Christian Marie Ferdinand de la Croix de Castries (11 August 1902 - 29 July 1991) was the French commander at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. Events 2492 BC - Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Events 1014 - Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars: Battle of Kleidion: Byzantine emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu (Bataille de Diên Biên Phu Chiến dịch Điện Biên Phủ was the climactic battle of the First Indochina War between French Union He came from a distinguished family in France, long associated with the military. The house of la Croix de Castries (traditionally pronounced "Castre" in Latin de Cruce, is a French noble family from Languedoc.
Castries was born into a distinguished military family and enlisted in the army at the age of 19. He was sent to the Saumur Cavalry School and in 1926 was commissioned an officer, but he later resigned to devote himself to equestrian sports. Saumur is a town and commune in the Maine-et-Loire département of France on the Loire River at, with an approximate After rejoining the army at the start of World War II, he was captured (1940), escaped from a German prison-of-war camp (1941), and fought with the Allied forces in North Africa, Italy, and southern France.
In 1946 Castries, soon to become a lieutenant colonel, was sent to Indochina. He was wounded and spent a year recuperating in France before returning to Vietnam as a full colonel. In December 1953 he was charged with defending Dien Bien Phu[1] against overwhelming odds and was given a field promotion to brigadier general. After an eight-week siege, the garrison was defeated. The French were overrun by the Viet Minh forces on 7 May 1954, effectively ending the First Indochina War and the French presence in Southeast Asia. The First Indochina War (also known as the French Indochina War, the The Anti-French War, the Franco-Vietnamese War, the Franco-Vietminh War, Castries was held prisoner for four months while an armistice agreement was reached in Geneva. He retired from the military in 1959.
References
- ^ * Martin Windrow, 'The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam' Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London, 2004 ISBN 0-297-84671-X
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