The U.S. Marines’ Mythic Fight at Belleau Wood!!!
The battle fought by the Marines at Belleau Wood would help forge the legacy and ethos of the U.S. Marine Corps that is revered to this day.
Many historians consider the June 1918 Battle of Belleau Wood the defining event in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps. As the Corps’ first large-scale engagement, this World War I battle foreshadowed epic Marine battles to come, from Guadalcanal to Fallujah. Belleau Wood is also a touchstone of Marine mythology, popularly known as the fight in which the Marines — outnumbered and poorly supported by the French forces to which they were attached — almost single-handedly prevented Paris’ capture by a German army intent on destroying the French capital.
THE BATTLE
At stake was France itself, as Belleau Wood was only 35 miles from Paris, which was already under bombardment from German long-range artillery. If the Germans were able to take Paris, France would fall and along with it the allied war effort.
At 1700 hours on June 6, 1918, the 4th Marine Brigade — comprising the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments and the 6th Machine Gun Battalion — attacked into the densely wooded former hunting preserve near the French village of Belleau to push back elements of the German 237th Division.
The Marine riflemen of the time were expert marksmen, and their skill was displayed through German casualties. The Germans were unpleasantly surprised at the capabilities of Marine long-range marksmanship, which was something they had not experienced on such a scale prior in the war.
The Marines also packed some of the largest caliber handguns issued on the Western Front. The Browning-designed M1911 handgun along with the Smith & Wesson M1917 revolver, both chambered in .45 ACP. These sidearms were more suited for close quarters than the bolt-action rifles. These sidearms proved invaluable in the hands of U.S. MARINES.
When Marines first charged across the wheat fields into Belleau Wood, they suffered heavy casualties. They advanced in their traditional line formations against the German positions in the woods, which were reinforced with machine guns. These German positions were set up to cover one another throughout the woods, to where one position would open up when another fell.
Also, the commander of the French XXI Corps who had ordered the attack had vastly underestimated the hold the Germans had on the woods and consequently failed to support the Marines with sufficient heavy artillery. By the end of the first day the Marines had suffered 1,087 dead or wounded, more casualties than the Corps had taken thus far in its 143-year history.
Despite the losses, the Marines persisted their attack and subdued the German machine gun nests one by one. The Marines engaged in intense fighting against German forces at Belleau Wood for a month.
By June 26 they had secured Belleau Wood. The combined casualty count for U.S. Marine and Army units committed to the battle totaled 1,811 dead and 7,966 wounded. The number of German casualties is not known, although some 1,600 troops were taken prisoner.
The Two regiments of Marines succeeded in not only taking on six German Divisions in the process, but playing a key roll in halting the German “Spring Offensive” of 1918. As a result, the Marines not only gained the respect of their French allies in the battle, but gained the same from the Germans.
LEGENDS ARE BORN
As is often the case with epic and heroic battles, Belleau Wood has spawned many legends. For example, the Marines’ semiofficial nickname “Devil Dogs” supposedly came from the term Teufel Hunden, given to them by the Germans they faced in France. The Marines fought with such ferocity that they were likened to “Dogs from Hell.”
The term “Devil Dog” has its origins at Belleau Wood. It was in a dispatch from the German front lines to their higher headquarters explaining the current battle conditions that described the fighting abilities of the new, fresh Americans as fighting like “Teufel Hunden” or “Hounds from Hell.”
Another legend arising from Belleau Wood is that the lone Marine brigade had stopped Operation Blücher, the 42-division attack the Germans had launched on May 27-and, in thwarting that attack, the Marines had prevented the Germans from capturing Paris and thereby winning the war. Indeed, since 1918 many books and articles have cited “the German drive to Paris” and credited the Marines with stopping it.
By every tactical measure of the time the Marines should have been annihilated; but they weren’t. Overcoming tremendous odds they persevered and won, in turn drawing the attention of the German General Staff. The Germans had assumed the raw American forces would need many months of experience before they approached anything close to combat effectiveness. But in just the second major U.S. engagement of World War I the 4th Marine Brigade proved the Americans would climb the combat learning curve far faster than the Germans had assumed. The Battle of Belleau Wood also convinced even the most optimistic general staff officers that the strategic clock was fast running out for Germany.
Thanks For Reading!!! Semper Fidelis!!! Check Out My Website Below…
