Belleau Wood
Belleau Wood 11/10/2022
June 6, 1918, the Battle of Belleau Wood raged for three more weeks, during that time more Marines died than during all previous battles combined. This battle consisted of 2 U.S. Army divisions, 1 brigade of the U.S. Marines, French 6th army, and elements of the British IX Corps. They were up against 5 German divisions. This was the German Spring Offensive. The Germans had hoped to defeat the Allies before the U.S. could be fully engaged in the war. The Germans forced the French to retreat and the 5th Marines were called to plug the hole. The French urged the Marines to turn back and this is where Marine Captain Lloyd Williams uttered his famous retort, “Retreat? Hell, we just got here.” The Allies launched an attack on the German lines on June 6. At dawn, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines were to attack Hill 142, but only two companies were in position. The Marines advanced in waves with bayonets fixed across an open wheat field that was swept with German machine gun and artillery fire, and many Marines were cut down. At 17:00 on 6 June, the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines and the 3rd Battalion, 6th marines advanced from the west into Belleau Wood as part of the second phase of the Allied offensive. Again, the Marines had to advance through a waist-high wheat field into machine gunfire. One of the most famous quotations in Marine Corps history came during the initial step-off for the battle when First Sergeant Dan Daly, a recipient of two Medals of Honor, prompted his men of the 73rd Machine Gun Company forward with the words: “Come on, you sons of bitches. Do you want to live forever?” The first waves of Marines were slaughtered. On the right, the 3/6 Battalion swept into the southern end of Belleau Wood and encountered heavy machine gunfire, sharpshooters, and barbed wire. Marines and German infantrymen were soon engaged in hand-to-hand fighting. The casualties sustained on this day were the highest in Marine Corps history up to that time. Some 31 officers and 1,056 men of the Marine brigade were casualties. However, the Marines now had a foothold in Belleau Wood. As I mentioned, this battle raged for three weeks. Overall, the woods were attacked by the Marines a total of six times before they could successfully expel the Germans. They fought off parts of five divisions of Germans, often reduced to using only their bayonets or fists in hand-to-hand combat. This battle has a prominent position in the lore of the Marine Corp. We walked through the forest of Belleau Wood, we saw the wheat field, and we visited the Asine-Marne American Cemetery that contains the graves of 2,289 of AEF war dead, most of whom perished in Belleau Wood.
When we ended our visit here, we headed back to Paris. Our trip back was uneventful, until, we got in the Paris traffic. We spent three hours stuck in traffic, because of a transportation strike. Finally got to our hotel about 9:30 PM.
Comments
Post a Comment