Category: War

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War

The Battle of Germantown

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One of the better pictures of what an Infantry Assault looks like.
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The Battle of Germantown was a major engagement in the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War. It was fought on October 4, 1777, at Germantown, Pennsylvania, between the British Army led by Sir William Howe, and the American Continental Army, with the 2nd Canadian Regiment, under George Washington.
After defeating the Continental Army at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, and the Battle of Paoli on September 20.
Howe outmanoeuvred Washington, seizing Philadelphia, the capital of the United States, on September 26. Howe left a garrison of some 3,000 troops in Philadelphia, while moving the bulk of his force to Germantown, then an outlying community to the city.
Learning of the division, Washington determined to engage the British.
His plan called for four separate columns to converge on the British position at Germantown. The two flanking columns were composed of 3,000 militia, while the centre-left, under Nathanael Greene, the centre-right under John Sullivan, and the reserve under Lord Stirling were made up of regular troops.
The ambition behind the plan was to surprise and destroy the British force, much in the same way as Washington had surprised and decisively defeated the Hessians at Trenton. In Germantown, Howe had his light infantry and the 40th Foot spread across his front as pickets.
In the main camp, Wilhelm von Knyphausen commanded the British left, while Howe himself personally led the British right.
A heavy fog caused a great deal of confusion among the approaching Americans. After a sharp contest, Sullivan’s column routed the British pickets.
Unseen in the fog, around 120 men of the British 40th Foot barricaded the Chew Mansion. When the American reserve moved forward, Washington made the erroneous decision to launch repeated assaults on the position, all of which failed with heavy casualties.
Penetrating several hundred yards beyond the mansion, Sullivan’s wing became dispirited, running low on ammunition and hearing cannon fire behind them. As they withdrew, Anthony Wayne‘s division collided with part of Greene’s late-arriving wing in the fog.
Mistaking each other for the enemy, they opened fire, and both units retreated. Meanwhile, Greene’s left-centre column threw back the British right. With Sullivan’s column repulsed, the British left outflanked Greene’s column.
The two militia columns had only succeeded in diverting the attention of the British, and had made no progress before they withdrew.
Despite the defeat, France, already impressed by the American success at Saratoga, decided to lend greater aid to the Americans.
Howe did not vigorously pursue the defeated Americans, instead turning his attention to clearing the Delaware River of obstacles at Red Bank and Fort Mifflin.
After unsuccessfully attempting to draw Washington into combat at White Marsh, Howe withdrew to Philadelphia. Washington, his army intact, withdrew to Valley Forge, where he wintered and re-trained his forces.

Background[edit]

The Philadelphia campaign had begun badly for the Americans. The Continental Army had suffered a string of defeats at Brandywine, and at Paoli, leaving the city of Philadelphia defenseless.
Charles Cornwallis subsequently seized Philadelphia for the British on September 26, 1777, dealing a blow to the revolutionary cause. Howe left a garrison of 3,462 men to defend the city, moving the bulk of his force north, some 9,728 men, to the outlying community of Germantown.[3]
With the campaigning season drawing to a close, Howe determined to locate and destroy the main American army. Howe established his headquarters at the Stenton Mansion, the former country home of James Logan.
Despite having suffered successive defeats, Washington saw an opportunity to entrap and decisively defeat the divided British army.
He resolved to attack the Germantown garrison, as the last effort of the year before entering winter quarters. His plan called for a complex, ambitious assault; four columns of troops were to assail the British garrison from different directions, at night, with the goal of creating a double-envelopment.
Washington’s hope was that the British would be surprised and overwhelmed much how the Hessians were at Trenton.

British positions[edit]

Germantown was a hamlet of stone houses, spreading from what is now known as Mount Airy on the north, to what is now Market Square in the south.[6]
Extending southwest from Market Square was Schoolhouse Lane, running 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the point where Wissahickon Creek emptied from a steep gorge, into the Schuylkill River.
Howe had established his main camp along the high ground of Schoolhouse and Church lanes.
The western wing of the camp, under the command of Hessian general Wilhelm von Knyphausen, had a picket of two Jäger battalions, positioned on the high ground above the mouth of the Wissahickon to the far left.
A brigade of Hessians, and two brigades of British regulars camped along Market Square. East of the Square, two British brigades under the command of General James Grant had encamped, with two squadrons of dragoons, and the 1st battalion of Light Infantry.
The Queen’s Rangers, a unit of loyalist Americans recruited from New York, covered the right flank.

American advance

After dusk on October 3, the American force began the 16 miles (26 km) march southward toward Germantown in complete darkness.
To differentiate friend from foe in the darkness, the troops were instructed to put a piece of white paper in their hats to mark them out.[7]
The Americans remained undetected by the Jäger pickets, and the main British camp was, subsequently, unaware of the American advance.
For the Americans, it seemed their attempt to repeat their victory at Trenton was on the road to success. However, the darkness made communications between the American columns extremely difficult, and progress was far slower than expected.
At dawn, most of the American forces had fallen too short of their intended positions, losing the element of surprise they otherwise enjoyed.
The Pennsylvania Militia, led by Brigadier General John Armstrong Sr., advanced down the Manatawny Road(Ridge Avenue) to the confluence of the Wissahickon Creek and Schuylkill River.
There on the cliffs opposite General Knyphausen‘s Hessian encampment, the militia set up their artillery and began a desultory fire until withdrawing back up the Manatawny road.
Armstrong’s Brigade played no further part in the battle. The three remaining American columns continued their advance.
One column, under the command of General John Sullivan moved down Germantown Road. A column of New Jersey militia under Brigadier General William Smallwood moved down Skippack Road to Whitemarsh Church Road, and from there to Old York Road to attack the British right.
General Nathanael Greene‘s column, consisting of Greene’s, General Adam Stephen‘s divisions and General Alexander McDougall‘s brigade, moved down Limekiln Road.

Battle

See Germantown Order of Battle for a detailed list of units and organizations of the British and American armies.

Map of the Battle of Germantown, October 4, 1777

  British, Hessian and Loyalist forces
  Continental Army and Militia forces

 
A thick fog[8] clouded the battlefield throughout the day, greatly hampering coordination. The vanguard of Sullivan’s column, upon Germantown Road, opened fire upon the British pickets on Mount Airy, just after sunrise at 05:00.
The British pickets fired their cannon in alarm, and resisted the American advance. Howe rode forward, thinking they were being attacked by foraging or skirmishing parties, and ordered his men to hold their ground.
It took a substantial part of Sullivan’s division to finally overwhelm the British pickets, and drive them back into Germantown.
Howe, still believing his men were facing only light opposition, called out; “For shame, Light Infantry! I never saw you retreat before! Form! Form! It is only a scouting party!”
Just then, three American guns came into action, opening fire with grapeshot. Howe and his staff quickly withdrew out of range.
Several British officers were shocked to see their own soldiers rapidly falling back before the enemy attack. One British officer later described the number of attacking Americans as “overwhelming”.[9]
Cut off from the main force, Colonel Musgrave, of the British 40th Regiment of Foot, ordered his six companies of troops, around 120 men, to barricade and fortify the stone house of Chief Justice Chew, called Cliveden.
The American troops launched a determined assault against Cliveden, however, the outnumbered defenders repulsed their attempts, inflicting heavy casualties.
Washington called a council of war to decide how to deal with the fortification. Some of his subordinates favoured bypassing Clivden entirely, leaving a regiment behind to besiege it. However, Washington’s artillery commander, Brigadier General Henry Knox, advised it was unwise to allow a fortified garrison to remain under enemy control in the rear of a forward advance. Washington concurred.
General William Maxwell’s brigade, which had been held in reserve, was brought forward to storm Cliveden. Knox positioned four 3-pound cannon out of musket range to bombard the mansion.
However, the thick walls of Cliveden withstood the bombardment from the light field guns. The Americans launched a second wave of infantry assaults, all of which were repulsed with heavy losses.
The few Americans who managed to get inside the mansion were shot or bayoneted. It was becoming clear to the Americans that Cliveden was not going to be taken easily. Among this assault was Lieutenant John Marshall of the Virginia Line, the future Chief Justice of the United States, who was wounded during the attack.

