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The attack on Belleau Wood begins 100 years ago today


devildog34
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devildog34

Good morning everyone. I wanted to use this very sacred day exactly 100 years ago to tell the story of the attack on Belleau Wood using relevant items from my collection. I hope you enjoy.

 

At 3:00 p.m. June 5, 1918, French XXI Corps headquarters issued the order for the French 167th Division to advance north in conjunction with the west wing of the Second Division. The Americans’ objective was to move with the French and seize the elongated ridge denoted Hill 142 north of the town of Champillon. Orders filtered down to the Marine Brigade and Brigadier General James Harbord was tasked with designating the unit to undertake the assault. As message runners scrambled along the lines locating necessary officers, orders for the attack were greatly delayed. Finally at 10:25 p.m. June 5, 1918, the headquarters staff of the Marine Brigade sent word of the attack to the designated unit. The 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, commanded by Major Julius Turrill, would carry out the assault scheduled to begin at 3:45 a.m. June 6, 1918.

Due to the earlier panic that gripped Lieutenant Colonel Wise over the sector held by his battalion days earlier, Major Turrill’s men had been dispatched to help strengthen the line. On the afternoon of June 5, Major Turrill had only two of his four companies in line and was awaiting relief by elements of the freshly arrived French division. Situated in the town of Marigny, nearly two kilometers from where the attack was to take place, Major Turrill recalled, “Then about one or two o’clock on the morning of the 6th we got orders to go up and make an attack on hill 142.” Major Turrill had only a few hours in the darkness of night to assemble 975 men of his battalion and move them to the jump-off point from which the assault would begin. The objective had not been reconnoitered. Two of his companies were in line several hundred meters north scattered in a thick patch of woods making only half of his battalion ready to assemble for the pending attack.

Major Turrill’s two available companies in of the town of Marigny formed and moved out in the predawn hours of June 6, 1918. Marching through fields they came toward the outskirts of the village of Champillon. Here the companies came to a halt. None of the designated machine gunners sent to support the battalion’s assault had yet reported to Major Turrill. Only the 15th Machine Gun Company was available to assist. The other had not arrived in position. Only two of the battalion’s four companies stood poised for orders; the other two had not been relieved from their position nearly two kilometers away.

Captain Jonas Platt, a replacement who arrived only hours before, stood among his men and awaited the next set of instructions and awaiting for food to be brought up to the line. Platt’s introduction to front-line duty granted him no spare moments to acclimate to his new unit. He recalled the pandemonium that morning.

Just then the captain stumbled toward me with orders to put the company into combat formation. We formed into a bulbous group in the darkness. No one was depending on supplies, for they were not coming up. Everything was too frenzied, too new, too hurriedly organized to hope for them. We formed to go through fields, a ruined village and then into woods, where we deployed

The two available companies fanned out, and according to Major Turrill, “I had the 49th Company, Captain George Hamilton, on the right and First Lieutenant Orlando Crowther commanding the 67th Company on the left.” Before Major Turrill could signal attack, his men were twenty-five meters past the jump-off point and beyond the concealment of the woods. Faced with the crucial decision of letting the attack commence or waiting until his full force arrived, Turrill gave the order to proceed since the battalion’s supporting machine guns were set to fire a preliminary volley timed exactly at the moment of attack. As whistles signaled the advance, Private Walter H. Smith of the 49th Company recalled:

At four a.m. we went over or rather charged forward since there were no trenches to speak of and the fighting was all in the open or in the woods. There wasn’t a bit of hesitation from any man. All went forward in an even line. You had no heart for fear at all. Fight-fight and get the Germans was your only thought. Personal danger didn’t concern you in the least and you didn’t care.

As the men advanced beyond the tree line into the open field, Major Turrill came up to watch his men amble down slope into the wheat. Another dark looming wood stood a couple hundred meters across the open field (Appendix D). Behind the advancing Marines, minimal machine gun support chattered away in search of the German positions. Major Turrill recalled, “There was a barrage from some machine guns; I remained in the jump-off trench until the fourth wave of the two companies disappeared into the woods.”

The apex of the Marine attack on the hill was a rather weakened position for the Germans who established a liaison on the hill between two German regiments. The attack by the Marines centered on a position held by one German platoon. Across the field, in the western edge of the facing woods, Second Lieutenant Bezon, commanding that platoon in the 9th Company of the 460th German Infantry Regiment, heard the distant whistle across the field, signaling the American advance. According to Bezon, “. . . we were ready.” He witnessed the formations of Americans emerging out of the distant tree line and immediately signaled for artillery support by firing three red flares into the sky.

As the two companies of Marines crept further across the open field, the fronting tree line came alive with a blaze of Maxim machine gun fire. Immediately men in the first wave of the 67th Company dropped in the wheat as rounds snapped violently all around them. The initial burst caught the Marines off guard and according to Second Lieutenant Bezon, caused the Americans to fade into “disordered masses.” Private Andrew Champion of the 67th Company was an assistant gunner on an automatic rifle team. As the German machine guns swept the field, Private Champion saw his gunner, Private Harry Y. Flynn slump into the tall wheat as bullets tore through his abdomen. Before he could react, the same burst wounded Private Champion, sending him to the ground. His friend, Private Flynn, painfully wounded, lay nearby and died about fifteen minutes later. Private John L. Carver recalled the horror when he saw his friend, Private Russell J. Wakefield, killed as machine gun bullets shattered his skull. “He was one of my pals and I was right alongside of him,” said Carver.

Men in the 67th Company fell wounded and dead by the dozens. Private George E. Fesler advanced toward the distant tree line with his platoon. When he peered from under the brim of his helmet he saw his comrade, Private Walter L. Haynes, fall dead as a bullet passed through his forehead. Private Fesler then saw Corporal William J. Flaherty’s dead body lying nearby. Casualties in Private Joseph M. Baker’s platoon were inflicted by one of the three German guns in the nearby tree line. Members of the platoon scattered for cover. Private Baker made a dash through the meadow at an angle towards the muzzle flashes emanating from the facing woods. Dropping in the wheat, Baker took careful aim and fired his rifle at the machine gun crew nearby. One of his rounds killed the enemy gunner. Several men in Baker’s platoon continued to advance on the tree line. Private Baker repeatedly worked the bolt of his weapon until he had exhausted all five rounds. He sprang up and began to close the distance on the machine gun from the side. Distracted by the chaos out in front, the remaining German crewmen evidently did not see Private Baker approaching until he stood nearly on top of them thrusting his bayonet into the remaining enemy, killing all of them.

Simultaneously, Captain George Hamilton’s 49th Company in the east did not fare much better. “Hadn’t moved fifty yards when they cut loose at us from the woods ahead- more machine guns than I’d ever heard before,” recalled Hamilton in a letter home weeks after the incident. Captain Hamilton maneuvered among his men urging them to get on their feet and press forward toward the tree line. As the pulsating whip of machine gun fire sailed indiscriminately over the fields, the wounded lay writhing in the wheat. Slowly and collectively small groups made small advances for the tree line. Sergeant William Van Train charged through the field that morning with Hamilton and witnessed the ghastly efficiency of the machine guns as he saw Privates Edmund J. LaBonte, Henry Penney and David Tartikoff all cut down by the murderous fire. Private LaBonte was shot through the head and died instantly. Private Joe G. Oliver recalled his good friend Private James McQuiddy slumping into the wheat after a bullet had passed through his abdomen. Suddenly, a piercing shriek added to the crescendo of gunfire as German shells began to drop in the field.

Before the Marines could infiltrate the woods in great numbers, German troops decided to relinquish their position, fleeing the woods on Second Lieutenant Bezon’s orders. As they filtered back toward their main line, they were mistaken for Americans and came under fire from their own guns. Several of Lieutenant Bezon’s men did not hear the order to pull back and remained in the first tree line where most were either killed or captured. One German sergeant held off the onrushing Americans with grenades as another man took the last functioning German machine gun and withdrew out of the woods. Even though they inflicted heavy casualties, German soldiers in the first patch of woods were a mere picket line sent out as observers. The primary German defenses stood at the other end of a second wheat field in a fronting tree line.

The 49th Company battled their way deeper into the woods. Captain Platt remembered,

Machine guns rattled and dropped. There we started to form again, while I tried to count my men. Suddenly a machine gun far ahead opened up spitefully, but there came no whine of bullets. Inasmuch as I had the only two hand grenades in my unit, I crawled ahead a bit to see what was happening. There, grouped about a captured German machine gun, were ten of my missing men having the time of their lives, banging away with this captured gun at anything that looked boche.

