Flag Of The 3rd Thai Battalion "maintain In Silence" Diên-biên-phu, Indochina War.

Pennant of the 3rd Thai Battalion "Maintain silence" One of the units participating in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, Indochina War. 31281RTriangular in shape, in ecru satin on one side, badge and name of the unit embroidered in silver and gold cannetille, on the reverse in brown satin, red snake, symbol of the battalion, embroidered in red chain stitch. Sleeve in khaki twill cotton canvas. Bordered with soft fringes called well ropes. France. Indochina War. Wear to the fabric, missing fringes. Fairly good condition. Historical note: The 3rd Thai Battalion was created on 01/10/1949 and participated in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu on the Anne-Marie strongpoint. Dissolved on 31/05/1954. By PV No. 1.118/2 of the Hanoi Intendance dated 1 October 1949, the 3rd Thai Battalion was created as an autonomous administrative unit comprising five elementary administrative units. extract from the Wikipedia article the battle of Dien Bien Phu Having suffered losses during these first two attacks, General Giáp was forced to observe a pause, to reorganize his hard-hit units, replenish his ammunition stocks and dig trenches to approach the PA. At the same time, the French High Command also decided to send reinforcements and the 6th BPC was parachuted in the afternoon of 16 March. The return to Dien Bien Phu of the "Bigeard battalion" helped to boost the morale of the garrison, shocked by the turn of events. Despite Bigeard's arrival, the 3rd Thai battalion stationed at Anne-Marie experienced defections; between March 15 and 17, a quarter of the troops disappeared. Anne-Marie's PAs No. 1 and 2, the last PA in the Northern sector, were forced to abandon due to lack of personnel. PAs No. 3 and 4 were attached to Huguette and became Huguette 6 and 7. As for the 3rd Thai battalion, which was originally formed to carry out mobile actions in Upper Tonkin and not positional combat as in Dien Bien Phu, it was dissolved; its units were dispatched among the different units of the camp, even among the Prisoners and Military Internees. The threats of attack that the Vietminh pose in Tonkin on the recently liberated zones of Hoa-Binh and Cho-Ben are closely monitored by the high command in Indochina. We know that the rebel staff has launched Division 312 into the bend of the Black River, northwest of Hoa-Binh, which has made contact at several points with our posts on the left bank. A bold maneuver was immediately conceived by General Salan, who was commanding by delegation during General de Lattre de Tassigny's stay in Paris. General Salan had the 3rd Thai Battalion, commanded by Battalion Commander Vaudrey, attack the western front of the 312th Division. This unit, supported by the air force, had just inflicted heavy losses on one of the regiments of the 312th Division, following a surprise attack in the Lai-Dong region. A reinforcement of parachute units was dropped west of Lai-Dong in order to make the most of this initial success. The difficult and poor terrain in which these new battles were taking place was very familiar to the Thai battalion, which, like all Thai forces, had been buoyed by victorious morale since the Nghin-Lo affair. Thus, despite the numerical inferiority of some of our forces, General Salan was able to engage in this maneuver with a maximum chance of success. The first fruit of this operation is to give the Franco-Vietnamese forces occupying Hoa-Binh the respite necessary for the organization and fortification of this obligatory crossing point for rebel communications between the north of Tonkin and the rest of the territory. It is believed that sooner or later the Vietminh will try to retake by force this vital node for them. Le Monde Published on November 30, 1951 https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1951/11/30/les-thai-attaquent-ses-arrieres-avec-succes_2071919_1819218.html