The Battle of Germantown, October 4, 1777

  British, Hessian and Loyalist forces
  Continental Army and Militia forces

 
Prior to Maxwell’s futile attack against Cliveden, Sullivan’s division advanced beyond in the fog. Sullivan deployed Brigadier General Thomas Conway‘s brigade to the right, and Brigadier General Anthony Wayne‘s brigade to the left before advancing on the British centre-left.[10]
The 1st and 2nd Maryland Brigades of Sullivan’s column paused frequently to fire volleys into the fog. While the tactic was effective in suppressing enemy opposition, his troops rapidly ran low on ammunition.
Wayne’s brigade to the left of the road moved ahead, and became precariously separated from Sullivan’s main line. As the Americans launched their attack on Cliveden, Wayne’s brigade heard the disquieting racket from Knox’s artillery pieces to their rear.
To their right, the firing from Sullivan’s men died down as the Marylanders ran low on ammunition. Wayne’s men began to panic in their apparent isolation, and so he ordered them to fall back.
Sullivan was subsequently forced back, although the regiments fought a stubborn rearguard action. Since the British units pursuing them were redirected to fight Greene’s column, Sullivan’s men fell back in good order.[11]
Meanwhile, Nathanael Greene’s column on Limekiln Road had finally caught up with the bulk of the Americans at Germantown.
Greene’s vanguard engaged the British pickets at Luken’s Mill, driving them back after a savage skirmish. The fog that clung to the field was compounded by palls of smoke from the cannon and musket fire, throwing Greene’s column into disarray and confusion.
One of Greene’s brigades, under Brigadier General Adam Stephen, veered off-course and began following Meetinghouse Road, instead of rendezvousing at Market Square with the rest of Greene’s troops. The wayward brigade collided with Wayne’s brigade, and mistook them for redcoats.
The two American brigades opened fire on each other in the fog, causing both to flee. The withdrawal of Wayne’s New Jersey Brigade, having suffered heavy losses attacking Cliveden, left Conway’s right flank exposed.
To the north, an American column led by McDougall came under attack by the Loyalist troops of the Queen’s Rangers, and the Guards of the British reserve.
After a brutal contest, McDougall’s brigade was forced to retreat, having suffered heavy losses. Despite the reversal in fortune, the Continentals were still convinced of a possible victory.
The 9th Virginia Regiment of Greene’s column launched a determined attack on the British lines as planned, managing to break through and capturing a number of prisoners. However, they were soon surrounded by two arriving British brigades under Cornwallis.
Cornwallis then launched a counter-charge, cutting off the Virginians completely, forcing them to surrender. Greene, upon learning of the main army’s defeat and withdrawal, realised he stood alone against Howe’s entire army, and so withdrew.
The primary attacks on the British and Hessian camp had all been repulsed with heavy casualties. Washington ordered Armstrong and Smallwood’s men to withdraw. Maxwell’s brigade, still having failed to capture Cliveden, was forced to fall back.
Howe ordered a pursuit, harrying the retreating Americans for some 9 miles (14 km), though he did not follow up on his victory.
The pursuing British forces were finally forced to retire in the face of resistance from Greene’s infantry, Wayne’s artillery, and a detachment of dragoons, as well as the coming of the night.

Casualties

Grave stone in upper burrying ground.[12]

Of the 11,000 men Washington led into battle, 30 officers and 122 men were killed, and 117 officers and 404 men were wounded.[13]
According to a Hessian staff officer, some 438 had been taken prisoner by the British, including Colonel George Mathews and the entire 9th Virginia Regiment.[13][14]
Brigadier General Francis Nash, whose North Carolina brigade covered the American retreat, had his left leg taken off by a cannonball, and died on October 8 at the home of Adam Gotwals.
His body was interred with military honours on October 9 at the Mennomite Meetinghouse in Towamencin.[15] Major John White, who was shot at Cliveden, died on October 10.[16]
Lieutenant-Colonel William Smith, who was wounded carrying the flag of truce to Cliveden, also died from his wounds.[16] In total, 57 Americans, over one-third of all those killed in the battle, died in the attack on Cliveden.[17]
British casualties in the battle were 71 killed, 448 wounded and 14 missing, only 24 of whom were Hessians.[5]
British officers killed in action include Brigadier General James Agnew and Lieutenant-Colonel John Bird. Lieutenant-Colonel William Walcott of the 5th Regiment of Foot was mortally wounded, and later died.[18]
Wyck House served as a hospital during the battle.

Analysis[edit]

Washington’s ambitious plan failed for several factors:

  • Washington mistakenly believed his troops were sufficiently trained and experienced to launch such a complicated, coordinated assault.[19]
  • Success of the plan required constant communication between the many columns of his army and precise timing. Communication was lacklustre because of the night march, and it was further handicapped by the fog.
  • When the British 40th Foot put up stubborn resistance, Stephen disobeyed orders and attempted to assail the Chew House. All attempts were repulsed. Stephen was later court-martialed and cashiered from military service after evidence surfaced that he was intoxicated during the battle.[20]

Washington had intended for his attack to be a second Trenton. Had everything gone according to plan, Washington may have trapped and destroyed a second major British force. Coupled with Burgoyne’s defeat at Saratoga, the defeat of Howe at Germantown could have compelled Lord North and the British government to sue for peace.[21]

Aftermath[edit]

The battle was a limited strategic success for the British, but the long-term strategic consequences favoured the Americans. Howe had, once again, failed to follow up on his success and allowed Washington to escape with his army, leading to their encampment at Valley Forge.
The battle in particular made a strong impression upon the French court that the Americans would prove worthy allies. Sir George Otto Trevelyan, in Volume IV of his History of the American Revolution, concluded that although the battle had unquestionably been a defeat for the Americans, it was of “great and enduring service to the American cause”. In particular, the engagement persuaded the Comte de Vergennes to vouch for the United States against Britain.[22] He continues:

John Fiske, in The American Revolution (1891), wrote:[21]

Trivia[edit]