The front elements of Captain Hamilton’s group in the west edge of the assault pressed through to the north side of the initial patch of woods where, according to Hamilton, “we came to an open field-a wheat field full of red poppies-and here we caught hell. Again it was a case of rushing across the open and getting into the woods.” Captain John Thomason recalled one unidentified officer, pinned down in the first wheat field, and stuck his head just above the stalks of wheat for better observation. The officer sent a corporal and his squad to maneuver around one machine gun.

‘Get far enough past that flank gun, now, close as you can and rush- we’ll keep it busy.’ The corporal judged that he was far enough and raised with a yell, his squad leaping up with him. He was not past the flank; two guns swung that way, and cut the squad down like a grass-hook levels a clump of weeds. . . They lay there for days, eight Marines in a dozen yards, face down on their rifles.

One squad of Marines from the 49th Company made it inside the woods and immediately drew the attention of a German machine gun, which killed and wounded several men of the group. Private John Kukoski unflinchingly charged toward the enemy gun alone with his bayonet-tipped rifle. The enemy, completely taken by surprise, threw their hands up in the air and surrendered to the twenty-nine year old private.

The Marines of the 49th Company encountered the 10th Company of the 462nd German Infantry. Shattered by the sudden assault, the company of Germans broke but an adjacent company situated in the woods across the ravine to the east of the hill opened fire with several machine guns and quickly took a toll on the 49th Company. Captain Jonas Platt made a dash for the tree line, lost his footing and stumbled to the ground. He eventually caught up with the rest of his company who advanced quickly through the fire-swept field. “When I reached the woods I was the whole command! The rest were gone, planted and hidden so effectively that even I couldn’t locate them. Gradually I rounded them up and tied them to one spot with emphatic remarks.”

Captain Hamilton advanced with his company through the second forest. He later admitted, “After going through this second wood we were really at our objective, but I was looking for an unimproved road which showed up on the map. We now had the Germans pretty well on the run except a few machine gun nests. I was anxious to get to that road, so pushed forward with the men I had with me-one platoon.” The objective, the second patch of woods, bordered an unpaved road, but the maps used did not show this road. Hamilton led his remaining men down the slope of the hill into the open pasture beyond the objective and on all sides machine guns opened up with devastating results. “I lost heavily here I came out unscratched. I was pushing ahead with an automatic rifle team and didn’t notice that most of the platoon had swerved off to the left to root out the machine guns.”

Captain Hamilton’s men had gone beyond their objective and now found themselves mixed with the Germans. Fighting quickly developed into hand-to-hand combat. Running down the slope, Private Jessie Tompkins came face to face with an enemy combatant. He immediately shot the German soldier as another appeared. Private Tomkins immediately shot him. Almost simultaneously he felt a blow from behind when a third enemy soldier delivered a vicious strike with his rifle. Corporal Joseph C. Toulson immediately came to Private Tompkin’s aid and thrust his bayonet into the opposing German and, without hesitation, continued to sprint down the slope.

Fighting developed beyond the second patch of woods but several Americans remained engaged inside these woods and German infantry and machine guns concealed in nearly every tree and entrenched in covered pits continued inflicting heavy casualties on the 49th Company. Men seemed to wilt to the ground with every bit of ground obtained. Sergeant William Van Train witnessed Sergeant Arthur Russell’s violent death when a bullet smashed through his head. Private William H. Smith wrote,

We reached the edge of a small wooded area and there encountered some of the Hun infantry. Then it became a matter of shooting at mere human targets. But the Germans soon detected us and we became the objects of their heavy fire. We received emphatic orders at this time to come back. German machine guns were everywhere; in trees and in small ground holes and camouflaged at other places so they couldn’t be spotted.

Some Marines of the 49th Company, who were now desperately trying to consolidate their position on the northern slope of the hill, began to dig shallow foxholes upon the verbal orders of thirty-nine-year-old Gunnery Sergeant Charles Hoffman. As bullets snapped overhead amidst the chaos, Gunnery Sergeant Hoffman looked to the east and to his disbelief saw twelve German soldiers crawling on their stomachs towards his men. The enemy combatants dragged behind them five light Spandau Machine guns. Gunnery Sergeant Hoffman screamed a warning to his troops as he raced toward the approaching enemy troops. Before the two leaders of the enemy detachment could react, Hoffman jammed his bayonet into the first combatant. Without hesitation, he pulled the blade out and skewered the second enemy soldier, causing the remaining German troops to abandon their guns and retreat back down the east slope of Hill 142. If the detachment had been able to emplace their guns, it would have certainly obliterated the remaining Marines of the 49th Company.

Private William H. Smith noticed a German soldier a short distance away. Sprawled across him were two of his dead comrades, and according to Smith:

He was in a sitting posture and was shouting ‘Kamerad, Kamerad.’ We soon learned the reason. He was serving as a lure and wanted a group of Marines to come to his rescue so that the kind-hearted Americans would be in direct line of fire from machine guns that were in readiness. Before I knew what I was doing and before I realized that everyone was shouting at me to stay back I bobbed up out of my hole and with bayonet ready beat it out and got that Kamerad bird. It seemed but a minute or so before I was back. But, believe me, there were some bullets whizzing around. They came so close at times I could almost feel their touch. My pack was shot up pretty much but they didn’t get me.

Several men of the 49th Company established a defensive position on the north side of the hill. Other members of the company continued the assault; oblivious to the objectives. Beyond the northeastern side of the hill, some survivors of the 49th Company continued the attack and ran head on into part of the 12th Company of the 460th German infantry. This group of enemy soldiers were situated near Torcy as reserve and raced towards the hill when they discovered the Americans had broken through the main line. The German 12th Company split into two groups to assault up both sides of the hill. The eastern group attacked Captain Hamilton’s men causing him to order the survivors to pull back. Captain Hamilton had been just south of a road north of the hill and as he advanced towards it, believing it to be the objective, most of his men had shifted to the left to deal with machine guns that were delivering enfilading fire. “It happened, however, that there was a town just a few hundred yards to the left and while most of the Germans had left, one company was forming for a small counter-attack.”

Captain Hamilton, realizing that his company stood beyond their objective, continued to the order his men to pull back. “It was a case of every man for himself. I crawled back through a drainage ditch filled with cold water and shiny reeds. Machine gun bullets were just grazing my back and our own artillery was dropping close.” Captain Platt bounded down the side of the slope looking for Captain Hamilton. When he approached the exhausted company commander, Captain Platt inquired as to his platoon strength to which Captain Hamilton told him to take his survivors and establish a defensive position. Captain Platt had only a few from his platoon but had located twenty stray men from another depleted platoon. Racing back towards his shattered and patched command, a distant sniper fired on him, Bullets kicked up dirt and encouraging Captain Platt to accelerate his pace. Panting heavily from his close encounter, the Captain rounded up his men, most of whom were ransacking the enemy corpses for souvenirs. “Working my way along as best I could, I found my men-practically every one of them-squatted down beside a dead German, relieving him of a belt buckle or iron crosses.”

Private William Smith and a group of men from the 49th Company continued the blind advance, oblivious to the orders to pull back. “I saw one Dutchman stick his head out of a hole and then duck. I ran to the hole. The next time his head came up it was good night Fritz.” As Smith and an unidentified sergeant ran along the hill, a German soldier fired at the two men. “A bullet got the sergeant in the right wrist. I got the German before he dropped back into the weeds. Every blamed tree must have had a machine gunner.”

First Lieutenant Orlando Crowther and survivors of his 67th Company on the western flank of the assault emerged from the second patch of trees into the open amidst a hornet’s nest of machine gun fire. Almost immediately a slug tore through the thirty-four-year-old lieutenant’s arm. In the mayhem of the moment, Crowther refused to let anyone tend to his wounds until the enemy gun emplacement was silenced. He maneuvered his men toward the German machine gun position. As the men ran at intervals toward the enemy position, the German crew had exhausted its ammunition and abandoned the weapon. Immediately the men rushed the gun and picked it up off the sled mount and brought it back to the company’s position. Lieutenant Crowther’s Marines pressed forward toward the nose of the hill and came across German reinforcements.

