thedrifter
08-26-02, 12:48 PM
Overshadowed in history by Marines who fought World War II's
Pacific island battles, fewer than 6,000 Marines participated
in the Atlantic, North African and European campaigns.
Before World War II, Marines served in various European and
North African embassies as attaches. However, that role
changed with the outbreak of hostilities between the United States
and the Axis powers in 1941.
The first Marine unit of combat troops to serve on land in the
Atlantic theater was the 1st Marine Provisional Brigade. More
than 4,000 Marines commanded by Brigadier General John
Marston arrived in Reykjavik, Iceland, in July 1941. The Marines
augmented the British forces already in place to prevent Iceland
from falling to the Germans. Iceland was strategically located
for air and naval control of the North Atlantic lifeline between the
British Isles and North America.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Marines assigned under
Marston received orders to leave Iceland. They began
departing on Jan. 31, 1942, and were completely gone by March
9, 1942.
Masters of amphibious warfare tactics, Marines served as
planners for the North African, Mediterranean and Normandy
invasions. The brief and violent raid by a 6,000-man Canadian
and British commando force on the French port city of Dieppe
on Aug. 19, 1942, was planned in part by Marine Brigadier
General Harold D. Campbell, the Marine Corps advisor to the
British Staff of Combined Operations. He was awarded a Legion
of Merit for his expertise in developing techniques for
large-scale amphibious operations against heavily defended
beaches.
Marines trained four Army infantry divisions in assault from the sea
tactics prior to the North African landings. Leading the way
during Operation Torch, the November 1942 North African
invasion, Marines went ashore at Arzeu, Algeria, and moved
overland to the port of Oran, where they occupied the strategic
Spanish fortress at the northern tip of the harbor.
Another Marine detachment aboard the cruiser USS Philadelphia
landed Nov. 10, 1942, at the port of Safi, French
Morocco, and secured the airport against sabotage until Army
forces arrived the following day.
Nine months earlier, on Jan. 7, Brigadier General Lewis G. Merritt,
a Marine Corps pilot serving as an observer with the
Royal Air Force in Egypt, was aboard a Wellington bomber shot
down by ground fire behind German lines in the Halfya Pass.
He and the crew were rescued by a special United Kingdom
armored car unit that broke through enemy lines.
Assigned to the secretive world of spies and saboteurs were 51
Marines who served with the U.S. Office of Strategic Services
to engage in behind-the-lines operations in North Africa and
Europe from 1941 to 1945. These OSS Marines served with
partisan and resistance groups in France, Germany, Yugoslavia,
Italy, Austria, Albania, Greece, Morocco and Egypt; on the
islands of Corsica and Sardinia; in Rumania; and in North and
West Africa. Ten of these OSS Marines also served with forces
in Ceylon, Burma, Malaya and China.
Marine Colonel Peter J. Ortiz was twice awarded the Navy Cross
for heroism while serving with the French Resistance.
Shipboard detachments of Marines served throughout the
landings in North Africa, the Mediterranean and the Normandy
invasion as gun crews aboard battleships and cruisers. A
200-man detachment was normally carried aboard a battleship,
and
80 Marines served aboard cruisers to man the secondary
batteries of 5-inch guns providing fire for the landing forces.
During the June 6, 1944, Normandy invasion, Marines, renowned
as expert riflemen, played a vital role reminiscent of the days
of the sailing Navy when sharpshooters were sent to the fighting
tops. Stationed high in the superstructures of the invasion fleet,
Marine riflemen exploded floating mines in the path of the ships
moving across the English Channel to the beaches of
Normandy.
On Aug. 29, 1944, during the invasion of southern France,
Marines from the battleship USS Augusta and the cruiser USS
Philadelphia went ashore in Marseilles harbor to accept the
surrender of more than 700 Germans who had fortified island
garrisons.
Although few, these proud Marines played a vital role in the
Atlantic, African and European campaigns of World War II.
