Rats of Nam Yum

Rats of Nam Yum

The Rats of Nam Yum were internal deserters from the French forces at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu during the First Indochina War.

The "Rats" consisted of French, Foreign Legion African, Viet, and T'ai tribal troops who were unable or unwilling to defect to the Viet Minh opposing the French, but unwilling to fight for the French forces. They sequestered themselves in a portion of the fortress of Dien Bien Phu on the cliffs overlooking the Nam Yum river to wait out the battle.

The Rats subsisted on rations and equipment stolen from the French forces or from airdropped supplies they were able to intercept. Lacking shelters or building supplies, they took to digging dugouts for shelter.

Sources


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • First Indochina War — Infobox Military Conflict conflict=First Indochina War partof= caption=A French Foreign Legion unit patrols in a communist controlled area. date=December 19 1946 ndash; August 1 1954 place=French Indochina, mainly North Vietnam casus=The Haiphong …   Wikipedia

  • Architecture khmère — Principaux sites khmers L architecture khmère est un style très spécifique de construction inspiré des édifices religieux hindouistes de l Inde et qui affirma le caractère sacré du pouvoir des rois khmers déifiés (devarāja) par des temples… …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”