Millour, Phillipe Le Service Action au Laos 1945. Missions Kay 1 et Kay 2

On 15 August 1945, Emperor Hiro-Hito announced the surrender of Japan. The independence movements took advantage of the resulting confusion and the weakness of France to prevent the former colonial power from returning to its position before the Japanese conquest. In Laos, the separatist Lao-Issara and the Viêt-Minh fought some 500 French-Lao guerrilla fighters who alone maintained the illusion of a French presence.

It was imperative that the French-Lao colonial forces be reinforced in order to hold out. The only reinforcements General Leclerc could send them were a few dozen paratroopers from the DGER ("Direction Générale des Études et Recherches") operational service in Calcutta. Most of them had good operational experience, having already parachuted and fought in occupied France, but only a few knew this area of operations. A total of 120 paratroopers were transported from Jessore in India to Savannakhet and Pakse in Central Africa in mid-October 1945. These then became the missions "Kay 1" and "Kay 2". These were to prove more difficult than the army had originally imagined. "Kay 1" and "Kay 2" became the 1st and 2nd French-Laoist Commands in early 1946. This volume describes in words and pictures the beginnings of the Indochina conflict after 1945.