Eight Army National Guard units (103rd Eng Bn,[23] A/1-104th Cav,[24] 109th FA,[25] 111th Inf,[26] 113th Inf,[27] 116th Inf,[28]175th Inf[29] and 198th Sig Bn[30]) and one active Regular Army Field Artillery battalion (1-5th FA)[31] are derived from American units that participated in the Battle of Germantown. There are only thirty currently existing units in the U.S. Army with lineages that go back to the colonial era.
On October 6, there was a brief cease-fire. A little terrier that was identified from its collar as belonging to General Howe was formally transferred from Washington’s camp to Howe’s under a flag of truce. The little terrier that had been found wandering on the battlefield was brought to Washington, who had the dog fed, cleaned and brushed before being returned to Howe.[32][33]

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War

Some more War Pictures

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Categories
War

A neat couple of Bullets from the Crimean War

 

Bang on target! Crimea War bullets collided in a billion-to-one chance

By Will Stewart for MailOnline
UPDATED: 15:33 EST, 27 February 2009

As an illustration of luck, it doesn’t get much more explosive.
This remarkable picture shows how two bullets from opposing troops fused after striking each other in mid-air.
The odds of the clash are said to be a billion-to-one and it could well have saved the lives of two soldiers.

light brigade bullets

Billion to one chance: Two bullets (one French, one Russian) which fused in mid-air during the Crimea War. It is almost impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins

What makes the discovery more incredible is that the bullets are 150 years old and were found on the battlefields of the Crimean War, now in Ukraine. One has been identified as Russian, the other French.
The discovery is said to have been made close to Balaclava, site of the notorious Charge of the Light Brigade, one of the most notorious events in British military history.
The finder of the bullets – a walker whose name has not been disclosed – is said to be seeking to sell the unique war memorabilia to a military museum.

Crimean War

Conflict: French troops march on Russian lines in the Crimean War

The Ukrainian authorities were unable to throw any light on the exact circumstances of the find or who had validated the discovery as being genuine Russian and French bullets.
A spokesman for the local authority in the Crimea said: ‘We have no official information about this discovery.’
Nor has the exact site of the discovery been disclosed, though there has been a wide discussion of the bullets in blogs.

charge of the light brigade

Warfare at its most courageous and tragic: The Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854 during the Crimean War

The Crimean War, between 1853 and 1856, was fought between tsarist Russia and an alliance of Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire.
More than 374,000 perished in the campaign, including 2,755 British killed in action, 2,019 from wounds and 16,323 from disease.
At issue was European influence over the territories controlled by the declining Ottoman Empire.
light brigade bullets

The bullets would originally have looked like this

The Crimea War also brought to public attention the pioneering nursing of Florence Nightingale – called ‘The lady with the lamp’ – who cared for soldiers killed in battle but also from diseases such as typhoid, cholera and dysentery.
The Charge of the Light Brigade was seen as highlighting the failings of aristocratic, self-centred generals who appeared to have little concern for casualties.
It is recalled in the poem by Allfred, Lord Tennyson, as showing war at its most courageous and horrific.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1157582/Bang-target-Crimea-War-bullets-collided-billion-chance.html#ixzz4xrGxvEoi

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Born again Cynic! The Green Machine War Well I thought it was funny!

French Passport!

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War

From the History Channel D Day Normandy 1944

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Seventy Three years ago today, America and her sturdy Allies began the Liberation of Western Europe from the Horrors of the Nazi. It was one of the great things that helped furthered the Life & Liberty of all mankind.
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During World War II (1939-1945), the Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June 1944 to August 1944, resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control.
Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region.
The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. Prior to D-Day, the Allies conducted a large-scale deception campaign designed to mislead the Germans about the intended invasion target.
By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring the Allies had defeated the Germans. The Normandy landings have been called the beginning of the end of war in Europe.
After World War II began, Germany invaded and occupied northwestern France beginning in May 1940.
The Americans entered the war in December 1941, and by 1942 they and the British (who had been evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk in May 1940 after being cut off by the Germans in the Battle of France) were considering the possibility of a major Allied invasion across the English Channel.
The following year, Allied plans for a cross-Channel invasion began to ramp up. In November 1943, Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), who was aware of the threat of an invasion along France’s northern coast, put Erwin Rommel(1891-1944) in charge of spearheading defense operations in the region, even though the Germans did not know exactly where the Allies would strike.
Hitler charged Rommel with finishing the Atlantic Wall, a 2,400-mile fortification of bunkers, landmines and beach and water obstacles.

In January 1944, General Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969) was appointed commander of Operation Overlord. In the months and weeks before D-Day, the Allies carried out a massive deception operation intended to make the Germans think the main invasion target was Pas-de-Calais (the narrowest point between Britain and France) rather than Normandy.
In addition, they led the Germans to believe that Norway and other locations were also potential invasion targets. Many tactics was used to carry out the deception, including fake equipment; a phantom army commanded by George Patton and supposedly based in England, across from Pas-de-Calais; double agents; and fraudulent radio transmissions.

Eisenhower selected June 5, 1944, as the date for the invasion; however, bad weather on the days leading up to the operation caused it to be delayed for 24 hours.
On the morning of June 5, after his meteorologist predicted improved conditions for the following day, Eisenhower gave the go-ahead for Operation Overlord. He told the troops: “You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you.”
Later that day, more than 5,000 ships and landing craft carrying troops and supplies left England for the trip across the Channel to France, while more than 11,000 aircraft were mobilized to provide air cover and support for the invasion.
By dawn on June 6, thousands of paratroopers and glider troops were already on the ground behind enemy lines, securing bridges and exit roads. The amphibious invasions began at 6:30 a.m.
The British and Canadians overcame light opposition to capture beaches code named Gold, Juno and Sword, as did the Americans at Utah Beach. U.S. forces faced heavy resistance at Omaha Beach, where there were over 2,000 American casualties.
However, by day’s end, approximately 156,000 Allied troops had successfully stormed Normandy’s beaches.According to some estimates, more than 4,000 Allied troops lost their lives in the D-Day invasion, with thousands more wounded or missing.
Less than a week later, on June 11, the beaches were fully secured and over 326,000 troops, more than 50,000 vehicles and some 100,000 tons of equipment had landed at Normandy.
For their part, the Germans suffered from confusion in the ranks and the absence of celebrated commander Rommel, who was away on leave. At first, Hitler, believing the invasion was a feint designed to distract the Germans from a coming attack north of the Seine River, refused to release nearby divisions to join the counterattack.
Reinforcements had to be called from further afield, causing delays. He also hesitated in calling for armored divisions to help in the defense. Moreover, the Germans were hampered by effective Allied air support, which took out many key bridges and forced the Germans to take long detours, as well as efficient Allied naval support, which helped protect advancing Allied troops.
In the ensuing weeks, the Allies fought their way across the Normandy countryside in the face of determined German resistance, as well as a dense landscape of marshes and hedgerows.
By the end of June, the Allies had seized the vital port of Cherbourg, landed approximately 850,000 men and 150,000 vehicles in Normandy, and were poised to continue their march across France.
By the end of August 1944, the Allies had reached the Seine River, Paris was liberated and the Germans had been removed from northwestern France, effectively concluding the Battle of Normandy. The Allied forces then prepared to enter Germany, where they would meet up with Soviet troops moving in from the east.
The Normandy invasion began to turn the tide against the Nazis. A significant psychological blow, it also prevented Hitler from sending troops from France to build up his Eastern Front against the advancing Soviets. The following spring, on May 8, 1945, the Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. Hitler had committed suicide a week earlier, on April 30.
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War

