War in Vietnam (1945–1946)
Encyclopedia
The War in Vietnam, code-name Operation Masterdom by the British, also known as Nam Bộ kháng chiến (literally "Southern Resistance War") by the Vietnamese, was a post–World War II armed conflict involving largely British-Indian
and French task force
and Japanese troops from the Southern Expeditionary Army Group
versus the Vietnamese national liberation movement, the Viet Minh
for control of the country, after the unconditional Japanese surrender. The wars in Indochina
, for about 45 years, had caught the world's attention during the last part of the 20th century. France's unsuccessful nine-year conflict
(1945–1954), America's equally unsuccessful involvement
, ending in 1973 to the conflict in Cambodia
, sparked by the Vietnamese invasion in 1978
have been often referred to, respectively, as the First, Second and Third Indochina Wars. Historically, they are misnumbered by one, for the first war in Vietnam after World War II was a brief but important conflict that grew out of the British occupation of Saigon from 1945-46.
, East Germany, the Allied
leaders made the decision to divide Indochina
in half at the 16th parallel
to allow Chiang Kai-shek
to receive the Japanese surrender in the North
, while Lord Louis Mountbatten to receive the surrender in the South
. The Allies agreed that France was the rightful owner of French Indochina
, but because of the fact that France was critically weakened as a result of the German
occupation, an Britain
-Indian force was installed in order to help the French in re-establishing control over their former colonial possession. To carry out his part of the task, Lord Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander Southeast Asia, was to form an Allied Commission
to go to Saigon and a military force consisting of an infantry division was to be designated as the Allied Land Forces French Indochina (ALFFIC). It was tasked to ensure civil order in the area surrounding Saigon, to enforce the Japanese surrender, render humanitarian assistance to Allied prisoner of war
and internees.
As for the Control Commission its concern was primarily with winding down the Supreme Headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army
Southeast Asia and also render humanitarian assistance to prisoners of war. Thus Major-General Douglas Gracey was appointed to head the Commission and the 80th Brigade, commanded by Brigadier D.E. Taunton, of his crack 20th Indian Division was the ALFFIC which followed him to Vietnam.
In late August 1945, British occupying forces were ready to depart for various Southeast Asia
n destinations, and some were already on their way, when General Douglas MacArthur
caused an uproar at the Southeast Asia Command by forbidding reoccupation until he had personally received the Japanese surrender in Tokyo, which was actually set for 28 August, but a typhoon caused the ceremony to be postponed until 2 September.
MacArthur's uproar had enormous consequences, for Allied prisoners of war in Japanese camps had to suffer living in a ghastly state for a little bit longer and also this delay, before the Allied troops arrived, enabled revolutionary groups to fill the power vacuums that had existed in Southeast Asia since the announcement of the Japanese capitulation on 15 August. The chief beneficiaries in Indochina were the Communists, who exercised complete control over the Viet Minh
, the nationalist party founded by Ho Chi Minh
in 1941. In Hanoi
and Saigon, they rushed to seize the seats of government, by liquidating or intimidating their rivals.
While the Allies stated that the French had sovereignty over Indochina, America opposed the return of Indochina to the French; but there was no such official America animosity towards the Communist-led Viet Minh. Although the desire for independence was strong among the Vietnamese, it is doubtful whether the creed of the Communists held much universal appeal.
MacArthur finally had his ceremony on board the on 2 September, and three days later the first Allied medical rescue teams parachuted into the prisoner of war
camps. During the following days a small advance party of support personnel and infantry escort from Gracey's force arrived in Saigon to check on conditions and report back; on the 11th a brigade was flown in from Hmawbi Field, Burma via Bangkok
. When these advance Allied units landed in Saigon they found themselves in a bizarre position of being welcomed and guarded by fully armed Japanese and Viet Minh soldiers. The reason these soldiers were armed was because six months earlier (March 9) they disarmed and interned the French, for the Japanese feared an American landing in Indochina after the fall of Manila and did not trust the French.
