Having been defeated in a crushing fashion by Germany in 1940 and having been rescued in a humiliating fashion by the Anglo-Americans in 1944, France didn’t want to turn loose of its empire after 1945.[1]  Hence, France fought bloody wars against nationalism in Indochina (1946-1954) and Algeria. 

            As part of the French war effort in Indochina, its intelligence service, SDECE (pr. “Ess-deck”) engaged in paramilitary operations.[2]  The SDECE created the “Groupement de commandos mixtes aeroportes” or “GCMA.”  These “airborne commando groups” took their inspiration from “Operation Jedburgh” during the Second World War.[3]  The “Jeds” were three-man teams parachuted into France primarily, before the invasion of Normandy.  They were sent to contact, train, and lead groups of anti-German “partisans.”[4]  As applied to French Indochina, this meant 2-3 French soldiers (a junior officer or senior non-com and a couple of other non-coms) dispatched to the back country to recruit, train, and lead groups of “partisans” in a guerrilla war against the Viet Minh.[5]  This went on for years without defeating the Viet Minh. 

In December 1953, the French abandoned the GCMA area of operations in northwestern Vietnam.  The commando groups were ordered to march toward the newly-established fortress at Dien Bien Phu.  The small groups found themselves on the run through jungle that the Viet Minh were flooding with troops marching toward the same destination.  Few of them survived.[6] 

Pierre Schoendoerffer (1928-2012)[7] wrote a novel about one of these groups in 1963, although he set it in Cambodia.  Then made a movie from his novel in 1965.[8]  In “The 317^th Platoon” (1965), a GCMA group receives orders to withdraw to safety.  The group is led by young lieutenant Torrens, but—in a situation familiar to many old sweats—Sergeant Wilsdorff provides important ballast.  Willsdorff fascinates Torrens.  The sergeant is an Alsatian who was drafted into the Wehrmacht during the Second World; he has many stories about the Russian Front as a result.  Moreover, he is on his third tour of duty in Indochina.  The “partisans” trust Willsdorff, believing that his experience and caution will get them to safety.  It’s not to be.  Although avoiding contact with the enemy is the key to survival, Torrens seizes the opportunity to ambush a Viet Minh column while it is crossing a river.  Thereafter, the little group is hunted into extinction, although Willsdorff may survive. 

Anthony Beevor, a historian both “popular” and highly-regarded, calls “The 317 Platoon” the greatest war movie ever made.  You can watch it—without English subtitles—at Bing Videos

The second best?  Beevor says “The Battle of Algiers.”  I’m inclined to agree. 

---

[1] Proof that France remained a “great power”?  This is odd, because in other areas, France boldly pursued new paths.  See: Monnet Plan; Schumann Plan, and the ENA. 

[2] See: Service de documentation extérieure et de contre-espionnage – Wikipedia  It isn’t highly reliable, being derived from one secondary source. 

[3] See: Operation Jedburgh – Wikipedia  For more detail and a better interpretation, see: U.S. Army Special Operations in World War II 

[4] On Roger Trinquier, one of the most interesting of GMAC’s leaders, see: Roger Trinquier – Wikipedia 

[5] Vietnam has a lot more ethnic diversity than round-eyes might expect.  In the simplest, most universal case, hill people didn’t like low-landers, and vice versa.  Watch “Rob Roy” (dir. Michael Caton-Jones, 1995). 

[6] Bernard Fall, Hell in a Very Small Place (1967), pp. 64 ff., tells what is known of their fate. 

[7] On Schoendoerffer, see: The 317th Platoon and The Anderson Platoon. | waroftheworldblog 

[8] One of the production assistants was Brigitte Friang (1924-2011).  A remarkable person.