Canadian Army & Its long affair with the Sherman Tank

Canada’s long-running and unlikely Sherman obsession

Today the Canadian Army rocks some gently used (mainly former Dutch Army) Leopard 2A4+/2A4M/2A6M main battle tanks but their armored tradition goes way back. In the 1930s, the branch trained with early US M1917 tanks and Vickers MKVI light tanks then by 1941 was using MkIV Churchills.
In World War II, Canada actually rolled their own tanks, producing 1420 locally-built Valentines at the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Angus Shop in Montreal. While most of the V’s went to the Soviet Union for use on the Eastern Front, the Montreal Locomotive Works built a modified version of the M3 Lee medium tank as the Ram to equip Canuck units in Northern Africa early in the war.
In 1943, MLW switched from the Lee/Ram to the Sherman (called “Grizzly” in Canadian service), which included British radio gear, a 2-inch smoke mortar mounted on the turret and a cast hull as opposed to the more common welded-hull version.
The 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade was equipped with Grizzlies in time for the invasion of Sicily in July 1943.
In all, MLW made 188 Canuck Grizzlies while others were acquired from allies.
The novice Canadian Armored Corps in Italy caught hell from both the terrain and German PzKpfw IV’s when 36 Shermans from the Three Rivers Regiment (Tank), CASF (now the 12e Régiment blindé du Canada) took on the brunt of the veteran German 16th Panzer Corps near Termoli in one of the most epic armored engagements of Canadian military history.

The 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade, and the 4th Canadian Armoured Division, training in Britain for Operation Overlord, had their Ram tanks swapped out with the new tank just before D-Day.
They also caught hell in Northwestern Europe.

A rare colorchrome of a Sherman V of the Canadian 29th Reconnaissance regiment (The South Alberta Regiment). The Tank was commanded by Major David Currie (VC), and the tank was named ‘Clanky’. This photo was taken in Normandy around Arromanches in July of 1944. Photo via TheShermanTank.com http://www.theshermantank.com/category/allied-use-wwii/

A rare colorchrome of a Sherman V of the Canadian 29th Reconnaissance regiment (The South Alberta Regiment). The Tank was commanded by Major David Currie (VC), and the tank was named ‘Clanky’. This photo was taken in Normandy around Arromanches in July of 1944. Photo via TheShermanTank.com

A pair of burnt out Canadian M4A2 Shermans of the 10th Armored Regiment (The Fort Garry Horse) at the foot of the church at Rots – June 1944

A pair of burnt-out Canadian M4A2 Shermans of the 10th Armored Regiment (The Fort Garry Horse) at the foot of the church at Rots – June 1944

Some Grizzlies were converted into the Skink anti-aircraft tank with a turret mounting four 20 mm Polsten guns– a very effective anti-personnel and AAA platform.

"Tank AA, 20 mm Quad," better known as the Skink was Canadian self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, developed in 1943-44 fully enclosed mounting on the chassis of the Grizzly Canadian-built M4A1 Sherman

“Tank AA, 20 mm Quad,” better known as the Skink was Canadian self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, developed in 1943-44 fully enclosed mounting on the chassis of the Grizzly Canadian-built M4A1 Sherman

Other variants included the Badger flame tank and Kangaroo APC, both made from Sherman hulls.
When Hitler was vanquished, the Canadians left their Grizzlies/Shermans in Europe while in 1946 they picked up 294 “Easy Eight” M4A2(76)W HVSS Shermans cheap– just $1,460 each (Late model Shermans cost $200,000 to make in 1945). They were left overs from Lend Lease production meant for Uncle Joe in Moscow but by that stage of the 1940s, the U.S. would rather sell them at scrap prices that give them to the Soviets.
The batch of M4A2(76)W’s (M4A3E8’s) were kept in Canada proper for training purposes, even though they were different from the Shermans forward deployed along the Rhine.
When Korea came, the Canadians borrowed 20 Shermans from the U.S. Army and Marines in-country and, after using them in often very heavy combat and tense DMZ patrol from 1951 to November 1954, returned all 20 back to the U.S.

Trooper Andy Parenteau of the Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) sleeps on the back of a Canadian Sherman M4A3(76)W HVSS tank, Korea. Note the American ration box and United Nations/Canada crest on the tail

Trooper Andy Parenteau of the Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) sleeps on the back of a Canadian Sherman M4A3(76)W HVSS tank, Korea. Note the American ration box and United Nations/Canada crest on the tail

British forces used Centurions in the conflict– speaking of which…
In 1952, the Canadian Army bought the first of what would be 274 Centurion Mk 3 Tanks and split these MBTs between the active units in Germany (with their Grizzles being passed on to Portugal) and at home, later adding 120 Mk 5’s to the arsenal– while transferring the Easy Eight Shermans to reserve units.
They remained in service until 1978 when Canada replaced their aging Centurions with 127 new German-built Leopard C1 (equivalent to Leopard 1A3 with laser rangefinder) MBTs and, as the buy was limited and 114 were based in West Germany, just a handful were sent home to Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, New Brunswick for training.
The days of large tank lots in Canada had come to an end.
This led to the retirement of the last Canadian reserve force Shermans in the 1970s, one of the last Western countries to do so.

Canadian Easy Eight Shermans in reserve units 1970s

Canadian Easy Eight Shermans in reserve units 1970s out for a Sunday drive

You have to admit, the camo scheme looks good on these tanks...

You have to admit, the camo scheme looks good on these tanks…and they were an instant WWII veterans parade every time they left the armory

After retirement, many Canadian Shermans remained in use well into the 1980s– as targets.

Ex-Canadian M4 Sherman used for target practice with anti-tank weapons, 1986

Ex-Canadian M4 Sherman used for target practice with anti-tank weapons, 1986

It should be noted that as late as 1989, the Finning Tank Drill, a rock drill used in logging road construction, was produced in British Columbia from Sherman hulls while BC’s Morpac Industries, Inc., still produces heavy-duty, off-road load crawlers based on Sherman components. It is very likely these civilian mods will be in the wilds of Canada’s western forests for decades to come.
Here is a Finning caught in its natural state:

Today some 60~ intact models are thought to still exist in the country as gate guards and museum pieces and they pop up from time to time in both their Grizzly and later Easy Eight variants for sale at reasonable prices.
The Ontario Regiment (RCAC) Museum in Oshawa, Ontario has a pair of great working Shermans, (“Bart” #78-904 and “Billy #78-856).

Overall, not a bad track record for the often derided Sherman.

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The Green Machine War

THE BATTLE FOR BELLEAU WOOD (1918) One Hundred Years ago today!