Gracey wrote that unless something was done quickly the state of anarchy would worsen. This situation was worsened by the Viet Minh's lack of strong control over some of their allied groups. Because of this the French were able to persuade Gracey (in a move which exceeded the authority of his orders from Mountbatten) to rearm local colonial infantry regiments, who were being held as prisoners of war. Gracey also allowed about 1,000 French former prisoners of war to be rearmed. They, with the arrival of the newly formed 5th Colonial Infantry Regiment (RIC) commandos, would then be able to evict the Viet Minh from what hold they had on the Saigon administration. Gracey saw this as the quickest way to allow the French to reassert their authority in Indochina, while letting him get on with the job of disarming and repatriating the Japanese.
Gracey faced another problem in his relations with Mountbatten
. One example of this occurred on Gracey arrival in September, he drew up a proclamation that declared marital law and stated that he was responsible for law and order throughout Indochina south of the 16th parallel. Mountbatten in turn made an issue of this, claiming that Gracey was responsible for public security in key areas only. The proclamation was published on 21 September and, although the Supreme Commander Lord Mountbatten disagreed with its wording, the Chiefs of Staff
and the Foreign Office supported Gracey.
During the following days Gracey gradually eased the Viet Minh grip on Saigon, replacing their guards in vital points with his own troops. These vital points were then turned over to French troops. This procedure was adopted because the Viet Minh would not have relinquished their positions directly to the hated French. By 23 September, Saigon was back in French hands and less than half a dozen vital positions were in Viet Minh hands. The French regained control of Saigon. On that day former French prisoners of war who had been reinstated into the army together with troops from the 5th RIC ejected the Viet Minh in a noisy but relatively bloodless coup in which two French soldiers were killed and no Vietnamese casualties.
On the night of the 24/25 the Vietnamese reacted as a mob (not under Viet Minh control) abducted and butchered a large number of French and French-Vietnamese men, women and children. On the 25th the Viet Minh attacked and set fire to the city's central market area, while another group attacked Tan Son Nhut Airfield
. The airfield attack was repelled by the Gurkha
s, where one British soldier was killed along with half a dozen Viet Minh. The British now had a war on their hands, something which Mountbatten had sought to avoid.
For the next few day parties of armed Viet Minh clashed against British/Indian patrols, the Viet Minh suffering mounting losses with each encounter. The British soldiers were highly professional and experienced troops had had just recently finished battling against the Japanese; many officers and soldiers had also experienced internal security and guerrilla warfare in India and the North West Frontier. In contrast, even though the Viet Minh were courageous, they were still learning how to fight a war.
In early October, Gracey held talks with the Viet Minh and a truce was agreed upon. On the 5th, General Philippe Leclerc, the senior French commander, arrived in Saigon where he and his troops were placed under Gracey's command. However, on 10 October the state of semi-peace with the Viet Minh was broken by an unprovoked attack on a small British engineering party which was inspecting the water lines near Tan Son Nhut Airfield. Most of the engineering party members were killed or wounded. Gracey accepted the fact that the level of insurrection was such that he would first have to pacify key areas before he could repatriate the Japanese. It was at this time that his small force had been strengthened by the arrival of his second infantry brigade, the 32nd, under Brigadier E.C.V. Woodford. Gracey deployed the 32nd Brigade into Saigon's troublesome northern suburbs of Go Vap and Gia Dinh. Once in this area the Viet Minh fell back before this force, which included armoured car support from the Indian 16th Light Cavalry
.
Aerial reconnaissance by Spitfires revealed that the roads approaching into Saigon were blocked: the Viet Minh were attempting to strangle the city. On October 13 Tan Son Nhut came under attack again by the Viet Minh, their commandos and sappers were able this time to come within 275m of the control tower. They were also at the doors of the radio station before the attack was blunted by Indian and Japanese soldiers. As the Viet Minh fell back from the airfield, the Japanese were ordered to pursue them until nightfall, when contact was broken.
By mid-October 307 Viet Minh had been killed by British/Indian troops and 225 were killed by Japanese troops, including the new body count of 80 more Viet Minh at Da Lat. On one occasion, the Japanese repulsed an attack on the their headquarters at Phu Lam
, killing 100 Viet Minh. British, French, and Japanese casualties were small by comparison. On the 17th the third brigade, the 100th commanded by Brigadier C.H.B. Rodham arrived in Indochina.
