Operation Mouette | |||||||||
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Part of the First Indochina War | |||||||||
![]() A Bearcat of the Aéronavale drops napalm on Việt Minh Division 320th's artillery during the operation. | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Strength | |||||||||
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Casualties and losses | |||||||||
France: 113 killed 505 wounded 151 missing |
1,000 killed 2,500 wounded 182 captured (French estimates). |
Operation Mouette was an operation in 1953 by the French Army in Northern Vietnam during the First Indochina War.[2] It was launched on October 15 in an attempt to locate and destroy Viet-Minh Chu Luc troops operating under the command of Võ Nguyên Giáp around the area of Phu Nho Quan, south of the Red River Delta.[2][3] Following the establishment of a French camp in the area, various troops were dispatched to engage the Viet-Minh forces. The operation was ended and the French withdrew by November 7, claiming approximately 1,000 enemy combatants killed, twice as many wounded, and 181 captured as well as a substantial quantity of weapons and ammunition.[4]