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195413 March – 7 May 1954 · Dien Bien Phu

Battle of Dien Bien Phu

Preserved French trenches on Hill A1 (Eliane 2) at Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam
Photo: Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada. CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Viet Minh forces under Vo Nguyen Giap hauled artillery onto the hills around a French base in a remote valley and besieged it for 56 days. The garrison surrendered on 7 May, the day before talks on Indochina began at the Geneva Conference. France withdrew from Indochina and Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Hill A1Fiercely contested hill with a French bunker and mine crater.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: De Castries' command bunkerFrench command post captured on 7 May.Map ↗

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