It is, after all, more than 40 years since the French were routed at the battle of Dien Bien Phu.

ECONOMIST: French blows its horn | The

Vo Nguyen Giap, the hero of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

CNN: Goodbye to Ho Chi Minh

He survived the 1954 Battle of Dien Bien Phu, where French troops were surrounded and defeated by the forces of the Vietnamese Communists, the Viet Minh.

BBC: French Gen Marcel Bigeard dies aged 94

Gen Bigeard was a commanding officer during the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, where French troops were surrounded and defeated by the forces of the Vietnamese Communists, the Viet Minh.

BBC: Vietnam rejects French officer's ashes request