The western half of the 12th Company, 460th German Infantry met the survivors of Crowther’s 67th Company. Some Marines continued to advance while others pulled back to the crest of the hill as German fire tore through the ranks. Small groups of Marines engaged in close combat with German troops on the western slope. With the recently captured enemy machine guns and abandoned boxes of ammunition in tow, Crowther shouted for men to push the captured weapons forward and lay down a base of fire on the advancing enemy. He moved along the line giving instructions until a burst of enemy gun fire tore through his body killing him instantly.

Private Eric Kitchens, a member of Crowther’s contingent, recalled that everyone had dropped to their stomach as machine gun fire screamed over head. Private Eric A. Goldbeck stood up amidst the snap of bullets and began firing at the German gun crew and killed the gunner, just as a burst of fire killed him. As the men lay pinned to the ground, more German guns continuously poured a large volume of fire in their direction. Private John Harris moved forward to lay down a base of fire from his Chauchat automatic rifle when suddenly a stray round passed through the twenty-year-old in the upper and lower jaw, shattering his teeth and mandible. The overwhelming enemy gunfire created pandemonium among the exposed survivors of the 67th Company. Crowther’s death left the survivors leaderless. Captain Francis S. Kieren appeared on the scene with a few stragglers and assembled a team to outflank the enemy gun emplacements. One of Kieren’s men, Corporal Frederick H. Fox, suffered a gunshot through the shoulder and he was immediately ordered to the rear for treatment. As Corporal Fox stood up to make his way to the rear, another stray round struck him in the temple, killing him.

Kieren’s primary goal was to silence the enemy guns that hindered the 67th Company’s assault. According to Kieren, Sergeant John V. Fitzgerald offered to go out as a decoy to draw fire so the guns could be taken from the front. Earlier, Fitzgerald had suffered a deep gash in his face from a combatant’s bayonet; now he set out across the open field running through the waist-high pasture. Instantly, the enemy gunners spotted him and swung the barrel of a Maxim gun his way. With bullets kicking up clods of dirt and dust, the remainder of the company charged straight at the machine gun. As Fitzgerald attempted to outrun the traversing field of enemy gunfire, a burst struck the twenty-seven-year-old in the upper right thigh just under the pelvis. Another round blew open his left thigh. As he fell one more slug passed through his right wrist shattering several bones. Fitzgerald, bleeding profusely, managed to lay flat on the ground out of enemy sight.

The remnants of the 67th Company desperately tried to stem the large volume of enemy fire. Private Harris, despite the severe amount of blood loss from his facial wound, regained his senses and managed to bring his automatic rifle to his shoulder and squeezed off a burst of fire at the Germans. He continued to fire his weapon until he lost consciousness. Other members of the company desperately tried to silence the enemy guns. Captain Kieren and Gunnery Sergeant Charles J. Smith noticed Private Pleas Parker out in the open maneuvering into a very exposed position. The twenty-one-year-old had dragged his Chauchat automatic rifle with him and proceeded to fire the awkward weapon at the enemy gun emplacement during the duration of the counterattack.

As Private Parker and other members of the company tried to break up the enemy assault, one group of Marines, caught in the open when the enemy initially opened fire during the counterattack, remained isolated and in very bad position. Pinned to the ground as Maxim machine gun grounds cracked overhead, Corporal Prentice Geer assumed control of the isolated detachment and peered over his shoulder as he lay prone in the wheat. Ordering his men to follow close behind, Corporal Geer sprang up out of the tall wheat and charged the enemy gun. Before the enemy could traverse the weapon on the advancing Marines, Corporal Geer and his men overran the position and the crew immediately surrendered. Following the capture of this gun, the enemy counterattack faltered.

Just over one hour into the attack, Captain Platt moved his men back to the spot of the originally designated objective. “I started out to see what was ahead, suddenly to stop short as I came on a First Sergeant and twenty men from another company-all that was left of a platoon. ‘Chuck,’ I said to my newly found First Sergeant, ‘who’s your commanding officer?’ ‘Me,’ said Chuck simply. ‘All the rest are deados.’” First Sergeant Daniel “Pop” Hunter was the man speaking to Captain Platt. First Sergeant Hunter planned to take his men across the road ahead with emphatic zeal, the same road that Captain Platt’s platoon had just pulled back from. Captain Platt discouraged the overzealous First Sergeant from his actions. “I can’t give you a command, because the worst punishment for disobedience is death. And you’ll get that if you go after that road.”

 

Among the numerous members of the assault company who were wounded that morning, 24-year-old Sergeant Gustav Hackbarth, a German immigrant who enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1916 suffered a gunshot wound through the left wrist.

 

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devildog34

Back at the battalion’s initial jump-off point, Major Julius Turrill encountered First Lieutenant Walter Galliford who commanded a platoon in the 66th Company. The French finally relieved the other two companies in Turrill’s battalion and they were on the way from the battalion’s position of the previous day. Major Turrill immediately moved forward with First Lieutenant Galliford’s platoon. They advanced through the woods where the Marines began the attack over an hour earlier. As they entered the first open field, Turrill noticed that the dead and wounded lay intermixed with each other, scattered throughout the open pasture.

The remainder of the 66th Company eventually arrived from the battalion’s previous position and Major Turrill directed them to the western edge of the hill. Shortly after, Germans troops began to ascend the western slopes in an attempt to counterattack again. Private Albert Powis of the 66th Company recalled:

Ahead of us was a field of almost ripe wheat. About 500 yards away was a big gully holding the Germans. We would aim and fire slowly and large gaps would appear in the lines. Some of our men would run out to use the bayonet on them and the Krauts would shoot them down. Our officers kept yelling that our men should stay in their hole.

 

The 17th Company also arrived from the battalion’s previous position. The delayed relief of the battalion meant that the assault on Hill 142 utilized half the intended manpower. Major Turrill immediately put the 17th Company in line on the east side of the hill, next to the remnants of Captain Hamilton’s men. Private Onnie Cordes remembered arriving on Hill 142 that morning and seeing his friend Private Edward M. Butler of the 67th Company make his way to the rear. “He was shot in the wrist. Although this Butler lad had a bad wound in his hand, he did not go to the rear, but instead he assisted in caring for the more severely wounded that were lying all about.” As the company moved forward to bolster the weakly-held line, the enemy machine guns delivered a storm of bullets. Powis recalled the melee when he wrote:

We were now in a terrible machine gun barrage and I at once threw my pack away containing a couple boxes of hardtack. With rifle, belt, helmet and gas mask I stooped as low as possible and started through an open field which was being continually swept with machine gun bullets. Bang, a bullet hit my helmet but glanced off. Another hit my cartridge belt, but fortunately did not go through.

 

Among those killed during the morning's attack was Private Edward Herman Oelschlaeger of the 66th Company who was killed by shellfire. Below is Pvt. Oelschlaeger's Columbia accolade.

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Oelschlaeger's War service certificate

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Oelschlaeger's French memorial document

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devildog34

Major Turrill received messages from runners dispatched from the assault companies saying they were consolidating their toe hold on the northern edge of Hill 142. Several Hotchkiss guns of the 8th Machine Gun Company positioned along the square-shaped woods prepared to move forward and help consolidate and reinforce the line. They had to cross several hundred meters of fire-swept field. Each crewmember was burdened with either the weight of the heavy gun, tripod or boxes of ammunition. Regardless of the danger they charged forward.

From the original jump-off point, Captain Keller Rockey, the battalion adjutant, dispatched a message at 5:37 A.M. to regimental headquarters stating, “17th Company going into deployment from old 1st line—8th Machine Gun Company already forward. Things seem to be going well—No engineers are in evidence—Can something be done to hurry them along—the advance is about one kilometer. Major Turrill is up forward with the line.”

Captain Roswell Winan’s 17th Company, augmented by captured German machine guns, Hotchkiss crews of the 15th Company, and several of the 8th Machine Gun Company, covered much of the eastern approaches across the ravine.

The arrival of the remaining companies in Major Turrill’s battalion as well as needed machine gun support meant that Major Turrill’s Marines held this little patch of rolling hill top and forest, but the price was staggering. The 67th Company suffered 119 casualties out of a total strength of 244 men. The 49th Company lost 101 men out of a total strength of 240 men. The remainder of the battalion lost ninety-six men. A total of 349 men fell in the capture and defense of Hill 142. More Americans died on the hill in the days that followed, but the events on the morning of June 6, 1918 revealed to the Americans that the price, even for miniscule objectives, would be high when contesting machine guns using obsolete methods of assault, no preparatory artillery barrage, and a hastily-planned attack. Objectives were not clearly defined and the assaulting formations were heavily undermanned. These factors cost additional lives, but these aspects plagued the American attacks which occurred later that day and reinforced the same harsh realities.

