Operation Castor

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

Viet Minh

Commanders and leaders

Jean Gilles
Jean Dechaux
Henri Navarre

Vo Nguyen Giap

Strength

4,195 (as of 22 November)

One infantry battalion and one artillery battery

Casualties and losses

As of 20 November:
16 killed,
47 wounded

French est (As of 20 November):
115 killed,
4 wounded (POW)

French Union

Opération Castor 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. Commanded by Brigadier General Jean Gilles, Castor was the largest airborne operation since World War II. 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.

The French paratroopers of the 6^ème Bataillon de Parachutistes Coloniaux (6 BPC) and the 2nd Battalion of the 1^erRégiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes (II/1er RCP) dropped over Dien Bien Phu on the first day in order to secure the airstrip built by the Japanese during the occupation of French Indochina by Japan from 1940 to 1945. The operation took 65 of the 70 operational C-47 Dakota and all 12 C-119 Flying Boxcar transport aircraft the French had in the area, and still required two trips to get the lead elements into the valley. Also dropped in the first wave were elements of the 17^eRégiment de Génie Parachutiste (RGP) ("17th Airborne Engineers Regiment") and the Headquarters group of Groupement Aéroporté 1 (GAP 1), ("Airborne Group 1"). They were followed later in the afternoon by the 1^er Bataillon de Parachutistes Coloniaux (1 BPC) and elements of 35^eRégiment d'Artillerie Légère Parachutiste (35 RALP) and other combat support elements. Just after its landing, the 6 BPC ran into contact with the Viet Minh 910th Battalion, 148th Regiment, which was conducting field exercise in the area along with a battery from the 351st Artillery Division and an infantry company of the 320th Division. Fighting persisted until afternoon when the Viet Minh units eventually withdrew to the south.

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