6th Vietnamese Parachute Battalion

The 6th Vietnamese Parachute Battalion was a French-Vietnamese paratroop battalion formed in French Indochina in 1954.

Operational history

The 6th Vietnamese Parachute Battalion was one of five battalions of Vietnamese paratroopers raised by the French Army between 1951 and 1957 as part of General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny's policy to establish a Vietnamese Army.

Commanding officers

The commander of the French unit, the 6th Colonial Parachute Battalion, was Colonel Marcel Bigeard, who led the battalion during the First Indochina War, including at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. After Bigeard, Lieutenant Colonel Louis Fourcade was commander of the 1st Airborne Task Force, which included the 6th Battalion, during the Dien Bien Phu campaign.