 

Among the Marines who partook in the attack on Hill 142 that morning, twenty-seven-year-old Pvt. Walter Lewis Hamm of Murray, Iowa was with the 8th Machine Gun Company as they reinforced and consolidated the gains made by the 49th and 67th Companies.

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Here is virtually everything from Hamm's service.

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Hamm's tunic.

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close up of the uniform features

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Hamm's helmet.

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Hamm's campaign cover.

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A captures Mauser pistol Hamm brought home.

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Some other elements of the group including his medals. Interestingly his victory medal clasps are only attached to a stretch of ribbon with no medal.

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More items from Hamm's group.

 

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some of the panoramic photos including a beautiful image of the 8th Machine Gun Company in Germany.

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Some of the gear he brought home.

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His photo album with some remarkable images.

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more images from his photo album

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. . .

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devildog34

Nearly two and a half kilometers south of Hill 142, Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Wise’s 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines occupied the woods which straddled the road between Champillon and La Voie du Chatel. Having moved into this position earlier that morning, the battalion tried to get some much needed sleep. Frequent German shellfire and the thunderous fighting to the north on Hill 142 however made for an abbreviated rest. According to Wise, “Artillery, machine guns, rifle fire—we could distinguish them all. We rested while we could. We didn’t know what minute our turn was coming.” As the fighting raged to the north, the first visible evidence of the epic struggle soon appeared. Acccording to Wise:

After a bit, the walking wounded began to come down the road. They came in every conceivable way: individuals; little groups; arms in rough slings; bandaged heads; the damnedest cargo of rumors any man ever listened to. According to them, everything looked black. They said things hadn’t gone well. The Germans were holding the woods in heavy force. Every attack against them had been thrown back. Up came a group of ambulances. They established a dressing station right by my P.C. Over where the attack was going on, the heavy firing continued. Then some stretcher cases came along, carried by German prisoners. I came to the conclusion that maybe things were not as black as the walking wounded had reported. Evidently the Marines were doing a little fighting too.

The collection of casualties from the assault on Hill 142 around the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine’s command post steadily increased, and Wise grew agitated at the evacuation process. “The ambulances were stopping at my P.C. and taking the wounded aboard there. Knowing the country, I suggested to the doctors that it was all damned foolishness to have the wounded carried two miles down from Champillon when there was a perfectly good road up which the ambulances could run and get them. They started to do it.”

Lieutenant Colonel Feland’s 6:00 A.M. message requesting the reinforcement of a company to support Turrill’s gains reached Colonel Neville at regimental headquarters. Neville immediately summoned Wise’s battalion. Captain Lloyd Williams’ 51st Company was selected, and as soon as they got the word, platoon commanders moved throughout the woods gathering their men and getting them prepared to move out immediately. Three platoons in all were allocated to move north toward the distant sound of battle on Hill 142. Along the way, walking wounded from Major Turrill’s battalion filed passed the three platoons of Williams’ company.

From the pathway leading north out of Champillon to the wooded knoll at the apex of Hill 142, three platoons of Captain Lloyd Williams’ 51st Company passed through the gauntlet of German artillery landing in and around the area. Before 8:00 A.M., the platoons reached the outskirts of the woods where the morning’s attack originated. With enemy shells falling nearby, Williams summoned a messenger and sent him forward across the open field with a message for Major Turrill reportedly in the woods ahead. The 8:05 A.M. message read, “In obedience to orders from Lieutenant Colonel Feland, I report with three platoons of 51st Company—Lloyd W. Williams Capt. U.S.M.C.” Once the message reached Turrill, he immediately sent the runner back with instructions for Williams to “Come here with the Co.” He also directed Williams to send an urgent request for engineer tools as well as rifle and Chauchat ammunition. With these orders in hand, Williams passed the word to the platoons to move forward. He then dispatched a messenger to regimental headquarters with Turrill’s requests.

Without the commitment of Captain Williams’s 51st Company, the western ravine would remain largely open to German counterattack and infiltration. Harbord went on to conclude his message with accolades regarding the acquisition of the objective by stating, “I congratulate you and 1st Battalion and the 3rd Battalion on doing so well what we all knew they would do.”

Filtering through the woods where the attack originated, Captain Lloyd Williams’s three platoons of the 51st Company made their way to the edge of the woods south of the open field. The bodies of marines killed in the opening moments of 1st Battalion’s assault littered the field.

With the sound of gun fire circulating across the open stretches of Hill 142 as well as the overhead high angle scream of artillery, the three platoons of the 51st Company maneuvered down through the patches of trees dotting the western face of hill 142 sometime after 8:00 A.M. One of the three platoons of Williams’ company was put on the immediate left of Turrill’s line along the wooded slope of the hill. They extended the left flank of Turrill’s shot up battalion. One platoon continued all the way to the ravine along the western base of the hill. Another platoon filed down into the wooded gully. The heavily wooded ravine protected the advance of the platoons moving forward. A machine gun crew from the 15th Machine Gun moved into the ravine and followed the platoons of the 51st Company. Passage through the dense foliage carrying the heavy machine gun made for a difficult journey.

Northwest of Hill 142, a 150-square-meter patch of woods, which sat slightly higher than the northern face of Hill 142, concealed a heavy German machine gun position covering the east to west sunken path which skirting the nose of the hill. This gun also protecting the approaches to Bussiares. When the three platoons of the 51st Company moved forward to the northern area of the hill and through the gully, the thunderous sputter of this machine gun and another situated nearby unleashed a withering volley of interlocking fire across the sunken path. As the men made a desperate rush for cover beyond the ravine, the concentrated fire tore into several more 51st Company marines. Several fell wounded in rapid succession. Others scattered from the kill zone and dropped to the prone position in order to crawl beyond the end of the ravine as rounds cracked overhead.

Chauchat gunners pressed through the gully and along the western base of the hill to bring their weapons into action. Twenty-year-old Private James Irving Dodd, a painter from Akron, Ohio, pressed across the open exposed northernwestern edge of Hill 142 with his automatic rifle. Bullets immediately struck Dodd in the abdomen. Twenty-year-old Private Walter Owen Jacobs, a Machinist from Detroit, Michigan, recalled the moment Dodd was hit. “After he was wounded he threw down his rifle and staggered for about a hundred yards and fell dead.”

 

Here is a photo of Pvt. James Irving Dodd

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Dodd's AEF memorial accolade

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The Marine Corps memorial accolade to Dodd.

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Dodd's war service certificate and a letter that was sent to him but returned to sender after he was killed.

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devildog34

Supporting the 1st Bn 5th Marines in their attack on Hill 142 was the 45th Co. commanded by Captain Peter Conachy. The 45th attacked a rectangular patch of woods approximately 200 meters east of the eastern slope of Hill 142. The rectangular woods held 2 companies of Germans and the two assaulting platoons of the 45th were immediately pinned down in the open field.

 

Before Captain Conachy could regain command of the two engaged platoons, a battalion runner found him in the woods and delivered a message directing him “to report to the C.O., 1st Battalion, upon reporting I was ordered to prepare and stand by for a general attack, in conjunction with the 1st Battalion, objective-Torcy, the attack to take place at 5:00 a.m., June 7, 1918.” When Captain Conachy returned to his company’s position in the woods, they had already moved out to assemble for the assault on Belleau Wood.

Communications, poor as they were, caught the battalion off guard when the order to attack finally arrived. Colonel Catlin vividly recalled the dilemma.

 

I was supposed to direct Berry’s movements, though he had also received the orders from his own regimental headquarters. I telephoned at once to Berry’s P.C. at Lucy, but his battalion was beyond reach and he himself in the woods in the rear, a mile away. It had been impossible on account of the heavy shelling, to run a telephone out to him. I sent runners, but I was sure they couldn’t reach him before the attack would have to be made.

 

Second Lieutenant George V. Gordon, who commanded a platoon in the 16thth Company, remembered standing with another officer in the woods, noting a small bit of artillery fire on the eastern horizon. According to Second Lieutenant Gordon, “We were watching the shells as they dropped along the edge of the woods across the wheat field. ‘I wonder what this is about,’ his friend said, as several more landed. ‘They must have spotted something over there.’” Just as Second Lieutenant Gordon and his comrade witnessed the spectacle several hundred meters to the east, Captain Henry Larsen, the battalion adjutant, came running over to Second Lieutenant Gordon and shouted, “Get your platoons ready immediately, you should have started across with the barrage.” Before Second Lieutenant Gordon could mass the platoons of the company, Captain Larsen sent him orders to remain in place, as the 16th Company would hold a reserve position.