Sempers,
Roger
Pacific island battles, fewer than 6,000 Marines participated
in the Atlantic, North African and European campaigns.
Before World War II, Marines served in various European and
North African embassies as attaches. However, that role
changed with the outbreak of hostilities between the United States
and the Axis powers in 1941.
The first Marine unit of combat troops to serve on land in the
Atlantic theater was the 1st Marine Provisional Brigade. More
than 4,000 Marines commanded by Brigadier General John
Marston arrived in Reykjavik, Iceland, in July 1941. The Marines
augmented the British forces already in place to prevent Iceland
from falling to the Germans. Iceland was strategically located
for air and naval control of the North Atlantic lifeline between the
British Isles and North America.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Marines assigned under
Marston received orders to leave Iceland. They began
departing on Jan. 31, 1942, and were completely gone by March
9, 1942.
Masters of amphibious warfare tactics, Marines served as
planners for the North African, Mediterranean and Normandy
invasions. The brief and violent raid by a 6,000-man Canadian
and British commando force on the French port city of Dieppe
on Aug. 19, 1942, was planned in part by Marine Brigadier
General Harold D. Campbell, the Marine Corps advisor to the
British Staff of Combined Operations. He was awarded a Legion
of Merit for his expertise in developing techniques for
large-scale amphibious operations against heavily defended
beaches.
Marines trained four Army infantry divisions in assault from the sea
tactics prior to the North African landings. Leading the way
during Operation Torch, the November 1942 North African
invasion, Marines went ashore at Arzeu, Algeria, and moved
overland to the port of Oran, where they occupied the strategic
Spanish fortress at the northern tip of the harbor.
Another Marine detachment aboard the cruiser USS Philadelphia
landed Nov. 10, 1942, at the port of Safi, French
Morocco, and secured the airport against sabotage until Army
forces arrived the following day.
Nine months earlier, on Jan. 7, Brigadier General Lewis G. Merritt,
a Marine Corps pilot serving as an observer with the
Royal Air Force in Egypt, was aboard a Wellington bomber shot
down by ground fire behind German lines in the Halfya Pass.
He and the crew were rescued by a special United Kingdom
armored car unit that broke through enemy lines.
Assigned to the secretive world of spies and saboteurs were 51
Marines who served with the U.S. Office of Strategic Services
to engage in behind-the-lines operations in North Africa and
Europe from 1941 to 1945. These OSS Marines served with
partisan and resistance groups in France, Germany, Yugoslavia,
Italy, Austria, Albania, Greece, Morocco and Egypt; on the
islands of Corsica and Sardinia; in Rumania; and in North and
West Africa. Ten of these OSS Marines also served with forces
in Ceylon, Burma, Malaya and China.
Marine Colonel Peter J. Ortiz was twice awarded the Navy Cross
for heroism while serving with the French Resistance.
Shipboard detachments of Marines served throughout the
landings in North Africa, the Mediterranean and the Normandy
invasion as gun crews aboard battleships and cruisers. A
200-man detachment was normally carried aboard a battleship,
and
80 Marines served aboard cruisers to man the secondary
batteries of 5-inch guns providing fire for the landing forces.
During the June 6, 1944, Normandy invasion, Marines, renowned
as expert riflemen, played a vital role reminiscent of the days
of the sailing Navy when sharpshooters were sent to the fighting
tops. Stationed high in the superstructures of the invasion fleet,
Marine riflemen exploded floating mines in the path of the ships
moving across the English Channel to the beaches of
Normandy.
On Aug. 29, 1944, during the invasion of southern France,
Marines from the battleship USS Augusta and the cruiser USS
Philadelphia went ashore in Marseilles harbor to accept the
surrender of more than 700 Germans who had fortified island
garrisons.
Although few, these proud Marines played a vital role in the
Atlantic, African and European campaigns of World War II.
Sempers,
Roger