Image result for battle of chateau thierry
The Battle of Château-Thierry was fought on July 18, 1918 and was one of the first actions of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) under General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing.
Scott Belleau Wood.jpg
It was a battle in World War I as part of the Second Battle of the Marne, initially prompted by a German offensive launched on 15 July against the AEF, an expeditionary force consisting of troops from both the Army and Marine Corps, and the newest troops on the front.Related image
On the morning of 18 July 1918, the French (some of them colonial)   and American forces between Fontenoy and Château-Thierry launched a counter-assault under the overall direction of Allied généralissime Ferdinand Foch against the German positions.
This assault on a 40 km (25 mi) wide front was the first in over a year. The American army played a role fighting for the regions around Soissons and Château-Thierry, in collaboration with predominantly French forces.
The allied forces had managed to keep their plans a secret, and their attack at 04:45 took the Germans by surprise when the troops went “Over the Top” without a preparatory artillery bombardment, but instead followed closely behind a rolling barrage which began with great synchronized precision.
Eventually, the two opposing assaults (lines) inter-penetrated and individual American units exercised initiative and continued fighting despite being nominally behind enemy lines.[2]

Background

Despite the revolution in Russia, fortune seemed to favor the Allies with the arrival of the Americans to France. However, these troops needed time to train before they could be combat effective.
Recognizing the window of opportunity, Ludendorff consolidated the manpower freed up from the Eastern Front to conduct Operation Michael in order to split the Allies’ lines. The successes of the German Stormtroopers infiltration tactics earned Germany approximately 40 miles of territory. But the offensive lost momentum when it surpassed its supply lines.
Up to this point, American General Pershing refused to hand over American divisions to either the British or French armies, insisting on keeping them together as one army. But in the face of the German onslaught, Pershing relented and sent a portion of his army to assist the French in blocking the German advance.[3]:7–10

Prelude[edit]

Looking to defeat the British occupied in Flanders, Ludendorff sought to divert the Allies’ French reserves away from the region. In his Operation Blucher, Ludendorff aimed some of his forces at the Chemin des Dames and took the French Sixth Army by surprise.
Driving on, the Germans were soon at the Marne River, situated under 50 miles from Paris. With Marshal Ferdinand Foch unable to acquire British assistance, General Pershing’s chief of operation, Colonel Fox Conner, recognized the gravity of the situation and ordered the 3rd Division to block them.[3]:39–41[4]

Battle

The 3rd Division occupied the main bridge on the south bank of the Marne that led in Chateau Thierry on May 31 as the French 10th Colonial Division rendezvoused with them from the north bank. The Americans positioned their machine guns to cover the French retreat, and had a unit led by Lt John Bissell situated north of the second bridge. The French spent the night adding explosives to the bridges to destroy them. Early the following morning, on June 1, the Germans advanced into Chateau Thierry from the north, forcing the French to the main bridge, which they defended with the support of American machine-gun fire. The French succeeded in destroying the bridge as the Americans kept up their fire on the Germans. Lt. Bissell’s group was still on the north side of the Marne. They worked their way back to the secondary bridge in-between American machine-gun fire and made it across, along with a group of Germans that were captured shortly afterwards. From the north of the Marne on June 2, the Germans engaged in heavy artillery and sniper fire against the Allies. They made an attempt to take the remaining bridge but were forced to end the assault as the casualties rose.[3]:41–42

Memorials[edit]

After World War I, a memorial was built on Hill 204, 2 miles (3 km.) west of the town for which it is named. The Château-Thierry Monument, designed by Paul P. Cret of Philadelphia, was constructed by the American Battle Monuments Commission “to commemorate the sacrifices and achievements of American and French fighting men in the region, and the friendship and cooperation of French and American forces during World War I.”[5]
There is also a monument in front of the Bronx County Courthouse in New York City that was presented by the American Legion on November 11, 1940. The monument consists of the “Keystone from an arch of the old bridge at Chateau Thierry,” which the monument notes was “Gloriously and successfully defended by American troops.”[6]
The first Filipino to die in World War I was Private Tomas Mateo Claudio who served with the U.S. Army as part of the American Expeditionary Forces to Europe. He died in the Battle of Chateau Thierry in France on June 29, 1918.[7][8] The Tomas Claudio Memorial College in Morong Rizal, Philippines, which was founded in 1950, was named in his honor.[9]

References[edit]

  1. Jump up^ http://www.kumc.edu/wwi/index-of-essays/american-military-operations-and-casualties.html
  2. Jump up^ Edwin L. James (1918). “A Description of the Battle of Chateau-Thierry”. New York Times Current History. New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  3. ^ Jump up to:a b c David Bonk (2007). Chateau Thierry and Belleau Wood 1918: America’s baptism of fire on the Marne. Great Britain: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-034-5. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  4. Jump up^ Eisenhower, John S.D. (2001). Yanks: The Epic Story of the American Army in World War I. New York: The Free Press. pp. 136–137. ISBN 0-684-86304-9.
  5. Jump up^ “Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial” (PDF). American Battle Monuments Commission, U.S. Government. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-07-04. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  6. Jump up^ “An overlooked memorial”. Matt at I’m Just Walkin’. Retrieved 2014-11-15.
  7. Jump up^ Zena Sultana-Babao, America’s Thanksgiving and the Philippines’ National Heroes Day: Two Holidays Rooted in History and Tradition, Asian Journal, retrieved 2008-01-12
  8. Jump up^ Source: Philippine Military Academy
  9. Jump up^ “Schools, colleges and Universities: Tomas Claudio Memorial College”. Manila Bulletin Online. Archived from the original on 2007-07-07. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
    – “Tomas Claudio Memorial College”. www.tcmc.edu.ph. Retrieved 2007-07-04.

The Story of the American Expeditionary Forces



CHATEAU – THIERRY

U.S. Marine Corps

THE    BATTLE

FOR
BELLEAU  WOOD

 
 

At Belleau Wood

 

| Quick Facts | Background  | Chronology |
| A First Hand Account |

Quick Facts

Where:    The Aisne-Marne Sector, 5 miles immediately northwest of the town of Chateau-Thierry on the River Marne.
Check the Location on a Map of the Western Front
When:    June 1 – 26, 1918
AEF Units Participating:   Under command of the XXI Corps of the Sixth French Army – Second Division: 4th [Marine] Brigade, 2nd Engineers; Third Division: Elements of 7th Infantry Regiment
Click Here To See the disposition of 2nd Forces around Belleau Wood.
Opposing Forces:    From German Army Group Crown Prince – In Belleau Wood – the 461st Regiment of the German 237th Division; At Bouresches – elements of the 10th Division; Later reinforcements included elements of the 197th, 87th and 28th German Divisions.
Memorable As:      The first battle where the AEF experienced the heavy casualties associated with the Great War; the embodiment of U.S. Marine Corps determination and dedication; and a signal to both allies and adversaries that America was on the Western Front to fight.

Background

The Hunting Lodge within Belleau Wood
Note the Temporary US Graves

Explaining the Battle for Belleau Wood is a doubly difficult challenge. The three-week long action was simply a confused mess tactically. None of the participants ever quite knew where they, the front line or the enemy were inside that mile-square dark forest. This has made it almost impossible to create an hour-by-hour account of what transpired during the action.
Also, for eighty years, Belleau Wood has been the source of a number of disputes and controversies. Some writers, like Historian/Novelist Thomas Fleming, feel the battle should have never been fought, that American commanders should have seen the predictable outcome given the bloody results of similar assaults against other densely wooded patches on the Somme and in the Ypres Salient. Thus, the American generals should have resisted French orders to mount the attack. When the fight was still being waged, Army regulars began resenting the way the Marine Corps circumvented AEF news management to get their story told while the contributions of army units at Chateau-Thierry were unreported. Thus, military historians have put the tactics and methods applied at Belleau Wood under a very strong microscope. But also, there is considerable criticism laid at the feet of 4th Brigade Commander James Harbord, a Pershing favorite from the Army, for his lack of appreciation for the need to apply concentrated artillery fire to the task of clearing the wood and his piecemeal tactics.
The Editors of the Doughboy Center cannot resolve any of these issues. But, we want to give the readers an appreciation of what transpired at Belleau Wood during those grim days and we also want to make sure the contributions of all the participants are respected. We will try to do this by giving a day-by-day chronology of the major events of the battle and also share excerpts from the first hand account of one of its best known participants. Also, in our standard Sources and Thanks sections, we will list some of the best resources on Belleau Wood including some internet links.