 

Similar orders reached three of the four platoons in the 45th Company. Men had assembled, in Captain Conachy’s absence, under the command of Second Lieutenant Thomas H. Miles and moved the platoons towards the jump-off point where the attack would commence. “Imagine my predicament,” recalled Captain Conachy when he returned to find his entire company advancing through the field ahead. “I had been ordered to prepare for an attack, and when I returned I found only one platoon left.”

Phone lines did not connect most of the front line units with headquarters detachments in the rear. Orders arrived much too slow to be effectively carried out. The pace and fluidity of the lines created even greater demand for immediate communication. The situation suggested tragedy even before the planned assault commenced. The small volume of artillery was meant to harass whatever enemy held the woods and did not resemble the pulverizing level of bombardment necessary to suppress and destroy enemy positions while the assault waves closed in on their position. Further, the artillery fire preceded the infantry assault by too much time. None of the assault waves were in position, much less aware that an attack was to occur, and when they did carry out the assault, the enemy would likely be prepared to resist them. Delayed communications and the feeble artillery support only amalgamated the looming catastrophe for the Americans. Based on the little intelligence available it was believed that the woods were very lightly held.

The general advance called for Major Berry’s battalion to assault from the east into the western face of Belleau Wood. Since several of the 45th Company’s platoons remained in support of Major Turrill’s battalion on Hill 142 only three of the four platoons comprised the left flank of the attack, the 47th Company, commanded by Captain Philip T. Case on the battalion’s right flank, and would advance eastward towards the southern portion of Belleau Wood. In the center of the battalion was Captain Richard N. Platt’s 20th Company; they were ordered to hit the center of the western tree line of Belleau Wood. The 16th Company under, Captain Robert Yowell would remain in reserve (See Appendix E). The 45th Company was not the only outfit caught off guard by the order to attack that afternoon. Most men in the battalion remained oblivious to the pending assault. They had spent the day in the cover of the woods several hundred yards west of Belleau Wood. Some rested and others enjoyed the gracious gift of cigarettes delivered to them earlier in the day by Chaplain John Brady , who personally toured the front lines.

 

Chicago Tribune reporter Floyd Gibbons and Lieutenant Arthur E. Hartzell, an Army officer from the Intelligence and Censorship Bureau arrived in the sector that day and they traveled toward the 3rd Battalion’s position to cover the first major assault by American troops. Earlier that day, Gibbons had jockeyed for a good position to cover the developing action along this particular front. When the two men sought permission from Colonel Wendell C. Neville, the 5th Marine Regiment commander, to move closer to the front lines, he exclaimed, “Go wherever you like. Go as far as you like, but I want to tell you it’s damn hot up there.”

Many men, including officers, remained oblivious to news of the impending attack. First Lieutenant Raymond Knapp of the 47th Company recalled,

 

All through the day the battalion remained concealed in their positions overlooking the Bois de Belleau. With the exception of a few planes flying over the lines during the day there was no activity. Late in the afternoon, Captain Case called the platoon commanders of his company together and told them that the battalion was to attack at 5 o’clock that afternoon.

 

After Captain Case pulled out a map of the area, he fingered the objective and looked up from the sprawled chart to the east, pointing across the sloping wheat field to the distant tree line of Belleau Wood. “Get your men out into position as fast as you can we attack at 5 o’clock.” According to First Lieutenant Knapp, the Captain pulled out his watch and remarked, “It is now 5:15.”

 

The 20th Company remained concealed in St. Martin Woods, the battalion’s jump off point. Sergeant Merwin Silverthorn, while scavenging through the forest for souvenirs, recalled, “A quarter after five, the lieutenant said, ‘we were supposed to attack at five o’clock, so we have to assemble and ease across this road into a narrow band of woods.’ The objective was a road on the other side of Belleau Wood.” Excited by the fact they were finally getting in the fight, Silverthorn walked over to his college friend from the University of Minnesota, Sergeant Stephen Sherman, and shook hands “happy and exultant in the fact that at last we were ‘going over.’”

 

As the first wave marched forward toward the edge of St. Martin Woods, the battalion’s jump-off point, Corporal Robert M. Fischer and his college friend Sergeant Frank J. Tupa, both of whom enlisted together as students at the University of Minnesota, joked with each other at the prospect of getting killed as they adjusted their gear. “What should I tell your father,” asked Fischer as he looked over at Tupa. “Tell him I did my part,” exclaimed Tupa. “What shall I tell yours, Bobbie?” Fischer, with a smile on his face, glanced over at his friend and said, “Tell him I was a good boy.” Platoon commanders glanced to the left and right of the formation. Satisfied every man was in place, they blew their whistles, signaling the advance.

 

The brief preliminary American artillery had long ceased and now the ominous western face of Belleau Wood appeared across the open field. Stretching from north to south, the tree line spanned more than a mile. “Now then we started off in trench warfare formation, the only formation we knew, which consisted of four waves with the first wave and all waves holding their rifles at what is called the high port, not even aiming or firing or hip firing or anything like that.” The first two waves, separated by about seventy-five meters were followed by the next two waves 150 meters behind. The last two waves were replacements, an arrangement designed for the expendability of men according to Sergeant Silverthorn, “When they got all killed, there’s the third and fourth wave.”

 

As the battalion moved forward, the guns of the 77th Machine Gun Company supported the advance with a barrage that swept the western face of the woods, and the assault slowly progressed. Sergeant Silverthorn stated, “Bayonets fixed, moving at a slow steady cadence that we had been taught to move, because theoretically a barrage is shooting in front of you, and you don’t want to go too fast or you’ll walk into your own barrage.” The bombardment of machine gun fire stopped as the 20th Company moved down the slope into the ravine running north-south through the wheat field. Before they could cross the road that traversed the countryside, the Germans defending Belleau Wood opened fire. “There are really no heroics about it,” recalled Floyd Gibbons. “There is no bugle call, no sword waving, no dramatic enunciation of catchy commands, no theatricalism- it’s just plain get up and go over.”

 

Men of the 20th Company’s first wave fell immediately. The Marines realized the terrifying capability of the enemy guns when in one sweep of the fronting fields German machine guns cut down a number of 20th Company men. Corporal Fischer, leading an automatic rifle team, was ten yards away from his dear friend Sergeant Frank J. Tupa. “Good god he fell, something told me,” recalled Tupa as he saw, from the corner of his eye, Corporal Fischer stumble and disappear into the wheat. He had been struck by a bullet that pierced his aorta and died almost instantly. Tupa fell wounded a short time later. Another Minnesota student, Private George B. Sellars, suffered mortal wounds when bullets shattered his right leg above and below the knee. Several yards back, Sergeant Stephen Sherman’s mangled body lay in the fields along the path of trampled wheat with his commander’s whistle dangling from the pocket of his tunic. He was instantly killed by an exploding artillery shell.

 

Below is a photo of Sgt. Stephen Sherman.

 

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Stephen Sherman's Distinguished Service Cross Document

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Sgt. Sherman's Columbia Accolade

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devildog34

This is the exact spot in the field where the 20th Company was decimated. The perspective is from the German view. The 20th assaulted over the open area from the distant tree line.

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devildog34

On the left flank of Major Berry’s battalion, three platoons of the 45th Company pressed toward the northwestern face of Belleau Wood. Second Lieutenant Thomas H. Miles, in the absence of Captain Conachy earlier the morning, assembled three out of the four platoons that made up the company, left one in reserve and moved into the open field. The company advanced parallel to a small cluster of trees to the left, a finger jetting out towards Belleau Wood, but it would not conceal them from the ferocity of the enemy guns. As soon as they stepped forward, enemy artillery fire blanketed the wheat. With a violent collision that shook the ground and echoed across the rolling pasture, dirt and debris littered the field, leaving massive charred divots in the waving fields of wheat.

As the company pushed closer to the tree line of Belleau Wood, German machine guns erupted.

Machine gun fire cut down nearly anyone who dared expose himself. First Sergeant William P. Higginson and Gunnery Sergeant Harold Todd also became victims of the enemy machine guns. Corporal Benjamin Strain, a hotheaded squad leader, looked over his shoulder and urged his men forward. Corporal Strain, who only a few months before stood trial for telling a senior enlisted man to “kiss my rump” barely shifted his focus in front of him when a torrent of bullets struck the twenty-one-year old in the head and face, splitting his upper jaw in half and instantly killed him. Men immediately dropped to their stomachs into the wheat in order to escape the sweeping machine gun fire. While men lay prone under the relentless volley, shells continued to land seemingly everywhere.

