The Indochina War Memorial sits in the Gallieni district, the former colonial military quarter of Fréjus, in a landscape of mature trees and old barracks buildings. It commemorates the French soldiers, Foreign Legionnaires, and colonial troops who died in the conflicts in Indochina between 1914 and 1954 — a war that ended with the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu and that rarely gets the historical attention it deserves in the context of modern French history.
The memorial consists of a sculpted stele and wall inscriptions listing the names of the dead, set in quiet grounds. It is a sombre place, and interesting as much for its context — the surrounding Gallieni neighbourhood still has the feel of a colonial military town, with wide avenues and large buildings that speak of France's twentieth-century imperial ambitions — as for the memorial itself. Visitors interested in military history or France's colonial past will find the whole area worth exploring on foot.