Chronology: Belleau Wood, Day-by-Day

1 June 1918
2nd Division troops dig in along a defensive line just north of the village of Lucy-le-Bocage. Marine Captain Lloyd Williams when advised to withdraw, replies, “Retreat, Hell! We just got here!” Capt. Williams would not survive the ensuing battle.
The line was centered on Lucy-le-Bocage. Although the initial disposition of troops was haphazard at first due the emergency, the front settled eventually with the 5th Marines to the west and the 6th Marines to the east. Most of the units deployed without machineguns in support. At Les Mares Farm, members of 2nd Bn, 5th Marines began to show the Germans the effects of long distance marksmanship.
2 June 1918
Vanguard of the German advance reaches Belleau Wood.
3 June 1918
Units of German 237th Division occupy Belleau Wood.
4 June 1918
Determined German assault against American line turned back. .There as significant failure in coordination between 2dn Bn, 5th Marines around Les Mares Farm and 1st Bn, 5th Marine, on the right of 2/5’s position near Champillon. The German attack failed to take advantage of this gap between the units and attacked directly against the farm. By this time, the divisional artillery brigade and machinegun battalions had arrived. Many Marines, however, were feeling hungry because their kitchens were still stuck on the road trying to catchup. The failure of the attack on 4 June at the farm is generally acknowledged a the high water mark of the German offensive. It is the closest the Germans got to Paris, about 50 miles away. Future Commandant, Lt. Lemuel Shepard distinguished himself as the 55th Company defended the farm itself.
5 June 1918
French XXI Corps commander orders the 2nd Division to recapture of Belleau Wood indicating the enemy only holds a corner of the Wood. The main assault falls to the unit in that sector, the 4th [Marine] Brigade of the 2nd Division. Actually, the German Army had taken the entire wood and turned it into a bastion. No reconnaissance is made to confirm the position of the opposition.
6 June 1918
Arguably, this was the most catastrophic day in Marine Corps history to this date. Two assaults take place. At 0500, the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment attacks west of Belleau Wood straightening the front and capturing strategic Hill 142 to support an assault on the wooded area. The attack was successful despite the lack of preparation and poor timing. It went off with only 2 companies and timely arrival of the other two avoided a defeat. Gunnery Sgt E. A. Janson’s was awarded a Medal of Honor for his service in this assault. A member of Capt. Hamilton’s 49th Co., he was responsible for effectively stopping a German counterattack.
Twelve hours later battalions of the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments frontally assault the woods from the south and west and attempt to capture Bouresches on the east edge of the woods. This afternoon attack was to be coordinated between the 3rd Batt, 5th Marines [3/5] and 3rd Batt, 6th Marines [3/6] with the latter eventually taking the village of Bouresches.
The attack against the woods proper goes grimly. Crossing a wheat field where they are exposed to machine gun fire. Gunnery Sgt Dan Daly asks his men, “Come on ya sons-of-bitches, ya want to live forever?’ The attack is only able to seize a small corner of the wood. The army 2nd Engineer Regiment is called on to provide reinforcements.
The poorly coordinated attack on the woods left the 3/5 decimated and the 3/6 struggling to get into the southern edge of the woods. The Brigade order was amended and the 2/6 (in reserve around Triangle Farm) was directed to take Bouresches. Capt Duncan’s 96th Company led the way with future Corps Commandant Lt. Clifton Cates. Lead elements of the company got into the village and were then reinforced by Capt Zane’s 79th Company. The retention of the village was a real struggle due to the fact that the Marine flanks were wide-open fields and any attempt to reinforce received heavy German fire. Personal bravery kept the Marines supplied with needed supplies. US Navy Dental Service Officer Lt. JG. Weedon Osborne’s received the Medal of Honor after being killed trying to save Capt Duncan. Today there is street in Bouresches named for him.
In addition to the village, the Brigade was directed to take the railroad station just outside. However, it was heavily manned and protected by a railroad embankment providing the Germans excellent fields of fire and the attack failed. On this day, the Marine Brigade suffered the worst single day’s casualties in USMC history with 1087 men killed or wounded.
7 June 1918
Mostly a quiet day as US forces prepare to renew the offensive and the German units bring in relief.
8 June 1918
A renewed American assault fails to gain ground.
9 June 1918
Orders are issued for an attack the next morning. Late in the evening the assault units move into position.
10 June 1918
New attacks at 4:30 am with first use of heavy artillery. Units deep in the woods are ordered to withdraw to the south edge of the trees to avoid the shelling.
11 June 1918
The assault following the bombardment succeeds in capturing two-thirds of Belleau Wood, but again with heavy casualties. A battalion commander, Lt. Col. Frederick Wise erroneously reports his men were in control of the woods, but has misread his maps and position. Brigade Commander James Harbord requests relief for his men reporting their near physical exhaustion. Another Navy medical officer Lt Orlando Petty received the Medal of Honor for his service this day.
12 June 1918
Brigade command holds a council of war and conclude the German hold on the northern third of the wood is tenuous. An attack at 6 pm achieves a breakthrough, but they are now exposed.
13 June 1918
Marines plug the line in their exposed area. German counterattack begins supported by the artillery from three divisions and almost recaptures Bouresches. Heavy gas casualties. A planned relief of 2/5 goes for naught as 2/6 is caught in the open by a artillery barrage with gas. Gunnery Sgt F. Stockham is nominated for the Medal of Honor for putting his gas mask on a wounded Marine while continuing to assist others. Stockham died a few days later from the effects of the gas, but his medal was not awarded until 1939 following a unit reunion at which it was discovered that the recommendation from the then Lt. Clifton Cates was never acted on.
14 June 1918
Continued German counterattack fails. The 23rd Infantry extends its line to the edge of Bouresches freeing up Marines for the woods.
15 June 1918
Heavy bombardment from Germans.

Marines from Belleau Being Relieved June 16th

16 June 1918
Relief of Marine Units by 3rd Division’s 7th Infantry.
17 June 1918
Three battalions of the 7th Infantry deploy in the woods under 5th Marines commander Colonel Wendell Neville.
18 June 1918
Series attacks and maneuvers by 7th Infantry begin, All fail with Army officers complaining about tactics ordered of them.
19 June 1918
Continuous operations by 7th Infantry.
20 June 1918
French III Corps assumes direction of the sector.
21 June 1918
The last battalion-scale attack by Army units fail leaving the woods open. 7th Infantry deployments hit with heavy bombardment and machine gun fire.
22 June 1918
Marine units back in line replacing 7th Infantry relief forces. French commanders reiterate demands that the woods be seized.
23 June 1918
3rd Battalion of 5th Regiment begins final assault with minimal gains and terrible losses. Two hundred ambulances are needed to evacuate the wounded.
24 June 1918
French command commits sufficient artillery to reduce the woods. The guns are brought in to prepare for a renewed assault.
25 June 1918
Major 14-hour bombardment starting at 0300 makes clearance of the remaining woods possible. The following attack swamps the remaining machine gun outposts of the enemy. Marines and Army machine-gunners participate in the assault.
26 June 1918
After beating off some early morning counterattacks, Major Maurice Shearer sends signal, “Woods now entirely — US Marine Corps.”