Eventually the survivors of the 45th Company, after crossing the road running between Torcy and Lucy-le-Bocage, worked their way toward a square patch of woods about a hundred meters from the western face of Belleau Wood. Beyond this patch of forest lay the first line of German machine gun pits. A few 45th Company men managed to get to this enemy position despite the murderous gunfire. Private LeRoy Harned remembered, “We charged and reached these pits but were subjected to a terrific fire. Many of the boys were hit before gaining these pits.” Private Clifford S. Cushman reached the first enemy entrenchment and was immediately struck by gunfire. “He fell half in and half out of the pit in a sitting position. I do not think he was hit very hard this first time for he sat there, reloaded his pistol and alone cleaned out the pit on his right.” Private Harned then witnessed Private Cushman single-handedly kill six enemy troops occupying the adjacent hole. “I can personally testify to this as I was within feet of him at that time,” remarked Private Harned, three months after the engagement. Private Cushman was hit again and rolled over on his side. Regaining his senses, the wounded private immediately cried out for water. “About this time things got a great deal hotter, and that was the last time I saw Cliff alive,” claimed Private Harned.

On the extreme right flank of the assault, Captain Philip Case’s 47th Company advanced with the rest of Major Berry’s battalion. The company took fire from the front left and suffered approximately thirty casualties while crossing the field. Floyd Gibbons watched the squads advance with about four yards between each man. They would rush forward for about fifty feet and drop flat on the ground as another squad sprinted forward. The German guns hammered the 47th Company as they neared the tree line. Suddenly, the lead elements encountered a wire fence that stretching a great distance in front of the woods. Because the 47th Company advanced on the southern edge of Belleau Wood, they had a shorter distance to travel in the open field and were able to penetrate the strip of woods protruding west. This sector of the woods was not held by a significant number of Germans, and 47th Company was able to veer to the right in an effort to establish contact with the left wing of the 6th Marine Regiment nearby. First Lieutenant Raymond Knapp remembered:

The 47th reached the woods and turned to go north to go through and drive the enemy before them. After advancing some 500 yards, a cleared spaced opened before them into which they dashed with all speed. This dash proved costly, for hardly had they entered the trap, for a trap it was, than a veritable rain of machine gun fire fell upon them and pinned them to the ground. Captain Knapp remembered the majority of the 47th Company being held up by the enemy resistance and “deployed along the line already formed, put scouts out in their front and dug in so as to prepare for the coming counterattack and hold the ground taken.” With the afternoon growing late, most of the men had consumed all of their water. Private Joseph Sanderson saw the body of a dead German soldier sprawled out in the open just beyond his position. Attached to the dead combatant was a canteen and Private Sanderson began to crawl out to retrieve it. “We told him to keep down, but we needed the water,” recalled Private Harry G. Reckitt. Before he could reach the corpse, a sniper’s bullet blew his head open, instantly killing the man many knew simply as “Scotch.”

 

Below is an original portrait of Pvt. Sanderson.

 

 

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Sanderson's French memorial certificate.

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Excellent information and that group of items is outstanding for sure. Thanks for posting all this. I will be heading out to the NMMC here in Quantico in a little while for a day of activities honoring the anniversary.

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devildog34

In accordance to the second phase of the attack order on June 6, the east wing of the brigade prepared to assault the village of Bouresches. The task fell to Major Berton S. Sibley’s 3rd Battalion 6th Marine Regiment. Instructions stated that the battalion would advance from the area around Lucy-le-Bocage and move east. The left wing of Major Sibley’s battalion would sweep though the southern fringe of Belleau Wood in an effort to connect with Major Berry’s 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, while the right half moved parallel to the road that ran from Lucy-le-Bocage to the village of Bouresches. Along this path, a steep ravine ran east between the southeastern corner of Belleau Wood and Bouresches. The 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment was tasked to tie in with the right flank of Major Sibley’s battalion and while still maintaining contact with the 23rd Army Infantry Regiment in the east.

The constant movement of the previous days, in addition to the terror of constant shell fire, made rest nearly impossible. Men grabbed brief moments of sleep during momentary lulls in the constant movement of the ranks. Private Scarbrough, whose company had moved into a position in the pre-dawn hours of June 6, 1918, managed to catch a few hours of sleep until word of a pending advance spread through the company rumor mill. First Lieutenant Louis Timmerman commanded Private Scarbrough’s platoon in the 83rd Company and had just returned that morning from regimental headquarters located nearly a kilometer southwest of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment’s position. As Lieutenant Timmerman arrived he noticed Private Scarbrough sound asleep and woke him. “I was going to let you sleep in,” joked Lieutenant Timmerman, “but I thought you’d be sore if you missed a chance to shoot some Germans today.” Private Scarbrough, in a post-sleep daze, glanced up at the officer, “I told him he was confusing me with [Private Edward J.] Steinmetz, who over heard my remark and said, ‘Hey Jim, I was killing Germans in my dreams too!’”

Colonel Catlin, who had been tasked with overall command of the attack by both Major Berry’s battalion and Major Sibley’s men, discussed the pending attack with Sibley and Major Thomas Holcomb, whose 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines were to keep in touch with Sibley’s right. “With a map in hand,” recalled Colonel Catlin, “I explained the situation to them without trying to gloss over any of its difficulties and gave them their orders. I found them ready. As we stood there, Sibley’s battalion was filing into a ravine, getting into position. The two majors passed on the oral orders to the company commanders.”

Major Holcomb’s orders called on him to dispatch one company of his battalion to move through the town of Bouresches, the initial objective of the assault, and connect with the 23rd Infantry Regiment on the extreme eastern flank of the division. “I detailed the 96th Company, Captain Duncan, to this duty.” Major Holcomb ordered the 79th Company, under the command of Captain Randolph T. Zane, to support the assault of the 96th Company. The 80th Company received directions to support Major Sibley’s. The 78th Company of the 2nd Battalion was to remain in reserve.

Major Sibley recalled the haste and obscurity characterizing the entire operation. His battalion had assembled on the area with vague details; he had to relay the few-known particulars of the pending assault to his company commanders. “There was no other information concerning the enemy or the terrain and as there was no time for scouting, the company commanders were shown the above order, also their objectives on the map, and were conducted to the line from which the battalion would start the attack.” Despite the sketchy information available, Major Sibley readied his four company commanders for the assault with no time to spare.

First Lieutenant Louis Timmerman remembered that Captain Alfred Noble, leader of the 83rd Company, pulled all platoon commanders together.

When Noble spoke to us he gave us the following instructions which I jotted down in a little notebook: we were to go through the woods which lay ahead of us-this turned out to be the Bois de Belleau-having gone through the woods we were to take the town of Bouresches which we could see from where we were because it lay along a road which led from approximately near the field that we were forming in down through an open lowland that skirted the edge of the Bois de Belleau.

The men of the 2nd Division remained oblivious to the pending attack leading to speculation and rumors among the ranks. Word of a definite attack quickly dispelled any gossip. “Our sergeants told us to get everything in order and that we would make an assault on the woods at 5 o’clock that evening,” recalled Private Scarbrough. “Men checked and rechecked their weapons. Some ran their bayonets and fighting knives down their arms to see if it was sharp enough to shave the hair off.” Being always particular about being clean shaven, Private Scarbrough remembered packing his shaving kit and a leather strap and hoisted his strapped on his combat pack. Private Havelock D. Nelson’s platoon of the 97th Company had not yet joined the rest of the battalion. Their platoon commander, First Lieutenant Kennedy, an Army reserve officer, frantically assembled the men of his platoon to join the rest of the company nearly two kilometers away.

That afternoon Captain David Bellamy of the 6th Marine Regimental Headquarters Company, feeling similar fate might befall him, scribbled a brief diary entry stating:

I feel as though I ought to write some possible finals, but am unable to work myself into that frame of mind. Not that I can’t foresee the danger, but no matter what the exigency, I like to go on as if nothing were happening or about to happen to upset things. But still I am full of feelings for those who love me and who are watching my every move with tender anxiousness.

