Online Talk: Britain’s Vietnam War: The RAF over Indo-China, 1945-6

Join us on Zoom for a new Online Talk and discover the fascinating story of the RAF’s campaign in French Indo-China at the beginning of the Cold War.

This talk will be presented by Stuart Hadaway and is available to join FREE through funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

In 1945, British forces moved into French Indo-China to secure the country from the occupying Japanese forces. Their attempts fell foul of international politics, scarcity of resources, and a highly confused situation on the ground.

While the RAF provided air support, British and Indian troops did their best to take the Japanese surrender and hold key points until the French could re-establish their civil power.

Under attack by Nationalist and Communist guerrillas, the British managed to achieve their objectives and leave the country in the midst of a spiralling civil war, in contrast to their more famous efforts in the Dutch East Indies which eventually saw heavy commitment of forces.

This talk will chart the involvement of the RAF in this little known campaign, and also look at their recruitment of highly unorthodox allies in the shape of Task Force Gremlin, drawn from the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service.

By Stuart Hadaway

Joining the Talk

The talk will be held online on Zoom at 11am on Friday 12th March. Limited places are available.

Book your free ticket online here. One ticket per Zoom screen is required.

The Zoom joining details (ID & password) will be emailed to you shortly before the start of the talk. Please log on at 10.50am, ready for a prompt start at 11am.

During the talk, you will see and hear the speaker, but you will not be heard or seen on screen yourself. There will be the opportunity to ask questions via the Q&A function.

About the Cold War Talks Series

Bentley Priory Museum is delighted to be running a series of online talks exploring the Cold War, to complement our current project, Bentley Priory Bunker: Defending Britain from Nazi and Nuclear Threat.

These special talks are free to all, thanks to the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund. If you enjoy the talk and would like to support the Museum with a donation, any amount great or small is hugely appreciated!

DONATE HERE

A team of volunteers have been recruited to work on the project which aims to record and share the memories of RAF, ROC and WAAF personnel who worked in the Top Secret Bunker at RAF Bentley Priory, focusing on the key historical periods of the Battle of Britain in 1940 and the Cold War from 1945 to 1991.

A temporary exhibition is running at the Museum on open days throughout 2021, and a permanent exhibition is being created – we look forward to sharing it with you soon!

Our ongoing podcast series brings to life the experiences of those who worked in the Bunker during WWII and the Cold War through fascinating oral history interviews. Please listen to the podcasts via our website here: Bunker Podcasts