Today is the 68th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.
At 17.00 Christian de la Croix de Castries, the commander on the ground at Dien Bien Phu, radioed HQ:
Major General René Cogny, Commander of French Forces in the Tonkin Delta, replied:The Viets are everywhere. The situation is very grave. The combat is confused and goes on all about. I feel the end is approaching, but we will fight to the finish.
Of course, you will fight to the end. It is out of the question to run up the white flag after your heroic resistance.
Later that night, the last radio transmission from the French headquarters inside the besieged position reported that enemy troops were directly outside the headquarters bunker and that all the positions had been overrun. The radio operator in his last words stated: "The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"
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