French Far East Expeditionary Corps
The French Far East Expeditionary Corps was a colonial expeditionary force of the French Union Army that was initially formed in French Indochina in 1945 during the Pacific War. The CEFEO later fought and lost in the First Indochina War against the Viet Minh rebels.
CEFEO insignia bearing the traditional French Navy anchor symbol.
Soldiers of 1st Foreign Parachute Heavy Mortar Company c.1954.
The First Indochina War was fought between France and Việt Minh, and their respective allies, from 19 December 1946 until 20 July 1954. Việt Minh was led by Võ Nguyên Giáp and Hồ Chí Minh. Most of the fighting took place in Tonkin in Northern Vietnam, although the conflict engulfed the entire country and also extended into the neighboring French Indochina protectorates of Laos and Cambodia.
Clockwise from the top: After the fall of Dien Bien Phu, supporting Laotian troops fall back across the Mekong River into Laos; French Marine commandos wade ashore off the Annam coast in July 1950; M24 Chaffee American light tank used by the French in Vietnam; Geneva Conference on 21 July 1954; A Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat from Escadrille 1F prepares to land on French aircraft carrier Arromanches operating in the Gulf of Tonkin.
French Indochina (1913)
Võ Nguyên Giáp and Hồ Chí Minh (1945)
Japanese troops lay down their arms to British troops in a ceremony in Saigon after the surrender of Japan.
