Charles Piroth
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| Charles Piroth | |
|---|---|
| 1906 - 15 March 1954 | |
| Place of death | Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam |
| Allegiance | France |
| Service/branch | French Army |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Unit | Grupamento Operacional do Noroeste (GONO) |
| Commands | Artillery at Dien Bien Phu garrison |
| Battles/wars | World War II First Indochina War |
Charles Piroth (1906 - 15 March 1954) was a French Lieutenant Colonel and veteran of the Italian Campaign during the Second World War and more notably serving three tours in Vietnam during the First Indochina War. Piroth commanded the artillery of the French Dien Bien Phu garrison during the siege of the valley by the Viet Minh. After failures by his artillery batteries to provide adequate support, he committed suicide in his bunker.
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[edit] Indochina
Piroth served a total of three tours in Indochina, arriving at first with General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque as a major in October 1945, he was pressed into service as an infantryman despite being an artilleryman due to the need for soldiers on the front line and the lack of targets for artillery.[1] Piroth proved a popular commanding officer when serving north of Saigon in an area known as Thu Dau Mot.[2] On December 17, 1946, Piroth was critically wounded during an ambush though he remained in command until he was eventually evacuated to Saigon, where his arm was amputated without anaesthesia.[3]
Piroth was sent to recover in France, but a year later, in 1950 newly arrived French General de Lattre dismissed him from the general staff. In late 1953, Piroth was given command of the artillery force at Dien Bien Phu by its commander Colonel Christian de Castries. During the opening phases of the battle, the artillery was unable to adequately assist besieged French forces on two outlying hills, Gabrielle and Beatrice. Both these fortresses fell into the hands of Viet Minh General Giap, and Piroth suffered from heavy depression, not only due to the failure of his artillery to support the defenders, but also as he had failed to nullify the Viet Minh artillery before the battle begun as he had promised.[4]
On March 15, 1954, having circled the camp to apologise to various fellow officers, Piroth returned to his bunker and removed the pin from a grenade clutched to his chest.[5] He was buried secretly in his bunker, and his death was covered up for several days until newspapers dropped on the camp notified the men, the news of the death having been leaked to the paper from an unknown source.[6] His replacement, Lieutenant Colonel Guy Vaillant, arrived on March 20 via air ambulance, one of the few to successful land at Dien Bien Phu during the conflict.[7]
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Windrow, Martin The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004. ISBN 0-297-84671-X
