1946 Incident between Viet-Minh and British force
From: phuxuan700@gmail.com <phuxuan700@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 6:35 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Dear List,
I am looking for information on an incident between Viet-Minh and British force in Dong-Dang (Lang-Son) in late April or early May of 1946.
Please let me know if you are aware of any source.
Thanks,
Calvin Thai
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From: Shawn McHale
Date: Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 8:42 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Calvin,
This seems odd. What was the reference? I say "odd," because British forces occupied Saigon in mid-September 1945, and had responsibility for the southern half of Vietnam. the Chinese general Lu Han was in the north. The British left Cochinchina in January or February 1946, but I am unaware that they played any role up north.
It is possible that someone mistakenly thought that the British were up north at this period -- some British may have been in the French Foreign Legion for all I know, and the French wore all sorts of uniforms in this early period, including British surplus.
The key resource on this should be Donnison's official book, Military Administration in the Far East (1956).
Best,
Shawn McHale
Director
Sigur Center for Asian Studies
Associate Professor of History and International Affairs
George Washington University
Washington, DC 20052 USA
Website: http://www.gwu.edu/~sigur
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From: phuxuan700@gmail.com <phuxuan700@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 9:19 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Dear Shawn,
I just ran into a May 2, 1946 letter sent by Ho to British Liaison Officer Captain Peter Simpson-Jones which reads:
"I thank you very much for your having informed me of the incident at Dongdang. Investigations are being ordered accordingly. And severe disciplinary action will be taken against those guards, who have been responsible of the incident. I take this opportunity to thank you once more for all your frank & friendly advices. Best greetings. Yours truly. Ho Chi Minh".
This letter is rare since it shows the extent Ho tried to please post-WWII Allies.
I wonder whether the British force was actually involved in the incident.
Best regards,
Calvin
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From: Bill Hayton
Date: Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 9:36 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Peter Simpson-Jones might even be able to answer the question himself. A quick google of his name brings up this..
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nine-Lives-Factor-Philip-Brutton/dp/1904027393
The hero of this remarkable biography, Peter Simpson-Jones, was a special operations executive for the Anzio invasion in January, 1944. His role as off-shore navigational lead marker was crucial to that operation's success. 50,000 men depended upon his reconnaissance and navigational skills. A skill acknowledged by General Sir Harold Alexander, amongst many others, who gave Simpson-Jones a Bofors gun for his base ship Eduardo, in recognition of his services. His career began in the Royal Navy, surviving the Portsmouth Blitz and an attack by sharks off Reunion, both vividly described, to join the SOE. Towards the end of the war, following an epic 10,000 mile voyage in his heavily armed motor fishing vessel, Eduardo, to Australia, he went to Hanoi as British government observer in 1945. Despite three attempts on his life he became the respected interlocuteur with Ho-chi-Minh, witnessing the floundering American efforts to frustrate the French return to Indo-China. This increasing resultant United States involvement would lead, inexorably, to the vortex of the Vietnam war. Peter Simpson-Jones returned, under Admiralty orders, to Rome, even handing Eduardo back to her original Neapolitan owners by the pure chance of his presence ensuring the ship's survival. Here he was to meet his future wife, vivacious and French; raise wrecks in the Mediterranean; fall foul of Colonel Nasser and finally develop a multi-million pound business in France. Epic in breadth, this fascinating biography is a revealing and salient story of exemplorary courage and outstanding acumen in situations all too often charged with terrifyng peril. Now, aged ninety-one, Peter Simpson Jones still remains an active seafaring yachtsman, even sailing around the Baltic sea in 2004.
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From: phuxuan700@gmail.com
Date: Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 2:52 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
As Shawn McHale mentioned, the British forces were not supposed to be in Tonkin.
For Simpson-Jones to bring the issue up with Ho, is it possible that the incident near Vietnam-China border was part of the intelligence gathering ?
Besides Donnison's "Military Administration in the Far East", I hope Peter Neville's "Britain in Vietnam: prelude to disaster, 1945-6" may shed some light on any British activities in that area.
Calvin Thai
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From: David Brown
Date: Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 7:09 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
I'll bet the incident was something as simple as the confiscation by over-zealous Vietminh border control cadre of a shipment of provisions from Hong Kong (a dozen cases of scotch whisky?) intended to sustain the morale of Simpson-Jones and his colleagues on the British liaison mission in Hanoi. Definitely an event sufficiently grave to warrant a British diplomatic note and speedy damage-limitation by Chairman Ho. Merry Christmas to all, David Brown