|
US Marine Corps: Belleau Wood, June 1-26, 1918 Sources: www.firstworldwar.com/battles/belleau.htm [We suggest the last reference as a good summary start to understanding the battles of World War I.] In the scale of things in World War I, Belleau Wood was a minor engagement. It is a battle of significance, however, for many reasons. BackgroundWith Russia’s withdrawal from the war, Germany concentrated all available troops against the Western Front. In March, the Germans launched the first of three offensives designed to defeat the Allies and to end the war. These offensives are known by various names; sometimes the term Ludendorff Offensive is used to name the first, or generically all three. The specific offensives are known as the Somme, the Lys, and the Aisne. The last German offensive, Second Marne (15th July to 5th August), followed with a German defeat and the Allies began a counteroffensive leading to the end of the war. The three offensives represent Field Marshal Ludendorff’s efforts to switch to another front when the offensive stalled. Ø The
Somme Offensive: March 21st to April 5th; sees a 65
kilometer advance Belleau Wood was the point at which the Aisne offensive was stopped by the US 2nd Division, and on June 6th the division counterattacked to get the Germans out of the woods. This is why some sources place the Belleau Wood battle as starting on June 6th. Because the Aisne offensive hit defending British IX Corps (part of French 6th Army) hardest at Chemin des Dames, the British sometimes refer to the offensive by that name. The Importance of the Battle of Belleau WoodThe battle marks the coming of age of the modern US Marine Corps. The 4th Marine Brigade, with 9,444 marines, was the largest USMC unit to deploy operationally. With 1062 killed and 3615 wounded in 25 days from the units participating, the brigade suffered 55% casualties, including 1087 men on June 6, the largest one-day loss in USMC history till Tarawa, 1942. The losses for the battle also represent 40% of the total losses for the Marine Brigade, in its five major battles fought over 8 months before the Armistice. The battle showed the main players in the war that the US was determined to fight; as such, it was a psychological demonstration of intent to the German, British, and French that a new kid had arrived to take over the block. To quote Ludendorff: The tremendous superabundance of pent-up, untapped, nervous energy which America’s fresh troops brought into the fray more than balanced the weakness of their allies who were exhausted. [ http://perso.club-internet.fr/apprecus.htm ] Belleau Wood and its immediate precedent, Chateau-Thierry (June 3-4) were the first major battles of the American Expeditionary Force. The large, well-fed, and fresh Americans played a big part in signaling Germany that the Kaiser was going to lose his war. The French, in particular, were heartened by the Americans’ performance in the battle, to the point they renamed the woods as the Woods of the Marine Brigade. Last, the Marines played an important part in halting the Ludendorff Offensive, by the end of which the Germans knew there was no hope for their cause. To read accounts of the battle is to be asked to believe that the Marines single-handedly saved Paris – 50-kilometers away – from the Germans. The woods were on the Metz-Paris road, a major axis of advance for the Germans, and thus the Marines were undeniably at the center of the Allied defense. A German breakthrough would indeed have been bad news for the Allies. Whether it would cost them the war is another matter. And, in any event, just a month later, six other US divisions participated in throwing back German forces in the 2nd Battle of the Marne, the last German offensive of the war. Nonetheless, we should not carp. The Marines showed the stuff of which they were made, and they should be permitted some congratulatory backslapping. As to the battle itself, two facts are of significance. One, The woods are barely a square mile in extent, and consisted of patches of trees, one to five acres in extent, with open interspersed open space. This shows one of the reasons for the high casualties of World War I. Soldiers had the highly lethal weapons of the 20th Century, but still fought almost shoulder to shoulder as they had in the 19th Century. Two, the Marines gained and lost the woods six times over three weeks. So if they showed determination, so did the Germans. The Marines and PublicityIn this respect, Belleau Wood was also important because it established the Marine Corps’ penchant for publicity, usually at the expense of the Army. To read about the battle one might believe that the US Army was on another continent! In reality, the Marine Brigade was part of an army division, and army troops did participate in the battle. The arrival of 9,000 American troops every day, and the several super-size divisions of the AEF – 28,000 men each - would have sufficed to convince the Germans that the war was lost. Moreover, Army casualties in this battle were about 750 killed and 3500 wounded. This was not much smaller than the Marines total, who had, after all, twice as many infantry battalions engaged. A few days earlier, one June 1, a machine gun battalion of the 3rd Division had helped stop the Germans at Chateau Thierry, a few kilometers southeast of Belleau Wood. When written about in newspapers back home the headlines read "Germans stopped at Chateau Thierry with Help of God and Few Marines" when all of the fighting was done by the 7th Machine Gun Battalion.” Source: http://www.grunts.net/army/3rdid1.html United StatesFrench Sixth Army French XXI Corps US 2nd Division [Maj.-Gen. Bunday] - 3rd Brigade (to the right of the Marines) - 7th Infantry Regiment (3 battalions) from US 3rd Division (with the Marines) - 2nd Engineer Battalion (fought as infantry) - 4th (Marine) Brigade [Col. James Harbord, later Lt.-General] o 5th Marine Regiment [Col. Wendell C. Neville] o 6th Marine Regiment [Col. Albertus W. Catlin] o 6th Marine Machine Gun Battalion [Maj. Edward B. Cole] French 167th Division (to the left of the Marines) GermanyGerman Army Group Crown Prince 237th Division - 461st Regiment (holding the woods) Later elements of: 28th Division 87th Division 197th Division Some reports speak of the presence of the 5th Guards Division. Note on USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24 and LHA-3) The US Navy commissioned the first Belleau Wood in 1943. She was an Independence class light carrier displacing 11,000 tons, and won 18 battle stars in two years of combat in the Pacific. During the Battle of the Philippine Sea in 1944 her aircraft sank the Japanese carrier Hiyo. Decommissioned in 1947, she was transferred to France in 1953, and renamed the Bois Belleau, served till 1960. She was scrapped on returning to the US Navy. In 1978 the US Navy commissioned the second ship to bear the name, LHA 3, an amphibious assault ship. The second Belleau Wood had a full-load displacement of 40,000 tons. She was decommissioned in 2005.
All content © 2003-13 Ravi Rikhye. Reproduction in any form prohibited without express permission.
|