Before the attack that afternoon, Colonel Catlin and a Captain Thibot Laspierre, a French officer attached to the 6th Marines, moved through the town of Lucy-le-Bocage to a forward position where the colonel could watch the assault. As he passed through the town he walked through the left side of Major Sibley’s men awaiting the assault in a ravine. “The men seemed cool, in good spirits, and ready for the word to start. They were talking quietly among themselves. I spoke to several as I passed.” As the men shifted their attention to the almighty Colonel Catlin, a man seemingly larger than life, he belted out, “Give ‘m hell boys!” Colonel Catlin added, “The men knew in a general way what was expected of them and what they were up against, but I think only the officers realized the almost impossible task that lay before them. I knew, and the knowledge left me little comfort. Perhaps I exposed myself unduly,” recalled Colonel Catlin, “but I was anxious about Major Berry and it seemed necessary for me to get as near his command as possible and to keep an eye on the whole proceeding.”

The battalion fanned out in the wooded area on the southeastern outskirts of the town of Lucy-le-Bocage. According to Private Scarbrough, “Most of the regiment was deployed in this shallow trench area about 500 yards from the woods, more or less, that afternoon. It was to be a timed assault.” The formation had two of the battalion’s companies abreast from each other moving two waves per company. Each wave was composed of two platoons, an assembly perfectly obsolete against the awaiting machine gun defenses. Major Sibley’s diary entry reflects the details of the battalion’s layout. “The 82nd Company and 84th Company in the front line-Lucy-le-Bocage to Bouresches and the 84th Company being on the right of this ravine. The 83rd Company was placed in support of the 82nd Company and the 97th Company in support of the 84th Company, all companies were in a four-wave formation.” This configuration maintained a wide front and spread the ranks out to cover a broad amount of ground. The ranks were in wide rows and men had attached bayonets to their rifles; intending to engage their adversaries at close quarters. The extended front of the formation provided a large target for the defending Germans. The idea of the assault was to close upon the enemy and maintain liaison with the flanks.

From the narrow ravine the battalion looked across the flowing field of wheat nearly 500 meters toward the edge of Belleau Wood. Private Scarbrough recalled the moment the battalion began the advance. “Then at 5p.m. somebody at the top gave the signal and it worked its way down to the lieutenants and sergeants and we with echoing hollers and the blowing of whistles, we moved out.” The battalion advanced at a steady pace in what Private Scarbrough remembered as, “wheat that was almost up to our shoulders. I remember going into the wheat, the sun shining and the stalks crunching under hundreds of boots. I watched Lieutenant Timmerman plodding through the stalks, his gas mask around his chest and cane in his hand, stepping high like he was in deep mud.” Private Scarbrough smiled at the display, amused. He then shifted his attention to Corporal Edwin J. Larsen who walked next to Private Scarbrough as if to get a reciprocated reaction at Lieutenant Timmerman’s awkward movement through the field. “Larsen sternly reminded me to keep my eyes front.”

Major Sibley’s men had barely begun to descend the sloping field toward the woods when the pounding beat of distant machine guns emanated from the far tree line. Taken by surprise, the battalion immediately suffered casualties. The front two companies suffered heavy casualties, littering the field as the two rear companies continued to advance on the southeastern tree line of Belleau Wood. Private Scarbrough remembered, “Nobody stopped to help the fallen, we were ordered to keep up the lines and replace the gaps.” Private Carl Williams was in front of Private Scarbrough during the advance. “He fell right in front of me, and I double-timed into his spot, looking down at him as I went. I couldn’t see where he was hit, but he didn’t move.” Private Edward A. Graham, standing next to Private Williams, saw him fall after a machine gun bullet went through Private William’s chest.

The battalion moved on the left side of the ravine where the ground was lower than the ridge and they made perfect targets for German gunners inside Belleau Wood. Major Sibley’s men had nowhere to hide in the open field, while deep inside the forest, a thickly-wooded hill provided perfect concealment in the for the Germans firing down on the advancing Marines. “It was un-nerving,” Private Scarbrough thought in vain, “why weren’t we taking cover?” “I could hear sergeants shouting ‘keep moving! Fill in!’ It’s funny I found myself praying, but not for safety. I was praying for the nerve to keep going, not to give up, not to let my unit down.”

The experience was indelible. John Groff, a twenty-eight-year-old Gunnery Sergeant in Lieutenant Timmerman’s platoon, vividly recalled the horror. “Men were bleeding and begging that something be done for them, and we couldn’t do it. We had to go forward or we would have been wounded.” Captain Alfred H. Noble above the roar of the battle shouted, “Straight ahead, what are you waiting for,” recalled Groff. “We were more afraid of our senior officers than we were of the Germans. It was pretty bad business.” The battalion had to keep moving in order to seek the cover of the tree line and have a fighting chance against the Germans. The open field was too dangerous and offered no concealment.

The battalion pressed on amidst the withering fire. Private Scarbrough tripped over something in the middle of the field. When he looked over his shoulder he realized he had stumbled over the body of another Marine. “It was a lucky too, because as I hit the ground I felt the shockwave of a string of bullets run right down my neck. That’s no exaggeration either. I had on a light backpack and at least three rounds ripped right through my pack.” Suddenly he felt like something had just hit him in the face and stunned him. The incredible pain in his head and neck convinced him that he had been shot. “I felt around my neck and I wasn’t hit. Then my knuckles scraped against the jagged rim of my helmet and I understood what had tried to snap my neck. A machine gun bullet had come so close to hitting me that it went through the rim of my helmet.”

Private Scarbrough lay there shocked and looked again at the body he had just fallen over. The corpse was riddled with bullets. “It scared the hell out of me. I felt like I was right there at death’s doorway and this guy was inside while I was still outside.” Before Private Scarbrough could gain his senses Corporal Marion M. Collier, advancing nearby, violently grabbed the scared Private’s shirt and screamed for him to get on his feet and push forward. “I stood up to one knee, pushing myself away from the dead man with my other leg.” Private Scarbrough, in the fog of chaos, began advancing the opposite direction of the attack. He noticed the rest of the company coming towards him and recalled, “Somehow, in the bullets and fear, I still had time to be embarrassed for my disorientation.”

Private Scarbrough sprinted to Corporal Collier to find out where to get back in formation. “I hollered to him but he didn’t hear me, so I ran up to him and grabbed his shoulder. ‘Corporal!’ I yelled.” Suddenly Collier fell back into him. As he looked at the corporal, Private Scarbrough saw the round hole in his chin. “It looked like a dimple in his lower chin except that his jaw had shattered and his lower teeth were now a jagged line of chips, bone and blood across his face. He didn’t move at all and his eyes were absolutely as clear as they had been a minute ago when he spoke to me, but he was gone, no doubt.”

 

Among those participating in the attack with the 83rd Company was then Sgt. Harry J. Dennis of Uptown, Pennsylvania. Dennis enlisted in the Marine Corps in Feb. 1915. Below is Dennis' uniform which is of officer grade.

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another view

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. . .

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close up of the discs.

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the overseas chevrons.

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A close up of his cover. It's obviously officer quality with the piping around it but no quatrefoil obviously

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A close up of the fire bronze emblem

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Some of the odds and ends including an extra set of discs, captured German buckles one of which was converted into a cigarette holder.

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Reverse of his Good conduct

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The loose patch that came with this from the family when I got it. I suspect it was perhaps the original patch he wore before he replaced it with the current one that is on the tunic.

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Perhaps the best part of this group is the original painting of him clearly wearing this very uniform. Dennis served in every engagement with the 4th Brigade. He was awarded a silver star for his actions at the Meuse Argonne when he took command of his platoon after two of its commanders were wounded and he led them through the attack and helped consolidate the position after the objectives were obtained.

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devildog34

The 83rd and 97th, trailing behind the 82nd and 84th Companies also advanced into the teeth of the enemy gun fire, which swept the field from left to right. “I remember thinking the bullets sounded just like crickets, loud crickets,” remembered Private Scarbrough. The screams of men shouting orders and calling for medical attention mixed with the pounding sound of machine gun fire. The battalion’s field of view became greatly hindered by the tall wheat. “I saw a man fall in front and to the right of me, and right away the man behind him stepped up to take his place.” Sergeants and officers yelling above the whine of bullets cracking over-head, urged their men to continue the advance.