The Viet Minh next assaulted Saigon's vital points. They were the power plant, docks, the airfield for the third time, and even the city's artesian wells. Periodically, Saigon was blacked out at night and the sound of small arms
, grenades
, mine
s mortar
s, and artillery
became familiar throughout the city. Unable to overwhelm Saigon's defences, the Viet Minh intensified their siege tactics. During this time, newly arrived French troops were given the task of helping to break the siege while aggressive British patrolling kept the Viet Minh off-balanced.
On 25 October, the only known evidence of direct Soviet
involvement in the area came about, when a Japanese patrol captured a Russia
n adviser near Thủ Dầu Một. He was handed over to Lieutenant-Colonel Cyril Jarvis, commander of the 1/1 Gurkha Rifles at Thủ Dầu Một
. Jarvis tried several attempts at interrogation, but it was fruitless, so the intruder was handed over to the Sûreté
, the French criminal investigation department (equivalent to the CID), from there he disappeared from annals of history.
On 29 October the British formed a strong task force with the objective of pushing the Viet Minh further away from Saigon. This force was called 'Gateforce' after its commander, Lt.-Col. Gates of 14/13th Frontier Force Rifles
. Gateforce consisted of Indian infantry, artillery, and armoured cars and a Japanese infantry battalion. During their operations they killed around 190 enemy; during one operation around Xuan Loc, east of Saigon, the Japanese killed 50 Viet Minh when they surprised a Viet Minh group in training.
On 18 November a Gurkha unit set out for Long Kien
, south of Saigon, to rescue French hostage
s held there. While en route, the force was forced to turn back as it was not strong enough to overcome the Viet Minh they encountered. A few days later a stronger force was dispatched. According to the Gurkhas, they had seen Japanese deserters leading some Viet Minh war parties. During this operation the only kukri
(Nepal
ese knife) charge in the whole campaign occurred. According to a Gurkha platoon leader, at one point during the operation they were held up by determined Viet Minh defenders occupying an old French fort. The Gurkhas brought up a bazooka and blew in the doors, then without hesitation drew out their kukris and charged into the fort, putting the defenders to the knife. Long Kien was finally reached on that same day, but no hostages were recovered, but about 80 Viet Minh had been killed during this operation.
By early December, Gracey was able to turn over Saigon northern suburbs to the French, when 32 Brigade relinquished responsibility to General Valluy's 9th Colonial Infantry Division. On Christmas
Day, the 32nd set out for Borneo
. Many of the newly arrived French soldiers were ex-Maquis
(French Resistance), not accustomed to military discipline. Many, too, held the same racist attitude towards Asians
as did some Americans a generation later. These two problems caused Gracey to write a complaint letter to Gen. Leclerc. In it Gracey also lashed out at those Frenchmen who looked down upon his Indian soldiers.
During the battles of the South Central Highlands, the Viet Minh forced French troops to leave many villages and newly captured positions in the Central Highlands. The town of Buon Ma Thuot
was regained by the Vietnamese in mid-December.
On 3 January 1946 the last big battle occurred between the British and the Viet Minh. About 900 Viet Minh, attacked the 14/13 Frontier Force Rifles
camp at Bien Hoa
. The fighting last throughout the night, and when it was over about 100 attackers had been killed without the loss of a single British/Indian soldier. Most Viet Minh casualties were the result of a murderous British machine-gun crossfire.
In mid-January the Viet Minh began to avoid large scale attacks on the British, French, and Japanese forces. They began to take fighting characteristics which later became too common: ambushes, hit-and-run raids, and assassinations, while the British, French and Japanese constantly patrolled and conducted security sweeps and so on. This was the first modern unconventional war and although the Viet Minh had sufficient manpower
to sustain a long campaign, they were actual beaten back by well-led professional troops who were not alien to Asia jungle or countryside.
