The Rats of Nam Yum were

internal deserters Internal may refer to: *Internality as a concept in behavioural economics *Neijia, internal styles of Chinese martial arts *Neigong or "internal skills", a type of exercise in meditation associated with Daoism *''Internal (album)'' by Safia (band), ...

from the French forces at the

Battle of Dien Bien Phu The Battle of Dien Bien Phu (french: Bataille de Diên Biên Phu ; vi, Chiến dịch Điện Biên Phủ, ) was a climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War that took place between 13 March and 7 May 1954. It was fought between the Fr ...

during the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

. The "Rats" consisted of French, Foreign Legion, African, Vietnamese, and

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

tribal troops who were unable or unwilling to defect to the

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...

opposing the French, but reluctant to continue to fight as part of the French forces. Reportedly the majority were locally recruited Indochinese, plus Algerian and Moroccan

tirailleurs A tirailleur (), in the Napoleonic era, was a type of light infantry trained to skirmish ahead of the main columns. Later, the term "''tirailleur''" was used by the French Army as a designation for indigenous infantry recruited in the French c ...

. Estimated to have numbered about one thousand, the Rats sequestered themselves in a portion of the fortress of Dien Bien Phu on the cliffs overlooking the Nam Yum river to wait out the battle. They subsisted on rations and equipment stolen from the French forces or from airdropped supplies they were able to intercept. Lacking shelters or building supplies, they took to digging dugouts for shelter. A recently published (2018) history of the Battle of Dien Bien Phui draws on reports from the commander of the fortress

gendarmerie Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...

detachment to suggest that the numbers of the "Rats of Nam Yum" were exaggerated in earlier accounts; and that many were not deserters but had remained with disbanded or disorganised sub-units pulled back from the firing line and dispersed along the river bank. While not participating in actual combat during the final stages of the siege, some of these troops performed the role of support personnel; collecting and bringing in parachuted supplies to the main garrison.

Sources

*Fall, Bernard B. . ''Hell in a Very Small Place''. Da Capo Press, 1985. .

References

{{reflist First Indochina War