Pierre Charles Albert Marie Langlais (born December 2, 1909 in Pontivy in Morbihan, died July 17, 1986 in Vannes) was a French officer who fought in the Second World War and the Indochina War. He is known for having commanded the "centre sector" of the Dien Bien Phu entrenched camp, replacing Colonel Gaucher, who was killed on March 13, 1954, during the first Vietminh attack.
Origins
Originally from Pontivy, out of Saint-Cyr in 1930, he chose the colonial infantry and was Lieutenant in the Sudanese camels.
World War II
He fought in the French campaign of 1939-1940 and then fought in Tunisia, Italy, the Vosges and Germany in the 1st Army of General de Lattre de Tassigny.
Indochina War
He left for Indochina in October 1945 with the 9th Colonial Infantry Division (9th DIC) in which he commanded a battalion. He fought during the First Indochina War and in particular during the Battle of Hanoi in December 1946.
He fought in Center Annam and in Northern Laos during a second two-year stay in 1949.
He then commanded the 1st Parachute Commando Demi-Brigade (1° DBCCP) in France in October 1951 before leaving for a third stay in Indochina in June 1953.
Operation Beaver
Lieutenant-Colonel, he commanded GAP 2, one of the two airborne parachute groups under the command of General Gilles which jumped on Dien Bien Phu on November 20, 1953.
His GAP 2 includes:
Guiraud's 1st BEP (Foreign Paratroopers Battalion)
Leclerc's 5th BPVN (Vietnamese Paratroopers Battalion)
Tourret's 8th BPC (Vietnamese Paratroopers Battalion) Shock)
(Fourcade's GAP 1 includes the 6th BPC from Bigeard, the 1st BPC and the 2/1st RCP. Its battalions are relieved quickly after their parachute drops).
Langlais jumped with the 1e BEP on November 21, but sprained his ankle on landing and was evacuated to Hanoi. He returned to Dien Bien Phu a few weeks later, with Colonel de Castries, who succeeded General Gilles, as commander of the air-land base.
Dien Bien Phu
“The Chief of Staff, Colonel Keller, is depressed (he is evacuated by plane) and Colonel Piroth, commander of the artillery, commits suicide. Fortunately, the central position is led by Lieutenant-Colonel Langlais. »
Promoted to colonel on April 16, 1954, during the battle, Langlais received his epaulets from the hands of General de Castries. As they are red (Castries is spahi), he dyes them black with Indian ink. Langlais firmly believes in victory; on May 1, he sends a last request to Hanoi, which he ends with more than justified insolence:“In spite of you, we will win this Battle! »
He was taken prisoner on May 7 like the entire camp garrison.
Officers and soldiers, 16,000 men were part of the garrison:there were 1,726 killed, 1,694 missing, 5,234 wounded and 10,823 prisoners, of whom barely 3,290 returned alive. On the Vietminh side, the toll is estimated at around 15 to 20,000 killed and 20 to 25,000 wounded.
End of life
Pierre Langlais was then commander of an airborne brigade in Algeria, then of the 22nd RIMa and of the Marnia sector from 1955 to 1959.
He ended his career as a major general in 1968 after being promoted to commander in chief in Senegal then commander of the 20th Airborne Brigade in Pau.
From 1969 to 1984, he was president of the National Association of Dien Bien Phu Combatants.
Marked for life by the tragedy of his experience in Dien Bien Phu and by his captivity in the Viet-Minh concentration camps, and suffering from severe depression, Pierre Langlais defended himself from his apartment on the port of Vannes on July 17, 1986 .