By the end of the month, 80 Brigade handed over its theater of operation to the French and the 100 Brigade was withdrawn into Saigon. Gracey flew out on the 28th. Before his departure, he signed control over of French forces to Gen. Leclerc. The last British forces left on 26 March, so ending the seven-month intervention in Vietnam; and on 30 March the Islami took aboard the last two British/Indian battalions in Vietnam. Only a single company of the 2/8 Punjab remained to guard the Allied Control Mission in Saigon, and on 15 May it left, the mission having been disbanded a day earlier as the French became responsible for getting the remaining Japanese home. The last British troops to die in Vietnam were six soldiers killed in an ambush in June 1946.
, and tens of thousands of nationalists, Catholics and others were massacred from 1946-1948. Between May and December, Ho Chi Minh spent four months in France attempting to negotiate full independence and unity for Vietnam, but failed to obtain any guarantee from the French. After a series of violent clashes with Viet Minh, French forces bombarded Hai Phong harbor and occupied Hanoi, forcing Viet Minh forces to retreat into the jungle. On December 19, 1946, 30,000 Viet Minh under Giap initiated the National Resistance War with an attack on French troops at Hanoi
. The War in Vietnam
of 1946 - 1954, had begun.
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
and French task force
Task force
A task force is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology...
and Japanese troops from the Southern Expeditionary Army Group
Southern Expeditionary Army Group
The was a army group of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. It was responsible for all military operations in South East Asian and South West Pacific campaigns of World War II....
versus the Vietnamese national liberation movement, the Viet Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
for control of the country, after the unconditional Japanese surrender. The wars in Indochina
Indochina Wars
The Indochina Wars were a series of wars fought in Southeast Asia from 1947 until 1979, between nationalist Vietnamese against French, American, and Chinese forces. The term "Indochina" originally referred to French Indochina, which included the current states of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. In...
, for about 45 years, had caught the world's attention during the last part of the 20th century. France's unsuccessful nine-year conflict
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
(1945–1954), America's equally unsuccessful involvement
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, ending in 1973 to the conflict in Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, sparked by the Vietnamese invasion in 1978
Cambodian-Vietnamese War
The Cambodian–Vietnamese War was an armed conflict between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and Democratic Kampuchea. The war began with isolated clashes along the land and maritime boundaries of Vietnam and Kampuchea between 1975 and 1977, occasionally involving division-sized military formations...
have been often referred to, respectively, as the First, Second and Third Indochina Wars. Historically, they are misnumbered by one, for the first war in Vietnam after World War II was a brief but important conflict that grew out of the British occupation of Saigon from 1945-46.
The French collapse
In July 1945 at PotsdamPotsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
, East Germany, the Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
leaders made the decision to divide Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
in half at the 16th parallel
16th parallel north
The 16th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 16 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, Central America, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean....
to allow Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
to receive the Japanese surrender in the North
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
, while Lord Louis Mountbatten to receive the surrender in the South
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
. The Allies agreed that France was the rightful owner of French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
, but because of the fact that France was critically weakened as a result of the German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
occupation, an Britain
Anglo
Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to the Angles, England or the English people, as in the terms Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, Anglo-Celtic, Anglo-African and Anglo-Indian. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British Isles descent in The Americas, Australia and...
-Indian force was installed in order to help the French in re-establishing control over their former colonial possession. To carry out his part of the task, Lord Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander Southeast Asia, was to form an Allied Commission
Allied Commission
Following the termination of hostilities in World War II, the Allied Powers were in control of the defeated Axis countries. Anticipating the defeat of Germany and Japan, they had already set up the European Advisory Commission and a proposed Far Eastern Advisory Commission to make recommendations...
to go to Saigon and a military force consisting of an infantry division was to be designated as the Allied Land Forces French Indochina (ALFFIC). It was tasked to ensure civil order in the area surrounding Saigon, to enforce the Japanese surrender, render humanitarian assistance to Allied prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
and internees.
As for the Control Commission its concern was primarily with winding down the Supreme Headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
Southeast Asia and also render humanitarian assistance to prisoners of war. Thus Major-General Douglas Gracey was appointed to head the Commission and the 80th Brigade, commanded by Brigadier D.E. Taunton, of his crack 20th Indian Division was the ALFFIC which followed him to Vietnam.
