THE FRENCH AIR FORCE IN INDOCHINA 1945–1956

The Indochina War truly began at the end of 1946, when Hô Chi Minh, the leader of the Viet Minh — a communist-aligned revolutionary front that had proclaimed the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam at the time of the Japanese surrender in September 1945 — launched a general insurrection against the French presence in the country.

From the very first days of this conflict, the French Air Force, in the absence of any opposing air threat, was committed to ground support and the backing of French troops, with a significant number of units engaged — fighter, bomber, reconnaissance and transport alike. The difficult meteorological conditions prevailing in Indochina, combined with the progressive reinforcement of enemy anti-aircraft defences, exacted a heavy toll on French airmen right up to the dramatic fall of Diên Biên Phu on 7 May 1954, a date that marked the beginning of France's disengagement from Indochina.

This 200-page work covers this rather little-known period in the history of the French Air Force, through several hundred photographs, often unpublished as they come from private collections. All the units involved in this war are described in detail, including helicopter units — a type of aircraft still in its infancy at the time, but one that would play a predominant role a few years later in the same region, during the Vietnam War.