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Groupement De Commandos Mixtes Aéroportés
The Groupement de commandos mixtes aéroportés ( en, Mixed Airborne Commando Group) commonly referred as just GCMA, was the "Action Service" of the SDECE French counter-intelligence service active during the Cold War. The GCMA's origins lay in the British - U.S - French joint Operation Jedburgh in France in 1944. History Commando Nord Viet-Nam (1951-1954) The North Vietnam Commandos (''Commando Nord Viet-Nam'') were units similar to the GCMA. They were created in 1951 and remained in service until 1954. Each commando was made of local volunteers called " partisans" (from the anticommunist and pro-French Tho, Nung and Hmong people (also known as the Mèo), minorities) as well as "returned" Viet Minh POW and was commanded by a young French Non-commissioned officer (units were named after them) with an assistant (''adjoint''), most of them were detached from GCMA units. Since former ''Viet Minh'' regulars were part of the troops, occasional betrayal happened. A famous case is C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist state and the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. At the heart of the Indochinese Peninsula, Laos is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest. Its capital and largest city is Vientiane. Present-day Laos traces its historic and cultural identity to Lan Xang, which existed from the 14th century to the 18th century as one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Because of its central geographical location in Southeast Asia, the kingdom became a hub for overland trade and became wealthy economically and culturally. After a period of internal conflict, Lan Xang broke into three separate kingdoms: Luang Phrabang, Vientiane and Champasak. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lao Veterans Of America
The Lao Veterans of America, Inc., describes itself as a non-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental, veterans organization that represents Lao- and Hmong-American veterans who served in the U.S. clandestine war in the Kingdom of Laos during the Vietnam War as well as their refugee families in the United States. Vietnam War and the Kingdom of Laos Members of the Lao Veterans of America, Inc., (LVA) served in the U.S. clandestine war in the Kingdom of Laos during the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos and Vietnam War. These veterans served in the U.S. "Secret Army" in Laos, as well as the Royal Lao Army, and are largely recruits from the ethnic Hmong people, and other Laotian tribal minority peoples, as well as ethnic lowland Lao. They engaged in combat operations, and provided support, for key U.S. covert air and ground operations including Operation Barrel Roll against the North Vietnamese Army and People's Army of Vietnam and communist Pathet Lao forces. Laotian and Hmong soldie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vietnamese National Army
The Vietnamese National Army or Vietnam National Army ( vi, Quân đội Quốc gia Việt Nam, lit=Army of the State of Vietnam, french: Armée Nationale Vietnamienne, lit=Vietnamese National Army) was the State of Vietnam's military force created shortly after the Élysée Accords, where the State of Vietnam was recognized by France as an independent country ruled by Vietnamese Emperor Bảo Đại. It was commanded by Vietnamese people, Vietnamese Nguyễn Văn Hinh, General Hinh and was loyal to Bảo Đại. The VNA fought in joint operations with the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps (CEFEO) against the communist Việt Minh forces led by Ho Chi Minh. Different units within the VNA fought in a wide range of campaigns including the Battle of Nà Sản (1952), Operation Hautes Alpes (1953), Operation Atlas (1953) and the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954). With the departure of the French Far East Expeditionary Corps from Indochina in 1956, the VNA was reorganized ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a lieutenant general outranking a major general, whereas a major outranks a lieutenant. In the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and in the United States, when appointed to a field command, a major general is typically in command of a Division (military), division consisting of around 6,000 to 25,000 troops (several regiments or brigades). It is a two-star general, two-star rank that is subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the rank of brigadier or brigadier general. In the Commonwealth, major general is equivalent to the navy rank of rear admiral. In air forces with a separate rank structure (Commonwealth), major general is equivalent to air vice-marshal. In some countries including much of Eastern Europe, major ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Lao Army
The Royal Lao Army (french: Armée royale du Laos – ARL), also designated by its anglicized title RLA, was the Land Component of the Royal Lao Armed Forces (FAR), the official military of the Kingdom of Laos during the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos and the Laotian Civil War between 1960 and 1975. History The ARL traced back its origins to World War II, when the first entirely Laotian military unit, the 1st Laotian Rifle Battalion ( – BCL), was raised early in 1941 by the Vichy France, Vichy French colonial authorities. Intended to be used on internal security operations to bolster the local colonial constabulary force, the "Indigenous Guard" (), the 1er BCL did not see much action until after March 9, 1945, when the Japanese Imperial Army forcibly seized control of French Indochina from France, including Laos. The battalion then retreated into the mountains, where they linked with the Laotian irregular guerrilla fighters () operating there. These guerrillas were supp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indochina Wars
