During the research I interviewed 27 veterans of the battle and, whilst these were referenced and quoted in the thesis, they were not included in full. So, the main purpose of the website is to preserve these interviews, and to make them available, in full, to the world. From this page you can click on links that take you to the individual interview. The interviews consist of:

• An English summary of the interview.

• A Vietnamese transcript of the interview.*

• An English translation of the Vietnamese transcript.*

• A sound file of the interview audio.*

• A photograph of the interviewee and me, and additional photographs of the interviewee.*

* Not every interview has these features.

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One of the disadvantages of bottom-up oral history is summed up by Eric Hobsbawm as: “…the historian finds only what he is looking for, not what is already waiting for him….” This is true: you have to ask a question to start the conversation. But this is also one of its strengths. By asking a question of someone who “was there” the historian can look for the answers to the questions that he cannot find in the literature or the archives. In any event Hobsbawm is not entirely correct as one of the precepts, indeed one of the joys, of cognitive interviewing technique is to give the subject the freedom to talk which can often produce unsolicited information on topics that the interviewer had not even considered.  Thus, I went into some interviews seeking answers to specific questions such as the location and type of a bridge that the PAVN used to launch one of its assaults; or whether their anti-aircraft units had radar. I also came out of some interviews amazed at little revelations on topics that I had never considered after 48 years reading on the subject, ranging from the bizarre, such as did the soldiers ever eat tiger cubs; to the businesslike, such as were they prepared to face gas warfare at Điện Biên Phủ? (The answers are yes to both questions.)   It is no exaggeration to say that I learnt something new in every interview. Some of these novelties may not have been of major import but they all lead to a better understanding, and it is the key to the historian’s trade to translate information into understanding.

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All the interviewees gave informed, written consent to the use of their information and attribution in accordance with the KCL Research Ethics Committee requirements. Certain personal data, such as residential addresses, has been redacted.

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A summary of the interviews and their contents is as follows. Click on the interviewee’s name for more information.