In late August 1945, British occupying forces were ready to depart for various Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
n destinations, and some were already on their way, when General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
caused an uproar at the Southeast Asia Command by forbidding reoccupation until he had personally received the Japanese surrender in Tokyo, which was actually set for 28 August, but a typhoon caused the ceremony to be postponed until 2 September.
MacArthur's uproar had enormous consequences, for Allied prisoners of war in Japanese camps had to suffer living in a ghastly state for a little bit longer and also this delay, before the Allied troops arrived, enabled revolutionary groups to fill the power vacuums that had existed in Southeast Asia since the announcement of the Japanese capitulation on 15 August. The chief beneficiaries in Indochina were the Communists, who exercised complete control over the Viet Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
, the nationalist party founded by Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
in 1941. In Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
and Saigon, they rushed to seize the seats of government, by liquidating or intimidating their rivals.
While the Allies stated that the French had sovereignty over Indochina, America opposed the return of Indochina to the French; but there was no such official America animosity towards the Communist-led Viet Minh. Although the desire for independence was strong among the Vietnamese, it is doubtful whether the creed of the Communists held much universal appeal.
MacArthur finally had his ceremony on board the on 2 September, and three days later the first Allied medical rescue teams parachuted into the prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
camps. During the following days a small advance party of support personnel and infantry escort from Gracey's force arrived in Saigon to check on conditions and report back; on the 11th a brigade was flown in from Hmawbi Field, Burma via Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
. When these advance Allied units landed in Saigon they found themselves in a bizarre position of being welcomed and guarded by fully armed Japanese and Viet Minh soldiers. The reason these soldiers were armed was because six months earlier (March 9) they disarmed and interned the French, for the Japanese feared an American landing in Indochina after the fall of Manila and did not trust the French.
Britain in Vietnam: prelude to disaster
Douglas Gracey on arrival (13 September) immediately realized the seriousness of the situation. Anarchy, rioting and murder were widespread, Saigon's administrative services had collapsed and a loosely-controlled Communist-led revolutionary group had seized power. In addition, since the Japanese were still fully armed, the Allies feared the they would be capable of undermining the Allied position. Furthermore, Gracey had poor communications with his higher headquarters in Burma, because his America signal detachment was abruptly withdrawn by the U.S. government for political reasons; it was a loss that could not be rectified for several weeks.Gracey wrote that unless something was done quickly the state of anarchy would worsen. This situation was worsened by the Viet Minh's lack of strong control over some of their allied groups. Because of this the French were able to persuade Gracey (in a move which exceeded the authority of his orders from Mountbatten) to rearm local colonial infantry regiments, who were being held as prisoners of war. Gracey also allowed about 1,000 French former prisoners of war to be rearmed. They, with the arrival of the newly formed 5th Colonial Infantry Regiment (RIC) commandos, would then be able to evict the Viet Minh from what hold they had on the Saigon administration. Gracey saw this as the quickest way to allow the French to reassert their authority in Indochina, while letting him get on with the job of disarming and repatriating the Japanese.
Gracey faced another problem in his relations with Mountbatten
Mountbatten
Mountbatten is the family name originally adopted by a branch of the Battenberg family due to rising anti-German sentiment among the British public during World War I...
. One example of this occurred on Gracey arrival in September, he drew up a proclamation that declared marital law and stated that he was responsible for law and order throughout Indochina south of the 16th parallel. Mountbatten in turn made an issue of this, claiming that Gracey was responsible for public security in key areas only. The proclamation was published on 21 September and, although the Supreme Commander Lord Mountbatten disagreed with its wording, the Chiefs of Staff
Chiefs of Staff Committee
The Chiefs of Staff Committee is composed of the most senior military personnel in the British Armed Forces.-History:The Chiefs of Staff Committee was initially established as a sub-committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence in 1923. It remained as such until the abolition of the CID upon the...
and the Foreign Office supported Gracey.
During the following days Gracey gradually eased the Viet Minh grip on Saigon, replacing their guards in vital points with his own troops. These vital points were then turned over to French troops. This procedure was adopted because the Viet Minh would not have relinquished their positions directly to the hated French. By 23 September, Saigon was back in French hands and less than half a dozen vital positions were in Viet Minh hands. The French regained control of Saigon. On that day former French prisoners of war who had been reinstated into the army together with troops from the 5th RIC ejected the Viet Minh in a noisy but relatively bloodless coup in which two French soldiers were killed and no Vietnamese casualties.
