It included the elite veteran UN Bataillon de Corée who fought in the Korean War at Chipyong-ni, Wonju and Heartbreak Ridge.

In addition, anxious to avoid a second disaster like the siege at Dien Bien Phu, the French Chief of Staff ordered G.M.

100 received orders to abandon its defensive positions at An Khê and fall back to Pleiku, some 80 kilometres (50 mi) away over Route Coloniale 19.

At the road marker 'Kilometer 15' the column was ambushed by Việt Minh troops belonging to the 803rd Regiment and suffered heavy losses.

[4][1] On 29 June the remains of 1st Korea Battalion was ordered to take part in Operation Myosotis to open Route Coloniale 14 between Pleiku and Ban Mê Thuột which was over 96 kilometers away.

On 17 July the column was ambushed at Chu Dreh Pass by local units of the Việt Minh 96th Regiment.

When the survivors finally arrived at Ban Mê Thuột the following day, there were only 107 men remaining out of 452, of those 53 were wounded, in addition a further 47 vehicles were lost.