Barrio_rat
09-16-02, 01:08 AM
A bit of history for y'all. If ya know what that above means, well, yer French is a lot better than mine. This is the site, or just read on, cuz i coppied it. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/5200/usmc/belleau.htm
Here it is, from the site.
U.S. MARINES AT BELLEAU WOOD
During the first World War United States Marines served around the globe. Marines continued their prewar duties in Haiti, Santo Domingo, Cuba, and Nicaragua. In addition the Marines served in Texas guarding oil fields from possible sabotage (first in counter-terrorism?), and the 4th Brigade was sent to France. It is the 4th Brigade's wartime service in France that is most remembered. The 4th Brigade was the largest unit of Marines ever assembled up to that point in the Corps' history. It was composed of the 5th and 6th Regiments and the 6th Machinegun Battalion, Totaling 9,444 officers and men. The Brigade fought at Bois de Belleau, Soissons, Saint Mihiel, Blanc Mont Ridge, and the Argonne. After eight months of virtually continuous combat by 11 November 1918 the Marines in France had suffered 11,366 casualties. This was more than the combined total of causalities sustained by the Corps during its prior 143 years of existence.
Belleau Wood is the most significant of the Corps WW I battles. It saved Paris from the massive German offensive in June 1918, and it was the greatest battle up to that time the the history of the US Marine Corps. The causalities of the 4th Marine Brigade in assaulting the well-organized German center of resistance in Belleau Wood were comparable only to those casualties later sustained the the hardest-fought beach assaults of WW II. After Belleau Wood, German intelligence evaluated the Marine Brigade as "storm troops"-the highest rating on the enemy scale of fighting men.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, visited the 4th Marine Brigade in France, shortly after Belleau Wood. In recognition of the Brigade's victory, he directed that enlisted Marines would henceforth wear the Marine Crops emblem on their collars.
THE BATTLE
In its first offensive action of the war, the 4th Brigade was sent in to block the German drive on Paris. On May 27, 1918, German General Ludendorff launched his Chemin des Dames offensive with 40 divisions. The northern front was sliced in two, and the Germans were pouring through a 4-kilometer gap left by the wreckage of the French 43rd Division. A French colonel advised Colonel Wendell Neville to retreat. "Whispering Buck" Neville is supposed to have looked at the Frenchman coldly and roared, "Retreat, Hell! We just got here." Captain of Marines Lloyd Williams actually uttered this famous phrase.
On June 1, 1918, the US 2nd Division formed a line astride the Paris-Metz road, with the 23rd Infantry on the left flank, the 6th and 5th Marines in the center, and the 9th Infantry on the right. At dawn, on the 2nd, the German 28th Division attacked along the axis of the road and git the Marine center. Their destination was Paris, but the German veterans soon received a lesson in rifle fire that began to kill at 800 yards. The Germans attacked again on the 4th and 5th of June, then sullenly took up defensive postilions. In the Marines' front, Belleau Wood, was a natural fortress. A square mile of woods and tumbled boulders. Behind it were the villages of Torcy, Belleau, and Bouresches. In the wood were two battalions of the 461st Imperial German Infantry with a large number of Maxim (heavy) machineguns. An attack was ordered on the morning of June 6th. The Marines marched forward in orderly formation, just as the French had taught them. Then the German machineguns hit. The Marines rapidly abandoned the orderly formations and started rushing forward in small groups. To rally his men, Gunnery Sergeant Dan Daly yelled at them, "Come on, you sons of b.tches. Do you want to live forever?". His platoon had been pined down by murderous German machinegun fire. Hearing his now famous words, however, the men rallied, moved forward, and took the village of Bouresches. With no mortars or grenades, the Marines had to either shoot the German machinegunners of crawl up and bayonet them. On June 23rd, the Marines secured the woods. The German troops, stunned at their defeat, called the Marines, "Teufelhunden," or "Devil Dogs."
For its heroic conduct during this engagement, the French Army commander honored the Marines by changing the name of the forest to "Bois de la Brigade de Marine" or "Wood of the Marine Brigade," (Though on modern maps it is still labeled "Bois de Belleau") and awarded the 4th Brigade the Croix de Guerre.
