Street Without Joy - Operation Camargue - Campaign Series Vietnam 1948-1967

Jason Petho
28 July, 1953
[Vin Tranh, Annam, Indochina]:
[SIDE A] [HIS] [CSL]:

Annam was the central coastal region of Indochina and snaking along the coast was Colonial Route 1, which was the primary logistical route between Tonkin in the north and Chochin-china in the south.

Communications and convoys along these lines suffered from regular attacks by Viet Minh irregulars that had used a series of fortified villages dispersed along the sand dunes and salt marshes between Quang Tri and Hue. The ambushes were so frequent than the soldiers would christen this stretch of road between Quang Tri and Hue as "La Ruie Sans Joie", "The Street Without Joy".

The French had attempted to clear the area in 1952 during Operation Sauterelle but met with little success. With the winding down of the Korean War in the summer of 1953, the French were able to collect sufficient forces to try again.

Under the guise of Operation Camargue, named after the sandy marshland west of Marseille in France, the forces gathered would result in one of the largest operations that the French conducted during the war.

The French and Vietnamese forces were divided into four Groupement (task forces), consisting of 30 battalions, two armoured regiments and battalions of artillery.

Two of the Groupement would land by the sea, using the amphibious M-29 crabe and LVT4 alligators supported by landing craft, the other two Groupement would attack from Route 1 with the intention of surrounding the area before tightening the boucage to reign in the Viet Minh. There were also two paratroop battalions held in reserve.

It was a race against clock to secure the boucage before nightfall, otherwise the Viet Minh 95 Regiment, and most importantly, the unassuming black-clad Communist cadre, could slip through into the hills to the west of Colonial Route 1.

[ALL, NO VV] [CSEE, Variable Objectives] [1.00]