The Battle of Muong Khoua took place between April 13 and May 18, 1953, in northern Laos during the French Indochina War. A garrison of a dozen French and 300 Laotian troops occupied a fortified outpost in the hills above the village of Muong Khoua, across the border from Dien Bien Phu.

PropertyValue
dbpedia-owl:Event/date
  • 1953-05-18 (xsd:date)
dbpedia-owl:MilitaryConflict/causalties
  • ~310, four known survivors.
dbpedia-owl:MilitaryConflict/combatant
  • * France * Kingdom of Laos
  • French Union
  • Viet Minh
dbpedia-owl:MilitaryConflict/notes
  • Sources give the strength of the French force as 300 Laotians, and a "dozen" French. Four are known to have made it to a second French outpost.
dbpedia-owl:MilitaryConflict/partOf
dbpedia-owl:MilitaryConflict/place
dbpedia-owl:MilitaryConflict/result
  • French defeat
dbpedia-owl:MilitaryConflict/strength
  • 300 to 315
dbpedia-owl:causalties
  • ~310, four known survivors.
dbpedia-owl:combatant
  • * France * Kingdom of Laos
  • French Union
  • Viet Minh
dbpedia-owl:date
  • 1953-05-18 (xsd:date)
dbpedia-owl:notes
  • Sources give the strength of the French force as 300 Laotians, and a "dozen" French. Four are known to have made it to a second French outpost.
dbpedia-owl:partOf
dbpedia-owl:place
dbpedia-owl:result
  • French defeat
dbpedia-owl:strength
  • 300 to 315
dbpedia-owl:thumbnail
dbpprop:abstract
  • The Battle of Muong Khoua took place between April 13 and May 18, 1953, in northern Laos during the French Indochina War. A garrison of a dozen French and 300 Laotian troops occupied a fortified outpost in the hills above the village of Muong Khoua, across the border from Dien Bien Phu. Muong Khoua was among the last French outposts in northern Laos, following the decision of the French High Command to string several isolated garrisons through the region to buy time to fortify the major Laotian cities against Viet Minh attack. Many of these garrisons were given orders by radio to dig in and fight the approaching Viet Minh forces. Following the fall of a satellite strong point at Sop-Nao, the troops at Muong Khoua, under Captain Teullier, resisted a Viet Minh siege force for thirty-six days while supported by air-dropped supplies and air strikes. The small French force resisted several direct attacks and endured a series of artillery bombardments. Two of the three strong points of the outpost eventually fell in the early morning of May 18, and by mid-day the French force lay defeated. Four soldiers—two French and two Laotian—reached another French position 50 miles (80 km) away after six days of travel through the jungle, however no one else escaped. The resistance of the French garrison became a popular rallying cry for French troops in Indochina, as well serving as a precursor to French and Viet Minh strategies at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu the following year.
dbpprop:align
  • right
dbpprop:caption
  • French troops operated in thick jungle on the retreat from Sop-Nao to Muong Khoua.
dbpprop:casualties
  • One battalion and supporting mortar detachment.
  • ~310, four known survivors.
dbpprop:combatant
dbpprop:commander
  • Captain Teullier
dbpprop:conflict
  • Battle of Muong Khoua
dbpprop:date
  • April 13 - May 18 1953
dbpprop:notes
  • Sources give the strength of the French force as 300 Laotians, and a "dozen" French. Four are known to have made it to a second French outpost.
dbpprop:partof
dbpprop:place
dbpprop:quote
  • "Like Christ off the Cross" was an expression which became current in Indochina to describe survivors from those harrowing retreats through the jungle. And usually that is exactly what they looked like: worn down to skeletons from hunger and dysentery, sunken eyes, the typical tropical pallor... their emaciated faces curtained by shaggy beards, and their skins covered with festering sores, from heat rash to leech bites and jungle rot.
dbpprop:reference
dbpprop:relatedInstance
dbpprop:result
  • French defeat
dbpprop:source
  • – Bernard Fall recounts the appearance of soldiers having endured a retreat through the jungle, such as those who survived Muong Khoua.
dbpprop:strength
  • 300 to 315
dbpprop:width
  • 45
dbpprop:wikiPageUsesTemplate
rdf:type
rdfs:comment
  • The Battle of Muong Khoua took place between April 13 and May 18, 1953, in northern Laos during the French Indochina War. A garrison of a dozen French and 300 Laotian troops occupied a fortified outpost in the hills above the village of Muong Khoua, across the border from Dien Bien Phu.
rdfs:label
  • Battle of Muong Khoua
skos:subject
foaf:depiction
foaf:name
  • Battle of Muong Khoua
foaf:page
is dbpprop:redirect of