Groupement de Commandos Mixtes Aéroportés


The Groupement de commandos mixtes aéroportés commonly referred as just GCMA, was the "Action Service" of the SDECE French counter-intelligence service active during the Cold War. The GCMA's origins lay in the British - U.S - French joint Operation Jedburgh in France in 1944.

History

Commando Nord Viet-Nam (1951-1954)

The North Vietnam Commandos were units similar to the GCMA. They were created in 1951 and remained in service until 1954. Each commando was made of local volunteers called "partisans" as well as "returned" Viet Minh POW and was commanded by a young French Non-commissioned officer with an assistant, most of them were detached from GCMA units.
Since former Viet Minh regulars were part of the troops, occasional betrayal happened. A famous case is Commando Nord Viet-Nam N°24 "Vandenberghe" whose leader, Adjudant-Chef :fr:Roger Vandenberghe|Roger Vandenberghe, was murdered in his sleep by Sous-Lieutenant Nguien Tinh Khoi - the former Commander of the Viet-Minh 308th Brigade 36th Regiment's Assault Unit, who had been captured by the French during the 1951 Battle of the Day River.

Groupement de Commandos Mixtes Aéroportés

The GCMA was active in Vietnam and Laos during the First Indochina War.

Groupement Mixte d'Intervention

The GCMA name changed in the mid-1950s to be replaced with Groupement Mixte d'Intervention or GMI as it was no more an airborne unit.

Groupement Léger d'Intervention

During the Algerian War that broke out shortly after the end of the Indochina War, the SDECE created in 1955 a new unit inspired by the Vietnamese experience. The GMI became the Groupement Léger d'Intervention or GLI involving loyalist Muslims fighting with the French against the FLN rebels.

Operations

Special operations include:
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