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Battle of Mang Yang Pass
Part of First Indochina War
Date June 24, 1954 Location Mang Yang, Vietnam Result Vietnamese Victory
Combatants
France	Vietnam
Commanders
Pierre Chasse	Nguyen Minh Chau
Strength
2,500 troops	2 battalions of 96th regiment + 1 battalion of 120th regiment
Casualties
1,200 killed and wounded	Unknown

The Battle of Mang Yang Pass was a battle in the First Indochina War.

Shortly after the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu the Groupe Mobile 100 of the French army was ambushed and practically destroyed by Viet Minh united in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

On June 24, 1954 Group Mobile 100 received orders to abandon their positions at An Khe and fall back to Pleiku, some 50 miles away over Route Coloniale 19. But on that day, the French were ambushed at kilometer marker 15 by two Viet Minh main force battalions from the 803th Regiment. Suffering heavy losses, GM 100 broke through, only to be abushed again on June 28 at Dak Ya-Ayun by the Viet Minh 108th Regiment. The survivors finally reached Pleiku the following day. Groupe Mobile, which made up of the 1st Korea Battalion, the 2nd Korea Battalion, and the 43rd Bataillion de Marche which numbered about 830 men each, was now mustered at roll call with 452, 497, and 345 men respectively. The 2nd Group of the 10th Colonial Artillery, reduced to fighting as infantry after the loss of all of their guns, had shrunk from 475 men to 215 men during the fighting.

But the ordeal for GM 100 was not over. The 1st Korea Battalion was ordered to take part in Operation Forget-Me-Not to open Route Coloniale 14 between Pleiku and Ban Me Thuot. On July 17, the 450-man unit, which also mustered 47 vehicles including a few tanks, was ambushed at Chu Dreh Pass by local Viet Minh regulars and militia. The survivors, who entered Ban Me Thout the following day, now numbered only 107 men, 53 of whom were wounded. The 1st Korea Battalion had ceased to exist.

The ambush and destruction of GM 100 was considered the last battle of the First Indochina War. Three days later on July 20, 1954, a battlefield ceasefire was announced, and on August 1, the armistice that was to end the war went into effect, sealing the French defeat in Indochina.

Although not explicitly indicated, a part of the Battle of Mang Yang Pass was shown as the opening scene of the film We Were Soldiers. The clues being that the scene took place in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, and the fact that it depicted a French column being ambushed by the Viet Minh.

• Fall, Bernard. B(1961)Street Without Joy: The French Debacle in Indochina. Stackpole Military History ISBN 0-8117-3236-3
• Summers Jr., Harry G. Historical Atlas of the Vietnam War. 1995 ISBN 0-395-72223-3

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