
Brochet
Mouette
Castor
Pollux
1954
Atlante
Đắk Đoa
Điện Biên Phủ
Vulture
Condor
Mang Yang Pass
Điện Biên Province (shown in green) was sufficiently far from Hanoi, the seat of French military power, that it could not easily be supplied by air.
Operation Castor[a] was a French airborne operation in the First Indochina War. The operation established a fortified airhead in Điện Biên Province, in the north-west corner of Vietnam and was commanded by Brigadier General Jean Gilles. The Operation began at 10:35 on 20 November 1953, with reinforcements dropped over the following two days. With all its objectives achieved, the operation ended on 22 November. Castor was the largest airborne operation since World War II.
^"DienBienPhu.org". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
^Clodfelter 2008, p. 657.
^B. J. C. McKercher (1996). The Operational Art: Developments in the Theories of War. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 109. ISBN 9780275953058.
^Doctor At Dien-Bien-Phuauthor=Paul Grauwin. Pickle Partners Publishing. 2015. p. 16. ISBN 9781786256850.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
OperationCastor was a French airborne operation in the First Indochina War. The operation established a fortified airhead in Điện Biên Province, in the...
after the Điện Biên Phủ operation began. Operations at Điện Biên Phủ began at 10:35 on 20 November 1953. In OperationCastor, the French dropped or flew...
airhead operations include Battle of Crete and Operation Market Garden during World War II, and Operation Just Cause in Panama in 1989. OperationCastor was...
mountains where the Tai troops, allied with the French, operated. OperationCastor was launched on November 20, 1953, with 1,800 men of the French 1st...
Parachute Battalion) On 21 November 1953 Langlais and GAP 2 took part in OperationCastor, the seizing of the Dien Bien Phu valley. Langlais jumped with the...
Fairchild C-119 aircraft, to be flown by French crews, to facilitate OperationCastor at Dien Bien Phu. 1954 — In January, Navarre's Deputy asked for additional...
the safety of the troops under his command. Instead, he undertook OperationCastor on 20 November 1953. Five French battalions parachuted into Điện Biên...
operations. These included Operation Madad in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, Operation Sea Waves in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, OperationCastor...
October 1973, the MNK riverine forces mounted Operation "Castor 27", a three-day amphibious operation in support of the Cambodian Army's 2nd Infantry...
forces, culminating in OperationCastor and the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. With the French forces withdrawn from the operation by the late summer of 1953...
again during the Battle of Nà Sản, during an operation on Lang Song July 17, 1953, and during OperationCastor on Dien Bien Phu November 20, 1953. Bigeard...
Infantry Regiment 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment November 20–23, 1953 OperationCastor Dien Bien Phu, French Indochina French Union Victory 1st Foreign Parachute...
Kampong Cham in September 1973, the KAF provided close air support to Operation "Castor 21", the combined Cambodian Army-Khmer National Navy (MNK) amphibious...
wave of French troops into the area around Điện Biên Phủ as part of OperationCastor, with the objective of securing a World War II-era landing strip and...
Katherine Anne Castor (/ˈkæstər/ KASS-tər; born August 20, 1966) is an American politician and lawyer currently representing Florida's 14th congressional...
McSherry, J. Patrice (2011). "Chapter 5: "Industrial repression" and Operation Condor in Latin America". In Esparza, Marcia; Henry R. Huttenbach; Daniel...
148th regiment in the attack on Dien Bien Phu as the French launches OperationCastor. An later laments that Binh, who recovered to join an attack on Giang...
Dien Bien Phu twice. On November 20, 1953, the 6th, parachuted during OperationCastor and then on March 16, 1954, the 6th targeted the landing zone in the...
codename "Castor". The system was a single transmitter in the mother aircraft and a receiver in the 'robot'. The first missions with the Castor was on 11...
Indochina War. CAT transported supplies and troops for French operations during OperationCastor in November 1953. CAT assisted the French government at various...
assault operations. During the Battle of Kampong Cham in September 1973 the newly-constituted Cambodian SEALs spearheaded Operation "Castor 21", a successful...
is a hoax. November 20–22 – First Indochina War: OperationCastor – In a massive airborne operation in Vietnam, French forces establish a base at Điện...
base serving Operation Barkhane. At the northeast end of the airfield is Camp Firhoun Ag Alinsar, a Malian army base. Adjoined to Castor is the UK element...
was released in the same year. In March 1994, a subsequent operation managed to break Castor's stronghold. Documents revealed the names of the many policemen...
operation later that year was at the Indochinese Peninsula for the First Indochina War. Alley withdrew in late 1953, shortly before OperationCastor was...
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