On the night of the 24/25 the Vietnamese reacted as a mob (not under Viet Minh control) abducted and butchered a large number of French and French-Vietnamese men, women and children. On the 25th the Viet Minh attacked and set fire to the city's central market area, while another group attacked Tan Son Nhut Airfield
Tan Son Nhut Air Base
Tan Son Nhut Air Base was a Republic of Vietnam Air Force facility. It is located near the city of Saigon in southern Vietnam. The United States used it as a major base during the Vietnam War , stationing Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine units there...
. The airfield attack was repelled by the Gurkha
Gurkha
Gurkha are people from Nepal who take their name from the Gorkha District. Gurkhas are best known for their history in the Indian Army's Gorkha regiments, the British Army's Brigade of Gurkhas and the Nepalese Army. Gurkha units are closely associated with the kukri, a forward-curving Nepalese knife...
s, where one British soldier was killed along with half a dozen Viet Minh. The British now had a war on their hands, something which Mountbatten had sought to avoid.
For the next few day parties of armed Viet Minh clashed against British/Indian patrols, the Viet Minh suffering mounting losses with each encounter. The British soldiers were highly professional and experienced troops had had just recently finished battling against the Japanese; many officers and soldiers had also experienced internal security and guerrilla warfare in India and the North West Frontier. In contrast, even though the Viet Minh were courageous, they were still learning how to fight a war.
In early October, Gracey held talks with the Viet Minh and a truce was agreed upon. On the 5th, General Philippe Leclerc, the senior French commander, arrived in Saigon where he and his troops were placed under Gracey's command. However, on 10 October the state of semi-peace with the Viet Minh was broken by an unprovoked attack on a small British engineering party which was inspecting the water lines near Tan Son Nhut Airfield. Most of the engineering party members were killed or wounded. Gracey accepted the fact that the level of insurrection was such that he would first have to pacify key areas before he could repatriate the Japanese. It was at this time that his small force had been strengthened by the arrival of his second infantry brigade, the 32nd, under Brigadier E.C.V. Woodford. Gracey deployed the 32nd Brigade into Saigon's troublesome northern suburbs of Go Vap and Gia Dinh. Once in this area the Viet Minh fell back before this force, which included armoured car support from the Indian 16th Light Cavalry
16th Light Cavalry
The 16th Light Cavalry is a regiment of the Armoured Corps, a primary combat arm of the Indian Army. Prior to India gaining independence from the British in 1947, it was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army...
.
Aerial reconnaissance by Spitfires revealed that the roads approaching into Saigon were blocked: the Viet Minh were attempting to strangle the city. On October 13 Tan Son Nhut came under attack again by the Viet Minh, their commandos and sappers were able this time to come within 275m of the control tower. They were also at the doors of the radio station before the attack was blunted by Indian and Japanese soldiers. As the Viet Minh fell back from the airfield, the Japanese were ordered to pursue them until nightfall, when contact was broken.
By mid-October 307 Viet Minh had been killed by British/Indian troops and 225 were killed by Japanese troops, including the new body count of 80 more Viet Minh at Da Lat. On one occasion, the Japanese repulsed an attack on the their headquarters at Phu Lam
Phú Lâm
Phú Lâm is a commune and village of the Phú Tân District of An Giang Province, Vietnam....
, killing 100 Viet Minh. British, French, and Japanese casualties were small by comparison. On the 17th the third brigade, the 100th commanded by Brigadier C.H.B. Rodham arrived in Indochina.
The Viet Minh next assaulted Saigon's vital points. They were the power plant, docks, the airfield for the third time, and even the city's artesian wells. Periodically, Saigon was blacked out at night and the sound of small arms
Small arms
Small arms is a term of art used by armed forces to denote infantry weapons an individual soldier may carry. The description is usually limited to revolvers, pistols, submachine guns, carbines, assault rifles, battle rifles, multiple barrel firearms, sniper rifles, squad automatic weapons, light...
