Colonel De Castries was promoted to Brigade General on April
15. The day before, a parachute drop from one of the C119 planes blew into the
Viet Minh’s controlled area at Isabelle outpost. A Vietnamese soldier found a
large trunk containing cigarettes, wine and liquor, pates, sausages, razors,
and a pink letter scented with perfume from De Castries’s wife in Paris,
congratulating him on his promotion. She had been led to believe that the
French were winning.
French
soldiers waiting for parachute drops, DBP
De Castries was well known for his lavish life style and his
romances with women. Naming all the outposts at Dien Bien Phu after his
mistresses, sometimes he changed the names of outposts. For example, Huguette
had earlier been named Anne-Marie. Sometimes he referred to Huguette as
Francoise or the name of another mistress. The French commander had also
expected some luxuries during the battle. On his long plane journey from France
to Viet Nam, De Castries had even brought an iron bathtub with him - for the
bunker at the battlefield.
Another time, members of the Viet Minh’s Battalion 225 found
one parachute drop, half of the contents of which were detective novels and
magazines about sex, accompanied by a letter scented with perfume from
Jacqueline de Castries to her husband.
One time, Viet Minh troops captured a parachute at Eliane
outpost, which contained only bags of sand. On the same day, they found a
parachute with bags labeled as “Sucre” and were scared. Standing at a distance,
a soldier poked his bayonet at one bag. It burst and white sugar was pouring
out. When they knew it was sugar, all were excited. For Viet Minh troops, this
was a precious commodity. Together with the captured coffee, they had a
celebration.
In middle April, members of Division 312 captured parachutes
containing large quantities of champagne, intended for celebration when De
Castries and other commanders were promoted to their next ranks. The Viet Minh
drank the champagne to celebrate their own victory. There were also containers
of ice captured by the Viet Minh. The ice was intended for the champagne but
Vietnamese soldiers used it to drink and to wash themselves in the hot
temperature following heavy rain.
Parachute supplies of fresh produce from Ha Noi arrived
daily and Vietnamese soldiers were delighted to consume them.
From March 30, the number of parachutes captured by the Viet
Minh increased. One Viet Minh regiment at Isabelle outpost collected 776
parachutes in one week, containing ammunition, kerosene, and 60 tons of canned
food. It had taken 30 Dakota plane trips to deliver that amount of
goods.
The Viet Minh captured several tons of batteries and used
them inside their tunnels and dugouts throughout the battlefield. Following
their first victory at Him Lam (Beatrice), Colonels Tran Do and Hoang Cam held
a meeting /celebration for thirty senior staff inside a large dugout at the
base of the hill. Along the hillside, there was an unusual sign. From the red
earth surface being broken and damaged by artillery were rows of ginger flowers
of purple-pink variety, standing proudly under the sunshine, exhaling their
sweet scent. Emerging from the trench, they entered the dugout
entrance marked with an empty ammunition box. The whole interior was brightly
lit. Along the earthen walls were arrangements of wild orchids and ginger
flowers, inside cannon shells functioning as vases. “Chairs” and “tables” and
“beds” were created from solid mounts of earth, covered neatly with cut pieces
of white parachutes they had captured. The theme was “living in style in the
middle of gunfire”. For this special occasion, they were served hot steamed
rice, wild vegetables soup, charcoal grilled wild boar, and wild berries and
custard apples… While feasting, they were unaffected by the sounds of
explosions all over the battlefield.
A view inside
General De Castries’ bunker today
A set of rules was introduced to Viet Minh troops concerning
parachute drops. They were allowed to consume all the food and drink items, or
materials of great use to them at the battlefield, such as bullets, batteries,
parachutes, and sand bags. The person in charge of the Viet Minh administration
had instructed them to forward all personal items such as letters, books, magazines,
and money to their intended destinations. Every time a French soldier arrived
to receive those items, he would hold a white flag while entering the Viet
Minh’s zone.
Observing thousands of parachutes each day, Colonel Hoang
Cam’s soldiers composed the following song:
Flying low they are terrified
Flying high they drop outside the targets
Strong wind drifts the parachutes to open fields
Blowing them into our army zones
Green parachutes
White parachutes
Yellow parachutes
Parachutes of all colors…
By Laura Lam | dtinews.vn
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