Operation Castor was an airborne operation carried out by French paratroopers during the French Indochina War. It took place in the Vietnamese province of Dien Bien Phu, in the north, from November 20 to November 22, 1953. Operation Castor was the largest airborne operation since World War II.
Geographically, Dien Bien Phu was a large valley surrounded by jungle-covered mountains. The objective of Operation Castor was to establish a fortified airbase (outpost) on the bottom of the valley, which is located in the north-west corner of Vietnam. The purpose of this French military outpost was to lure the Viet Minh into fighting a pitched battle. That battle, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, would take place four months later.
Operation Castor was initiated at 10:35 hours on November 20, 1953, when the French 6th and 2nd Colonial Airborne Battalions, commanded by Brigadier General Jean Gilles, dropped over Dien Bien Phu to secure the airstrip, which had been built by the Japanese during the occupation of French Indochina by Japan in World War II.
To carry out this operation, 65 out of the 70 operational C-47 Dakota and all 12 C-119 Flying Boxcar aircraft were employed. On November 21, a second group of paratroopers, spearheaded by the 1st Foreign Airborne Battalion, dropped in, too. With all its objectives achieved, the operation ended on 22 November.
Below, French paratroopers, which included Foreign Legion units, during Operation Castor, securing the area in the valley of Dien Bien Phu