, grenades
Hand grenade
A hand grenade is any small bomb that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenades are classified into three categories, explosive grenades, chemical and gas grenades. Explosive grenades are the most commonly used in modern warfare, and are designed to detonate after impact or after a set amount of time...
, mine
Land mine
A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
s mortar
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
s, and artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
became familiar throughout the city. Unable to overwhelm Saigon's defences, the Viet Minh intensified their siege tactics. During this time, newly arrived French troops were given the task of helping to break the siege while aggressive British patrolling kept the Viet Minh off-balanced.
On 25 October, the only known evidence of direct Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
involvement in the area came about, when a Japanese patrol captured a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n adviser near Thủ Dầu Một. He was handed over to Lieutenant-Colonel Cyril Jarvis, commander of the 1/1 Gurkha Rifles at Thủ Dầu Một
Thu Dau Mot
Thủ Dầu Một is the capital town of Binh Duong province, Vietnam. It is located at around .The town has an area of 88 km², population is 158,000, and is located 20 km north of downtown Ho Chi Minh City, on the left bank of the Saigon River, upstream from Ho Chi Minh City...
. Jarvis tried several attempts at interrogation, but it was fruitless, so the intruder was handed over to the Sûreté
Sûreté
Sûreté is a term used in French speaking countries or regions in the organizational title of a civil police force, especially the detective branch thereof.-France:...
, the French criminal investigation department (equivalent to the CID), from there he disappeared from annals of history.
On 29 October the British formed a strong task force with the objective of pushing the Viet Minh further away from Saigon. This force was called 'Gateforce' after its commander, Lt.-Col. Gates of 14/13th Frontier Force Rifles
13th Frontier Force Rifles
The 13th Frontier Force Rifles was part of the British Indian Army, and after 1947, Pakistan Army. It was formed in 1922 by amalgamation of five existing regiments and consisted of five regular battalions.-History:...
. Gateforce consisted of Indian infantry, artillery, and armoured cars and a Japanese infantry battalion. During their operations they killed around 190 enemy; during one operation around Xuan Loc, east of Saigon, the Japanese killed 50 Viet Minh when they surprised a Viet Minh group in training.
On 18 November a Gurkha unit set out for Long Kien
Long Kiến
Long Kiến is a commune and village of the Chợ Mới District of An Giang Province, Vietnam....
, south of Saigon, to rescue French hostage
Hostage
A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
s held there. While en route, the force was forced to turn back as it was not strong enough to overcome the Viet Minh they encountered. A few days later a stronger force was dispatched. According to the Gurkhas, they had seen Japanese deserters leading some Viet Minh war parties. During this operation the only kukri
Kukri
The kukri is a curved Nepalese Knife, similar to the machete, used as both a tool and as a weapon...
(Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
ese knife) charge in the whole campaign occurred. According to a Gurkha platoon leader, at one point during the operation they were held up by determined Viet Minh defenders occupying an old French fort. The Gurkhas brought up a bazooka and blew in the doors, then without hesitation drew out their kukris and charged into the fort, putting the defenders to the knife. Long Kien was finally reached on that same day, but no hostages were recovered, but about 80 Viet Minh had been killed during this operation.
By early December, Gracey was able to turn over Saigon northern suburbs to the French, when 32 Brigade relinquished responsibility to General Valluy's 9th Colonial Infantry Division. On Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
Day, the 32nd set out for Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
. Many of the newly arrived French soldiers were ex-Maquis
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
(French Resistance), not accustomed to military discipline. Many, too, held the same racist attitude towards Asians
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
as did some Americans a generation later. These two problems caused Gracey to write a complaint letter to Gen. Leclerc. In it Gracey also lashed out at those Frenchmen who looked down upon his Indian soldiers.
During the battles of the South Central Highlands, the Viet Minh forced French troops to leave many villages and newly captured positions in the Central Highlands. The town of Buon Ma Thuot
Buon Ma Thuot
Buôn Ma Thuột or sometimes Buon Ma Thuat or Ban Mê Thuột, is the capital city of Dak Lak Province, in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Its population is approximately 300,000...
was regained by the Vietnamese in mid-December.