The Indochina Wars ( vi, Chiến tranh Đông Dương) was a series of wars which were waged in Southeast Asia from 1946 to 1991, by communist Indochinese forces (mainly the Democratic Republic of Vietnam) against anti-communist forces (mainly French, the State of Vietnam, American, Cambodian, Laotian Royal, and Chinese forces). The term "Indochina" originally referred to French Indochina, which included the current states of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. , it applies largely to a geographic region, rather than to a political area. The wars included: * The First Indochina War (called the Indochina War in France and the French War in Vietnam) began after the end of World War II in 1946 and lasted until the French defeat in 1954. After a long campaign of resistance against the French and the Japanese, Viet Minh forces had claimed a victory (the August Revolution) after Japanese and Vichy French forces surrendered in the North on 15 August 1945. In the War in Vietnam (1945–46), Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vang Pao
Vang Pao ( RPA: ''Vaj Pov'' , Lao: ວັງປາວ; 8 December 1929 – 6 January 2011) was a major general in the Royal Lao Army. He was a leader of the Hmong American community in the United States. He was also known as General Vang Pao to the people in the Hmong community. Early life Vang, an ethnic Hmong, was born on 8 December 1929, in a Hmong village named Nonghet, located in Central Xiangkhuang Province, in the northeastern region of Laos, where his father, Neng Chu Vang, was a county leader. Vang began his early life as a farmer until Japanese forces invaded and occupied French Indochina in World War II. His father sent him away to school from the age of 10 to 15 before he launched his military career, joining the French Military to protect fellow Hmong during the Japanese invasion. While taking an entrance examination, the captain who was the proctor realized that Vang knew almost no written French. The captain dictated the answers to Vang so he could join ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean Sassi
Jean Sassi (11 June 1917 – 9 January 2009) was a French Army colonel and intelligence service officer, former " ''Jedburgh''" ( BCRA) of France and Far East. Commando chief of the SDECE's 11th Shock Parachutist Regiment ('' 11e régiment parachutiste de choc''). Maquis chief in French Indochina through the GCMA (1953–1955). During the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in April 1954 Jean Sassi led Mèo partisans (GCMA) in Operation Condor, also known as Operation D. Honours and awards * Commander of the Legion of Honour * Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 * Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures * Croix de la Valeur Militaire * Croix du combattant volontaire 1939–1945 * Medal of the Order of the Million Elephants and the White Parasol See also *Operation Jedburgh *Groupement de Commandos Mixtes Aéroportés The Groupement de commandos mixtes aéroportés ( en, Mixed Airborne Commando Group) commonly referred as just GCMA, was the "Action Service" of the SDECE F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Aussaresses
Paul Aussaresses (; 7 November 1918 – 3 December 2013) was a French Army general, who fought during World War II, the First Indochina War and Algerian War. His actions during the Algerian War—and later defense of those actions—caused considerable controversy. Aussaresses was a career Army intelligence officer with an excellent military record when he joined the Free French Forces in North Africa during the Second World War. In 1947 he was given command of the 11th Shock Battalion, a commando unit that was part of France's former external intelligence agency, the External Documentation and Counter-Espionage Service, the SDECE (replaced by the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE)). Aussaresses provoked controversy in 2000 when, in an interview with the French newspaper ''Le Monde'', he admitted and defended the use of torture during the Algerian war. He repeated the defense in an interview with CBS's '' 60 Minutes'', further arguing that torture ought ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger Trinquier
Roger Trinquier (20 March 1908 – 11 January 1986) was a French Army officer during World War II, the First Indochina War and the Algerian War, serving mainly in airborne and special forces units. He was also a counter-insurgency theorist, mainly with his book ''Modern Warfare''. Early life Roger Trinquier was born on 20 March 1908 in La Beaume, a small village in the Hautes-Alpes department, to a peasant family. He studied at a one-room village school in his home village until 1920, when he entered the Ecole Normale of Aix-en-Provence. He graduated in 1928 at twenty and was called up for 2 years' compulsory military service, being sent to the French Army's reserve officers’ school, where unlike most of his classmates he became interested in the military. When Trinquier's two years of compulsory military service came to an end, he decided to remain in the army and was transferred to the active officers’ school of Saint-Maixent, from which he graduated in 1933 as a second lie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Condor (1954)
Operation Condor (also known as Operation D) was a secret operation of the French Groupement de Commandos Mixtes Aéroportés against the Viet Minh supply column. It happened during the First Indochina War's climactic Battle of Dien Bien Phu from April, 28th to May, 10th 1954. Mission objectives Operation Condor was an attempt to weaken the Viet Minh artillery's assaults against the besieged French Union garrison of Dien Bien Phu. On April 22 1954, General Cogny insisted with his superior General Navarre to take a decision about Condor. General Navarre approved the mission on April 27 and it was launched on April 30.Dien Bien Phu - Le Rapport Secret', Patrick Jeudy, TF1 Video, 2005 Jedburgh veteran Captain Jean Sassi led the GCMA Malo - Servan commando unit consisting of Mèo partisans through the jungle, they dropped then walked all day to join Dien Bien Phu. Sassi's objective was "to allow a kind of breakthrough with the help of the French Union troops based at Éliane hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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