| Operation Mouette | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the First Indochina War | |||||||||
 A Bearcat of the Aéronavale drops napalm on Việt Minh Division 320th's artillery during the operation. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Việt Minh | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Christian de Castries Jean Gilles |
Văn Tiến Dũng | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
21,000–24,500 supported by Chaffee tanks.[1] |
1 regular division + regional forces | ||||||||
| 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]