. . "47 wounded" . "*State of Vietnam" . . "French Union victory;" . "16 killed," . "One battalion (~500)" . "Viet Minh" . . . . . "French Union" . "As of 20 November:" . . "*France," . "Operation Castor"@en . "Op\u00E9ration Castor was a French airborne operation in the First Indochina War. The operation established a fortified airhead in \u0110i\u1EC7n Bi\u00EAn Province, in the north-west corner of Vietnam. Commanded by Brigadier General Jean Gilles, Castor was the largest airborne operation since World War II. The Operation began at 10:35 on 20 November 1953, with reinforcements dropped over the following two days."@en . "1953-11-22Z"^^ . "4,195 (as of 22 November)" . "creation of theDien Bien Phuoutpost" . .