23 October Park, Nha Trang

The 23 October Park is small green public space on the opposite side of the road to Nha Trang Railway Station.

The 23 October Park is dedicated to the memory of a nearly forgotten chapter in the tumultuous history of the creation of the modern state of Vietnam.

About 23 October Park

The 23 October Park was previous called Vo Van Ky Park in memory of Company Commander Vo Van Ky Park who died in a battle with French forces in Nha Trang on the 23rd October 1945.

The defeat of the Japanese in World War II left a ‘power vacuum’ in Vietnam. Japanese forces occupied Vietnam from 1940 until Japan surrendered on the 15 August 1945. During that time the Viet Minh lead by Ho Chi Minh had formed an active resistance against Japanese occupation and once the Japanese were defeated they took their opportunity to try to seize control of the country. Following the defeat of Germany and their Axis allies in Europe, the allies decided that former colonial ruler France was the rightful owners of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The French armed forces, however, were very weak at that point in time as a consequence of near complete annihilation at the very start of World War II. With the Japanese army no longer operating, French forces virtually non-existent, and the Viet Minh lacking the capacity to form a coherent national government, Vietnam fell into a state of lawlessness with no effective government in place.

The British eventually sent a large army to Vietnam to assist the French in regaining control of the country, even rearming surrendered Japanese soldiers to assist in the task of putting down violent resistance to reassertion of French rule. This assistance, however, was delayed by several months due to in-fighting amongst the Allied forces in Asia and this gave the Viet Minh the opportunity to take control of large parts of the country. The French, assisted by the British and rearmed Japanese forces, eventually won back control of much of Vietnam but not without a series of hard fought battles against the numerically inferior forces of the Viet Minh. The 23 October 1945 battle in Nha Trang, in which Company Commander Vo Van Ky and many of his compatriots died, was just one of those post World War II battles which took place across Vietnam.

Location of 23 October Park

Nha Trang Beach is located 83 metres walking distance from Nha Trang Railway Station.