The Battle for Belleau Wood –
A First Hand Account

From Colonel Frederick May Wise’s description of Bois de Belleau. Newly promoted Lt. Col. Wise was the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 5th Marines at Belleau Wood. His incorrect report that the woods were occupied on June 11th was a serious error. He was, however, a fine combat reporter. Excerpts from his account of the battle are included here to give the reader a sense of the experience of the Battle for Belleau Wood. Wise’s remarks have been considerably abridged and the action line is somewhat disjointed in what follows.

Fifth Marine Mascot Jimmy the Anteater
with a Leatherneck Pal in Calmer Times

Just past noon, a runner came up the road with orders from Colonel Neville. We were to proceed to the northeast edge of the woods, which were northwest of Lucy-le-Bocage, and await orders.
By two o’clock that afternoon we were under way, going across open fields. High in the air I saw several German sausages (observation balloons). I knew those woods were going to catch hell shortly. In about an hour we were newly established on their edge. This time I had the men scatter well among the trees. I warned them especially against bunching up. We settled down again to wait for orders.
Along toward ten o’clock that night the German shelling started. They gave those woods hell. The Germans were pouring everything they had into that ridge. It didn’t take any urging for the Marines to get into fox holes the minute they knew we were going to hold it. But though the Germans didn’t launch any infantry attack, they kept up a continuous shelling with all the artillery in range, and poured an unceasing stream of machine-gun and rifle fire against that ridge. Everywhere up and down the line, masses of earth, chunks of rock, splinters of trees, leaped into the air as the shells exploded. Machine-gun and rifle bullets thudded into the earth unendingly. That place was getting warm.
Clinging to the crest of that ridge, we found the German shells bad enough. But there was worse to come. They had trench mortars in the Bois de Belleau, and presently they began to cut loose on us with them. Those aerial torpedoes, nearly four feet long, packed with T.N.T., would come sailing through the air and land on the ridge. That whole ridge literally shook every time one of them exploded.
All that day the bombardment kept up. It was the most terrific fire I had ever experienced. At night it slackened somewhat, only to resume next morning. It kept up all next day. Some gas shells fell, too, but the gas wasn’t bad enough to make us put on our masks. Why the Germans didn’t attack and break through that line of ours I never will be able to understand. All that second day we took the shelling in our faces and held the line. That night, thank God, it slackened again.
From where we sat we could see the ground where the attack was to be formed, and they’d have plenty of time to explain to the junior officers and men exactly what was to be done. The whole thing depended on getting across the Lucy-Torcy road before daybreak and making a rapid advance to the northern edge of the woods. The First Battalion was to relieve us at midnight. I had seen Major Turrill about it personally, so that the relief would be made rapidly and without noise.
Late that afternoon . . . I also went over and saw Major John A. Hughes, commanding the First Battalion of the Sixth Marines, who had made the last attack on the southern edge of Bois de Belleau and was still holding it. Major Hughes confirmed my idea that it was almost an impossible task to take that position by frontal attack. He told me a lot, too, about what the German defenses were. In that clump of woods covering a knoll a mile long and a half mile wide, rising sharply from the fields that surrounded it, was an outcrop of huge boulders cut with gullies and ravines, and with underbrush so thick in it that men could pass a few feet from each other, unseen. In that tangle were machine-guns camouflaged behind brush heaps and woodpiles, back of boulders and in shell proof pits under boulders. Snipers on the ground and in the tree tops. Picked German veterans who were fighting desperately.
I went back to the ridge after my talk with him, thankful that I had a free hand and could hit them from the rear instead of having to make a frontal attack.” “Night came on. I sat there under the trees, going over all the details in my mind, waiting for four A.M. to come.
Through the dark a runner showed up, asking for me. “A message, sir,” he said, when I called to him. I looked at my wrist watch. Midnight. Four hours more to wait. I unfolded the message he handed me, crouched down, and turned the light of my electric torch on the paper. I read those typewritten lines. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was an attack order.
My battalion was ordered to attack the Bois de Belleau FROM THE SOUTHERN EDGE at four o’clock that morning, behind a rolling barrage. It was signed “Harbord.” I was dumfounded. All my plans were up in the air. I knew that piece of paper I held in my hand meant the needless death of most of my battalion. “The plans have been changed,” I [had to tell my subordinates].
[Later] I stood there under some trees by a ditch on the southern edge of the Bois de Belleau, and in the growing light watched my battalion march into position. It was getting lighter every minute. Suddenly the barrage dropped, several hundred yards in front of our lines. . . Amid the explosions of the bursting shells we could hear the German machine guns in the woods come to life. They couldn’t see us yet, but they knew from the barrage that the attack was coming.”
“The barrage lifted and crawled ahead. The whistles of our platoon leaders sounded up and down the line. The battalion rose to its feet. Bayonets fixed, rifles at the ready, the men started their slow advance.
I stood there watching them go forward. The Germans could see us now. They had the range. Here and there men were dropping. But the line went steadily on. The Germans couldn’t have had better targets if they had ordered the attack themselves. The barrage kept crawling on. About two hundred and fifty yards behind it the battalion went on, men dropping, men dropping, men dropping. Yard by yard they advanced. Minutes after, I saw them disappear into the woods. Those woods seemed to have swallowed up the barrage without an effort. Now they swallowed up the battalion.
As the Marines vanished into the undergrowth beneath the trees, the German machine-gun fire slackened. The detonations of the barrage had ceased. Across those fields from the woods I could distinguish machine-gun fire, rifle fire. A sudden ripping burst of machine-gun fire would break out. That meant the Marines were advancing on a nest. It would die down. That meant the nest was taken. Back across that open field wounded men began crawling to the rear. There was a dressing station at Lucy, about a mile away.
Marine Memorial at Belleau Wood Glade – Detail
Company runners began to come back out of the woods with reports. Messages hastily scrawled in pencil. This objective attained. That objective attained. Heavy casualties. Prisoners commenced to come back. Convoys of twenty, thirty, fifty Germans, herded along by some single Marine – generally a wounded one at that.
From time to time company runners kept coming out of the woods with reports of objectives gained and held, about mid-afternoon I figured it was time for me to go and take a look-see. I left Legendre at the P.C., took Coutra with me, and went over to the edge of the woods. There were paths I could follow through the undergrowth.
Just inside the edge of the woods I came upon one of those German machine-guns camouflaged behind a brush pile. Dead Marines lay in front of it. Dead Germans lay about it. A strange silence held in the woods. The youngster in command told me of the terrific fighting they’d had. Foot by foot they had pushed their way through the underbrush in the face of a continuous machine-gun and rifle fire. Snipers had shot them from brush piles on the ground; from perches high in the trees. Germans they had left sprawled on the ground for dead as they went on, had risen and shot them in the back.
I went on down the line. Lieutenant Cook was unwounded, but he had lost several of his juniors and a lot of his men. . . “Whenever we took a machine-gun nest,” he said, “another one opened up on their flank. That happened many times. The second one would never fire a shot until we had taken the first. Then they opened up on us.” His outfit, too, were in fox holes and waiting for the expected German counterattack. . .Captain Dunbeck told me how Lieutenant Heiser had died. Leading an attack on a German machine-gun nest, Heiser had been literally decapitated. His head had been cut clean from his body by a stream of machine-gun bullets that caught him in the throat.
Capt. Wass told me of. . . the difficulties they had in orienting themselves in that heavy underbrush. There were no landmarks, once you got into those woods. If you turned around twice you lost all sense of direction and only your compass could straighten you out. “The German machine-gunners are braver than the infantry,” Wass said. “But when you once get within bayonet reach of any of them, they’re eager enough to surrender.”
Nothing in all our training had foreseen fighting like this. If there was any strategy in it, it was the strategy of the Red Indian. The only thing that drove those Marines through those woods in the face of such resistance as they met was their individual, elemental guts, plus the hardening of the training through which they had gone. I passed nest after nest of German machine-guns. Out in front of every gun lay Marines where they had fallen. Around the guns themselves there weren’t so very many dead Germans. They had worked their guns up to the moment the Marines got among them with the bayonet — and then they had surrendered. Most of my wounded had been worked out. Here and there through the woods stretcher bearers were searching for more. There was some little evidence of that rolling barrage under which we had advanced, in a few shell holes and splintered trees. But not much. It hadn’t hurt the Germans enough to mention. But it had given them plenty of notice that we were coming.
Though everywhere I could see Marines who had been killed by machine guns and snipers, though there were plenty of dead Germans, killed by rifle fire, nowhere was there any sign that the Germans had stood face to face with Marines at close quarters and fought it out. Always when it got hot and hand to hand, they had surrendered. But now the German artillery stepped in. They had a pretty thorough idea of our position in those woods. About ten o’clock that night they sounded off. They gave us an awful pounding. It lasted for about two hours.
. . . The Bois de Belleau was an unforgettable sight that night. I had dozed off in the dark during a lull. The explosions of renewed shelling woke me to see the blackness rent and torn everywhere with those terrific flashes of bluish flame from the bursting shells. Silhouetted in that ghastly light I could see splintered tree trunks and twisted limbs and the black mass of the forest stretching off on both sides. Then for minutes those flashes would come so fast that it looked as if a great ragged searchlight was playing up and down in the dark, so continuous would be the illumination. And all the time the shattering impact of the bursts would hammer on your ears.
By daybreak next morning I was out on inspection again. The woods were strangely silent. I found to my amazement that the terrific barrage of the night before had done comparatively little damage to our front line. It had torn the woods just behind the line to pieces. If we’d had supports in those woods, they would have been annihilated.
At the battle’s end. . .I lined the men up and looked them over. It was enough to break your heart. I had left Courcelles May 31st with nine hundred and sixty-five men and twenty six officers — the best battalion I ever saw anywhere. I had taken them, raw recruits for the most. Ten months I had trained them. I had seen them grow into Marines. Now before me stood three hundred and fifty men and six officers. Six hundred and fifteen men and nineteen officers were gone.
Click here to visit Part III of Chateau-Thierry:
The Capture of Vaux

