Marine Defense BattalionswereUnited States Marine Corpsbattalionscharged withcoastalandair defenseof advanced naval bases duringWorld War II.They maintained large anti-ship guns,anti-aircraftguns, searchlights, and small arms to repel landing forces.
Organization
editUnlike the mobile Marine forces involved in offensive actions, defense battalions were detached to key outposts, in thePacificand one inIceland,[1]and remained at the station they defended.[2]Most varied greatly in size and equipment. The battalions often had several coastal gun batteries, several anti-aircraft batteries, a detection battery (searchlights andradar), andmachine gununits. While a few had compositeinfantrycompanies attached, most defense battalions were responsible for providing their own riflemen.
A 1939 table of organization and equipment (TOE) included:[3]
- HQ Company
- Service battery
- Six platoons, each with asearchlightand aircraftsound locator
- Coast Defense Group
- Three batteries, each with two Mark 155 "/51 caliber guns
- Antiaircraft Group
- Four AAA gun batteries, each with four mobile3-inch M3 guns
- Two AAA machine gun companies, each with 24Browning M2.50-caliber machine guns on AA mounts
- Two beach protection machine gun companies, each with 24Browning M1917A1water-cooled.30-caliber machine guns
It is likely that the 5 "/51 caliber guns were replaced by the155 mm Long Tomand the 3-inch guns were replaced by the90 mm Gun M1/M2/M3by early 1943.
History
editThe defense battalions were first conceived from thefixed defense conceptduring the Marine Corps's, as well the United States Navy's, critical change in their traditionalsea servicerole to a more "aggressive"amphibious landing force.They conducted "fixed" defense exercises onCulebra IslandofPuerto Ricothroughout the first half of the 20th century, and other areas around theCaribbean.
The first battalions were created in 1939, when the outbreak of World War II caused concerns that overseas bases might be attacked by theImperial Japanese Navy.[2]In July 1941 the 5th Marine Defense Battalion landed in Iceland as part of the1st Provisional Marine Brigadealongside the6th Marine Regimentand other elements of the2nd Marine Division,augmenting British forces until they departed in September. The battalion had left its Coast Defense Group behind and exchanged the aircraft sound locators forSCR-268 radarsets. In March 1942 the battalion was relieved by the Army's61st Coast Artillery Regiment.[3]After theattack on Pearl Harbor,where defenders shot down three planes on 7 December 1941, the battalions grew rapidly. On 8 December, the Japanese beganan assault on Wake Island,and the defenders, including 399 Marines of the 1st Defense Battalion, surrendered after a prolonged battle on 23 December.[4]
Defense battalions deployed early and often throughout the Pacific campaigns, serving in a succession of distant places, some dangerous, others boring. They did not benefit from post-battle rest— though few rest areas lived up to their name —nor were their accommodations comparable to those of an aircraft wing sharing the same location. The Marines of the defense battalions endured isolation, sickness, monotonous food, and primitive living conditions for long periods, as they engaged in the onerous task of protecting advance bases in areas that by no stretch of the imagination resembled tropical paradises. After putting up with these conditions for months [or years], many of these same Marines went on to serve as replacements in the six Marine divisions in action when the war ended.
— FromCondition Red:Marine Defense Battalions in World War IIby Major Charles D. Melson USMC (Ret), the Marine Corps' official history of the defense battalions.[5]
The year 1942 became a period of defense for thePacific Theater,and as such, the Marine defense battalions saw much reinforcement, redeployment, and growth. On 4 June, the Marines atMidway Islandfended off a Japanese aerial attack, which contributed to the victory of thenaval battlehundreds of miles away. On 7 August, the 3rd Defense Battalion went ashore with the infantry toGuadalcanaland defended the island (and others in theSolomon Islands) against Japanese counterattacks during theBattle of Guadalcanal.
In the summer of 1943, elements of the 9th, 10th, and 11th Defense Battalions supported theArmy'sXIV Corpsin the centralSolomons campaign.Other battalions helped clear the northern islands, includingBougainville,and by the spring of 1944, they were all taken.
In early 1944, theMarshall Islandsbecame the next target in the Pacific, and the Marine defenders moved in. By summer, they landed in theMariana Islands,includingSaipan,andGuam.During that time,Commandant of the Marine CorpsLt. Gen. Alexander Vandegriftbegan to scale back on defense battalions. Two were disbanded, and the remaining began to gradually focus on anti-aircraft defense, rather than coastal defense. Only the 6th, the 51st, and the 52nd remained designated as defense battalions; the rest had become anti-aircraft units underFleet Marine Force, Pacific.
In late 1944, the 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 16th Antiaircraft Artillery (formerly Defense) Battalions formed the1st Provisional Antiaircraft Artillery Groupin preparation toinvade the Japanese Home Islands.[6]While they did not participate in theBattle of Iwo Jima,they did land onOkinawain April 1945. Soon after,the Japanese surrenderlead to the disbanding of most of the defense battalions.
Marine defense battalions were seen as an ideal unit type for creating and deployingAfrican Americanunits with white leadership, since they trained independently and fought in isolated areas.[7]Those recruits slated for defense battalions were trained at the then-segregatedMontford Point,North Carolina(now known asCamp Gilbert H. Johnson,part of theMarine Corps Base Camp Lejeunecomplex). They would then be assigned to the two black defense battalions, the 51st and 52nd.[7]
List of battalions
edit
See also
editNotes
edit- ^Melson 1990,pp. 5.
- ^abMelson 1990,pp. 1.
- ^abBogart, Charles H., "Fifth Marine Defense Battalion in Iceland",Coast Defense Journal,Vol. 29, Issue 3, August 2015, Coast Defense Study Group, Inc.
- ^Heinl, Lieutenant Colonel R.D. Jr. (1947).Marines in World War II Historical Monograph: The Defense of Wake.Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps.LCCN47046490.OCLC2944549.Retrieved13 December2007.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^[1],Condition Red: Marine Defense Battalions in World War IIby Major Charles D., U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, PCN 190 003133 00, 1996
- ^Rottman 2002,pp. 212.
- ^abMelson 1996,pp. 8–9.
- ^abcdRottmanUSMC WWII OOB,p.212.
- ^Melson 1990,pp. 1–5.
References
edit- Bibliography
- Melson, Charles D. (1990).The Ninth Marine Defense and AAA Battalions.Turner Publishing Company.ISBN0-938021-85-0.
- Rottman, Gordon L. (2002).U.S. Marine Corps World War II Order of Battle: Ground and Air Units in the Pacific War, 1939–1945.Greenwood Press.ISBN0-313-31906-5.
- Web
- Melson, Major Charles D. (1996).Condition Red: Marine Defense Battalions in World War II.Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. Washington, D.C.: Marine Corps Historical Center.LCCN96174419.OCLC34920984.Retrieved2020-05-17.