Here it is, from the site.
U.S. MARINES AT BELLEAU WOOD
During the first World War United States Marines served around the globe. Marines continued their prewar duties in Haiti, Santo Domingo, Cuba, and Nicaragua. In addition the Marines served in Texas guarding oil fields from possible sabotage (first in counter-terrorism?), and the 4th Brigade was sent to France. It is the 4th Brigade's wartime service in France that is most remembered. The 4th Brigade was the largest unit of Marines ever assembled up to that point in the Corps' history. It was composed of the 5th and 6th Regiments and the 6th Machinegun Battalion, Totaling 9,444 officers and men. The Brigade fought at Bois de Belleau, Soissons, Saint Mihiel, Blanc Mont Ridge, and the Argonne. After eight months of virtually continuous combat by 11 November 1918 the Marines in France had suffered 11,366 casualties. This was more than the combined total of causalities sustained by the Corps during its prior 143 years of existence.
Belleau Wood is the most significant of the Corps WW I battles. It saved Paris from the massive German offensive in June 1918, and it was the greatest battle up to that time the the history of the US Marine Corps. The causalities of the 4th Marine Brigade in assaulting the well-organized German center of resistance in Belleau Wood were comparable only to those casualties later sustained the the hardest-fought beach assaults of WW II. After Belleau Wood, German intelligence evaluated the Marine Brigade as "storm troops"-the highest rating on the enemy scale of fighting men.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, visited the 4th Marine Brigade in France, shortly after Belleau Wood. In recognition of the Brigade's victory, he directed that enlisted Marines would henceforth wear the Marine Crops emblem on their collars.
THE BATTLE
In its first offensive action of the war, the 4th Brigade was sent in to block the German drive on Paris. On May 27, 1918, German General Ludendorff launched his Chemin des Dames offensive with 40 divisions. The northern front was sliced in two, and the Germans were pouring through a 4-kilometer gap left by the wreckage of the French 43rd Division. A French colonel advised Colonel Wendell Neville to retreat. "Whispering Buck" Neville is supposed to have looked at the Frenchman coldly and roared, "Retreat, Hell! We just got here." Captain of Marines Lloyd Williams actually uttered this famous phrase.
On June 1, 1918, the US 2nd Division formed a line astride the Paris-Metz road, with the 23rd Infantry on the left flank, the 6th and 5th Marines in the center, and the 9th Infantry on the right. At dawn, on the 2nd, the German 28th Division attacked along the axis of the road and git the Marine center. Their destination was Paris, but the German veterans soon received a lesson in rifle fire that began to kill at 800 yards. The Germans attacked again on the 4th and 5th of June, then sullenly took up defensive postilions. In the Marines' front, Belleau Wood, was a natural fortress. A square mile of woods and tumbled boulders. Behind it were the villages of Torcy, Belleau, and Bouresches. In the wood were two battalions of the 461st Imperial German Infantry with a large number of Maxim (heavy) machineguns. An attack was ordered on the morning of June 6th. The Marines marched forward in orderly formation, just as the French had taught them. Then the German machineguns hit. The Marines rapidly abandoned the orderly formations and started rushing forward in small groups. To rally his men, Gunnery Sergeant Dan Daly yelled at them, "Come on, you sons of b.tches. Do you want to live forever?". His platoon had been pined down by murderous German machinegun fire. Hearing his now famous words, however, the men rallied, moved forward, and took the village of Bouresches. With no mortars or grenades, the Marines had to either shoot the German machinegunners of crawl up and bayonet them. On June 23rd, the Marines secured the woods. The German troops, stunned at their defeat, called the Marines, "Teufelhunden," or "Devil Dogs."
For its heroic conduct during this engagement, the French Army commander honored the Marines by changing the name of the forest to "Bois de la Brigade de Marine" or "Wood of the Marine Brigade," (Though on modern maps it is still labeled "Bois de Belleau") and awarded the 4th Brigade the Croix de Guerre.