On 3 January 1946 the last big battle occurred between the British and the Viet Minh. About 900 Viet Minh, attacked the 14/13 Frontier Force Rifles
13th Frontier Force Rifles
The 13th Frontier Force Rifles was part of the British Indian Army, and after 1947, Pakistan Army. It was formed in 1922 by amalgamation of five existing regiments and consisted of five regular battalions.-History:...
camp at Bien Hoa
Bien Hoa
Biên Hòa is a city in Dong Nai province, Vietnam, about east of Ho Chi Minh City , to which Bien Hoa is linked by Vietnam Highway 1.- Demographics :In 1989 the estimated population was over 300,000. In 2005, the population wss 541,495...
. The fighting last throughout the night, and when it was over about 100 attackers had been killed without the loss of a single British/Indian soldier. Most Viet Minh casualties were the result of a murderous British machine-gun crossfire.
In mid-January the Viet Minh began to avoid large scale attacks on the British, French, and Japanese forces. They began to take fighting characteristics which later became too common: ambushes, hit-and-run raids, and assassinations, while the British, French and Japanese constantly patrolled and conducted security sweeps and so on. This was the first modern unconventional war and although the Viet Minh had sufficient manpower
Manpower
Manpower may refer to:*Human resourcesOrganizations:*Manpower Inc., an international employment agency, headquartered in the United States*Manpower Incorporated, a criminal enterprise in the Honor Harrington science fiction series...
to sustain a long campaign, they were actual beaten back by well-led professional troops who were not alien to Asia jungle or countryside.
By the end of the month, 80 Brigade handed over its theater of operation to the French and the 100 Brigade was withdrawn into Saigon. Gracey flew out on the 28th. Before his departure, he signed control over of French forces to Gen. Leclerc. The last British forces left on 26 March, so ending the seven-month intervention in Vietnam; and on 30 March the Islami took aboard the last two British/Indian battalions in Vietnam. Only a single company of the 2/8 Punjab remained to guard the Allied Control Mission in Saigon, and on 15 May it left, the mission having been disbanded a day earlier as the French became responsible for getting the remaining Japanese home. The last British troops to die in Vietnam were six soldiers killed in an ambush in June 1946.
Casualties
For Britain's Vietnam War the official casualty list was 40 British/Indian soldiers killed; the French and Japanese casualties are a little higher. Enemy, 2700 Viet Minh killed, but the real total may be higher, but given the efficiency with which the Viet Minh recovered their dead and wounded the exact number may never be known. About 600 were killed by British soldiers, the rest by the French and Japanese.Significance
Unfortunately, four more bloody decades of fighting lay ahead which would end in defeat for two major world players. From March to July, 1946, armed and backed up by the French, the Viet Minh systematically set about executing leaders and members of nationalist Vietnamese groups, as Ho's lieutenant Le Duan said, "(to) wipe out the reactionaries." Known as the "Great Purge", the goal was to eliminate everyone thought dangerous to the Communist Party of VietnamCommunist Party of Vietnam
The Communist Party of Vietnam , formally established in 1930, is the governing party of the nation of Vietnam. It is today the only legal political party in that country. Describing itself as Marxist-Leninist, the CPV is the directing component of a broader group of organizations known as the...
, and tens of thousands of nationalists, Catholics and others were massacred from 1946-1948. Between May and December, Ho Chi Minh spent four months in France attempting to negotiate full independence and unity for Vietnam, but failed to obtain any guarantee from the French. After a series of violent clashes with Viet Minh, French forces bombarded Hai Phong harbor and occupied Hanoi, forcing Viet Minh forces to retreat into the jungle. On December 19, 1946, 30,000 Viet Minh under Giap initiated the National Resistance War with an attack on French troops at Hanoi
Battle of Hanoi
On December 19, 1946 Vietnamese nationalists fighting for the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh detonated explosives in Hanoi, and the ensuing battle, known as the Battle of Hanoi marked the opening salvo of the First Indochina War. The explosives, set off at 20:03...
. The War in Vietnam
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
of 1946 - 1954, had begun.