Born to a Breton family in Bordeaux, Erwan Bergot volunteered to serve in Indochina after completing his mandatory military service in 1951.
He was taken prisoner and experienced the hell of the Viet Minh internment camps; he was among the few that survived.
In 1955, Bergot was recalled to serve in Algeria in the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment and 11e Choc.
He was seriously wounded in his right eye during a clash at Constantine in 1961, leaving the frontline to write and report.
He became the first editor of the magazine of the French Army in 1962, writing his first book in 1964, Deuxième classe à Dien-Bien-Phu, which achieved immediate success.