Help ID nationality of soldiers in photos

[Preppy Picker]

Are these Vietnamese military personnel from the late 40s or 50s? One of the men is wearing a French pilots badge? Are they in France at a radio school? The tank is a Stuart? The larger photo is postcard size.

[earlymb]

The sign on the background of the first pic says 'Ecole des Telecommunications', which means 'Telecommunications School' in French so most likely Indochina? Could be for a civilian airline though.

[Preppy Picker]

I saw the sign for the radio school (I speak French) and thought it looked more like France than Indochine but maybe it is.

[Beezman]

These are definitely Vietnamese airmen undergoing signals training in Metropolitan France, at Base école des télécommunications 723 in Auxerre (170km southeast of Paris). The school took that name in August 1952. I attach a pic of their badge.

Interestingly they are wearing French Armée de l'Air uniforms on the first pic, suggesting it was taken between August 1952 and January 1955. On that month the Vietnamese Air Force was created and they began wearing Vietnamese uniforms.

The second picture shows South Vietnamese Army officers, with shoulder boards that appeared circa 1955.