My Young years in the French Air Force.(11)

Active Duty in Squadron.
Indochina. 2nd Deployement
Vietnam at Nha-Trang.

We only stayed a few days in Saigon to take care of paperwork and learn our final destination, Nha-Trang. This town is located on the shore of the China sea, 300 km north of Saigon. At first impression the place looked welcoming and pleasant. This turned out to be true on the long run. The base was located on the shore with a superb, 6km long beach. However, we were disappointed when we learned of the type of work we would be doing. We were members of a Vietnamese flight school, the CIAVN. Up to this point a French officer headed it but it so be handed over to the Vietnamese airforce shortly. To summarize the school, the training planes were old Morane 500 Criquet and the students are not very technically knowledgeable. These youth are supposed to complete a solo flight within a small number of training hours. Thereafter, they will complete their training on US or French soil.
For my friend Xavier and I, sitting in the pilot's seat of a light aircraft after having flown four-engine Languedoc, we had reasons to be disappointed. On the flip side, the location was heavenly. In spite of the Geneva accords, clashes between the North and South had already begun (in fact they never stopped). However, in Nha-Trang we were far from these political games taking place in the country's capital, Saigon. We finally resolved ourselves, accepted our appointment and decided to enjoy it regardless. Our favorite pastime was going to the beach. We usually stayed among French. We were a group of about forty people. That number went on the shrink as the VN government was turning its back to France and welcomed the powerful and benevolent United States.
During this deployment, I went for a routine physical. The doctor found a spot on my lung X-ray (usually attributed to tuberculosis). Far from imagining such a thing, I was devastated. I was immediately sent to the Grall military hospital in Saigon to have additional tests done. I was probed and examined and had to wait a week for the results. In the end, they did not find anything wrong. Relieved although a bit upset, I headed back to the base. To forget the whole thing, I was sent to the mountain resort of Dalat (100 km north of Nha Trang) for some R&R. The weather there is similar to the one in France. All branches of the military were present there. We were very well treated and the food was excellent. They also had organized tours. After this interlude, I got back to Nha Trang and work.
We were always happy to see newly appointed pilots. I happened to know some of them like Pieroni and Ginet (our path will cross again later in Avord). We also had the pleasure to be receiving new planes, Cessna L19.
Every year in November/December, swimming is not recommended as the sea becomes rough and the risk of shark attack is much higher. When this period ends, we go back to our daily routine and our favorite hobby, snorkeling in the Cau-Da bay nearby. We didn't have to go deep to reach amazing coral reefs. The Bao-Daï villa was also located in Cau-Da. This villa was one of the residence of the Vietnamese ex-Emperor Bao-Daï (he was in fact spending more time on the French Riviera because it had casinos and Boa-Daï didn't). Barely a year after our arrival we learned that the French military assistance team was going to be leaving shortly. This news made married personnel happy the separation made thing a little harder. As for myself, I didn't care. I was getting used to this "summer camp" atmosphere on the shores of the China Sea.
February 1956 had been a cold month in France (up to -20° C during most of the month). We flew a Dakota to Saigon and then an Air France DC4 to Paris-Orly. We arrived on March 23, 1956. Thankfully, it was almost spring and the temperatures were warmer.
I was after-all happy to be back on French soil. I had a month leave before my next assignment. It took the Traction out of the garage. The bike however had to wait. My brother Pierre cannibalized the carburetor to use it on a farm implement.

 

Aerial view of Nhatrang, beaches and mouth of the river.

 

 

On the beach: Ginet and I.

 

View towards Mieu Island, from Nhatrang.

 

In flight over water away from the shore and airbase.

On the tarmac, Cambredon and I , in front a Morane-500

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Cauda, ideal site for scuba diving.



 

Nhatrang Church.


During this sojourn as flight instructors at the Vietnamese flying school, we were surprised to receive the Vietnamese pilot's wings and diploma. We also had an official graduation ceremony for the presentation. Diploma and wings are very rare documents, so I am proud to present them here…

TheVietnamese pilot's wings

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