Sources and thanks: A half dozen works were consulted for this page including E.M. Coffman’s War to End All Wars, Stalling’s The Doughboys, Friedel’s Over There, SLA Marshall text in the American Heritage History of World War I and American Armies and Battlefields in Europe. The most valuable resource for the chronology was the Official 2nd Division History which is now available on CD from our friends at the Digital Bookshelf. A forgotten Marine contributor sent the Frederick Wise comments which are from the memoir, A MARINE TELLS IT TO YOU. The top illustration is a detail from a Leatherneck Magazine cover. Regular contributors Herb Stickel and Ray Mentzer helped with the other photos.All of the above are recommended for deeper study of the battle as well as two interesting websites:
Bradley Omanson’s Scuttlebutt & Small Chow: A Salty Old Harbor of Marine Corps History 
Great War Society Member Edward Swaim’s Belleau Wood Today Photo Essay
Last, a special thanks for Col. Bill Anderson, USMC, a Great War Society Member and student of the battle who caught some serious errors of omission in my original draft.
MH
To find other Doughboy Features visit ourDirectory Page For Great War Society
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Additions and comments on these pages may be directed to:
Michael E. Hanlon (medwardh@hotmail.com)
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He is still dead and good riddance says I!

Hitler definitely died in 1945, according to new study of his teeth

Image result for Dead Hitler
Hitler committed suicide in 1945 as Soviet troops captured Berlin 

By  Rory Mulholland
French researchers claim to have put an end to conspiracy theories surrounding the death of Adolf Hitler, after a study of his teeth proved he definitely died after taking cyanide and shooting himself in the head in Berlin in 1945.
The researchers reached their conclusion after they were given rare access to fragments of Hitler’s teeth which have been held in Moscow since the end of World War II.

“The teeth are authentic, there is no possible doubt. Our study proves that Hitler died in 1945,” said professor Philippe Charlier.

“We can stop all the conspiracy theories about Hitler. He did not flee to Argentina in a submarine, he is not in a hidden base in Antarctica or on the dark side of the moon,” he told AFP news agency.
The teeth were put on display in 2000 in Moscow as part of an exhibition to mark the 55th anniversary of the end of the war.
They were back in the news again last month when the memoirs of a Russian interpreter who worked in Berlin in 1945 were published in English for the first time.
She recounted how she had been tasked with proving Hitler’s death by tracking down his dental records in the ruined German capital and seeing if they matched a set of teeth she had been entrusted with – which they did.
In March and July 2017, Russia’s FSB secret service and the Russian state archives authorised a team of French researchers to examine Hitler’s bones for the first time since 1946, said Professor Charlier, who was one of the scientists chosen.
They were able to look at a skull fragment presented as being from the Fuhrer, which showed a hole on the left side which was in all probability caused by the passage of a bullet.
The scientists were not authorised to take samples from this fragment, they noted in their study published on Friday in the scientific magazine European Journal of Internal Medicine.
The skull fragment’s morphology was “totally comparable” to radiographies of Hitler’s skull taken a year before his death, the research found.
The analysis of the Nazi leader’s bad teeth and numerous dentures found white tartar deposits and no traces of meat fibre – the dictator was vegetarian.
The examination of the teeth did not find any traces of powder, which indicates there was not a revolver shot to the mouth, more likely the neck or the forehead.
Equally, bluish deposits seen on his false teeth could indicate a “chemical reaction between the cyanide and the metal of the dentures,” the researcher said.
If this study confirms the generally accepted view that Hitler died on the 30 April, 1945, in his Berlin bunker with his companion Eva Braun as the Soviets were capturing the city, it also sheds new light on the exact causes of death, said Mr Charlier.
“We didn’t know if he had used an ampule of cyanide to kill himself or whether it was a bullet in the head. It’s in all probability both,” he said.
Charlier, a specialist in medical and legal anthropology, was also involved in the analysis of the mummified heart of Richard the Lionheart.

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