Approximately 300 yards southwest of the tree line where Sibley’s assault entered, Colonel Albertus Catlin was in a relatively exposed position to watch through his binoculars with nervous anticipation as the attack he commanded progressed further out of view. Dug in adjacent to this gentle rise upon which Catlin foolishly exposed himself to the enemy’s fire, Hotchkiss gun crews of the 73rd Machine Gun Company continued to hammer the distant tree line right up until the assault advanced far enough that they could no longer safely engage without a risk of hitting their own men. The enemy’s distant gun fire quickly developed into a blistering hornets’ nest. Catlin recalled, “Bullets rained all around me, the machine gun crews near me forming a target for the Germans. There was a great racket of rifle and machine gun fire and bursting shrapnel and high explosives, like the continuous roll of some demoniacal drum, with the bass note of the heavy guns that were shelling Lucy.

 

Among the Marines providing fire support that day with the 73rd Company was twenty-one-year-old William Harold Gookins of Greensburg, Indiana. Below is Pvt. Gookins' uniform.

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Gookins was wounded twice. Once on the 19th of July at Soissons and again Oct. 3rd at Blanc Mont. It's tough to tell but he has 2 wound chevrons.

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close up of his wound chevrons

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close up of his overseas cover.

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He placed a MG disc on the other side which I thought was quite interesting and neat.

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His name inside the overseas cover.

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I added the bell crown just for a different look.

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. . .

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His name faintly seen in the tunic

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devildog34

Major Sibley’s men had barely begun to descend the sloping field toward the woods when the pounding beat of distant machine guns emanated from the far tree line. Taken by surprise, the battalion immediately suffered casualties. The 84th Company on the front right of the battalion formation had advanced parallel to the roadway, which ran down along a ravine, as they pushed towards the town of Bouresches. The sunken path gave little cover, but one platoon from the 84th Company tried to seek shelter in this depression. The enemy fire from the woods had torn into their flank and the company had to deal with the heavy enemy machine gun fire before they could push toward the town.

Private Bernard Kallin remembered, above the thundering pulsation of machine guns, orders came for the platoon to advance to the left, towards the woods. The battalion began to move toward the tree line a few men at a time. About twenty-five meters away, Private Kallin watched Corporal Earl M. Collier labor his way up the grade carrying his automatic rifle. Near Collier, Corporal Harry W. Elliot also struggled up the slope. Private Kallin recalled, “As they came out of the roadway, a machine gun opened up on them and both of them fell.” Numerous rounds struck Elliot, instantly killing him. Private Wilfred R. Le Beau saw Collier fall and immediately realized he was dead. Struck several times, bullets had blown his head open and shattered his lower jaw. Before his lifeless body fell to the ground, the same volley of rounds hit him in the left side of his chest, shattering the shoulder blade as well as his left lower leg. The front two companies scampered toward the woods in small groups. The open field offered no cover from the storm of enemy bullets.

The platoons of the 84th Company again moved by rushes and each time the enemy fire seemed to increase. As he raced forward through the hail storm of fire, Lieutenant Charles Maynard, the fervent platoon leader, crumbled to the ground slightly wounded and as he tried to get up, several more bullets ripped through his abdomen. He was mortally wounded and doubled over as the hiss and crack of machine gun fire blended in with the screams of other casualties while sergeants and corporals barked frantic commands over the commotion in order to maintain the momentum of the assault. Maynard’s mortal wound was a tragic irony. Following a month at the 1st Army Corps Officer’s School in Gondrecourt, he had just returned to the company the day before along with several other Marine officers who had been at the same course. Maynard, during the three-day ride by truck to return to the division, was forefront in the prophesied discussion among his fellow lieutenants about what awaited them. Maynard had fatalistically acknowledged death as a very real possible, but he professed that his biggest fear was to suffer a machine gun wound through the stomach that would cause him to linger in horrible agony before dying. Less than twenty-four hours later that nauseating fear came true for the twenty-six-year-old Pullman, Washington native who had been married only a month before shipping overseas with the company.

 

Below is an original photograph of Maynard.

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Maynard was awarded the Croix de Guerre. Here is his Croix de Guerre certificate.

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The medal awarded to his wife.

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The original French transmittal for the CdG.

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A rare fourragere document that is personalized to Maynard.

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His war service certificate.

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Here is the final letter he wrote to his wife the night before he was killed.

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Here is a photo of his temporary grave sent to his wife by the Red Cross.

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The accompanying letter from the Red Cross sent to his wife with the photo of his grave

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Here is a letter he wrote for his father that he left with his brother with explicit instructions for his brother Mark to give to his father in the event of his death.

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The letter his father read after his death.

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1st Lt. Maynard's wallet that was among his personal effects sent home. Inside is a photo of his wife whom he married just days before he shipped out to France. Note the small calendar for the month of June 1918.

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An inventory sheet of rations acquired on June 1, 1918. This was folded in his pocket at the time of his death you can make out the small traces of blood on the sheet.

 

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Perhaps one of the most shocking artifacts I have had the honor to safeguard. This came with the paper from the great niece. This is the set of orders releasing officers and men of the 2nd Division to leave the 1st Corps' school and return immediately to their units engaged along the battlefront. These were folded and in 1st Lieutenant Maynard's pocket at the time he was hit. He had professed to his comrades in the back of the vehicle according to another lieutenant, Maynard exclaimed, Some of us may not live to see the end of this war, but the world will be the better for it. I just hope I do not get machine gun bullets through the stomach, linger on, and die. That's unfortunately exactly what happened to Maynard. He died the next day. This set of orders were in his pocket when he was hit and they still hold his blood absorbed in the paper exactly 100 years later. This one really hits home for me.

 

 

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devildog34

Private Havelock D. Nelson, whose platoon had been delayed in joining the rest of the 97th Company, recalled approaching the battalion as they advanced on the woods.

About half way across, a tremendous uproar of artillery, machine gun and rifle fire burst loose and continued without a break. The attack had started and we were not there! Faster we walked toward the woods ahead of us. I caught a glimpse of the skirmish lines moving to the northeast through the wheat fields on the other side of the woods. Shells were bursting in those lines so rapidly that they could not be counted, but the lines appeared to me to be as straight as on a drill field. I did not know then that only a few minutes before those two lines had been four lines!

The 97th Company began to advance in rushes of fifteen yards at a time, following behind the 84th on the right side of the ravine. The torrent of machine gun fire laid waste to the left flank of the company in addition to the devastating German artillery that began to inundate the field. Immediately a machine gun bullet struck Corporal Neil S. Shannon passing through the muscle of the left leg, entering the inside thigh of the right leg and shattering the femur bone. Bleeding severely from his wounds, Shannon slowly dragged his Chauchat rifle with him through the wheat for several yards. Eventually the twenty-eight year old managed to make his way to safety along an embankment skirting the lower tree line of Belleau Wood. Corporal Shannon remained with his company until evacuation became possible.

 

Shannon lost his leg due to the severity of his wounds. Below are the medals awarded to Cpl. Neil Shannon.

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The clinical evaluation of Shannon's horrible wounds.

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Shannon's citation for the silver star.

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Shannon's application for the silver star and PH and Shannon's image as it appeared in the papers.

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Shannon's grave.

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devildog34

Moving simultaneously with Major Sibleys battalion, Major Thomas Holcombs 2nd Battalion 6th Marine Regiment initiated their advance, centered on Captain Donald Duncans 96th Company. The battalions assault intended to conform to the right half of Major Sibleys battalion to seize the town of Bouresches. The 79th Company under Captain Randolph T. Zane had orders to move behind Captain Duncans Company. The 80th Company, according to the assault plan, received directions to move in behind Major Sibleys Marines. The right half of the 80th Company, led by Captain Bailey M. Coffenberg, were to advance east parallel to the southern tree line of Belleau Wood while the right half would follow the right wing of Sibleys men into the southern edge of the forest. First Lieutenant John West, who commanded the a platoon in the 79th Company, stood with his men in a cluster of woods situated away from the rest of the company. A courier ran up to the lieutenant with a message ordering him to report to the company command post immediately. When West arrived he found the other three platoon commanders with Captain Randolph Zane situated around a map sprawled out on in the grass. Captain Zane quickly delegated orders to the men. First Lieutenant Wests platoon was told to advance towards the southern face of Belleau Wood and make an oblique movement behind Major Sibleys men and follow them at a 500-yard interval into the town. The attacking platoons immediately moved into position. Corporal Lloyd Pike of the 79th Company noticed members of the 96th Company who had made the tiring journey to their jump-off point with the utmost haste huddled among the trees waiting for the initiation the of the assault.

Several German observation balloons remained silhouetted on the eastern horizon and an occasional shell fell upon this patch of forest. The Marines remained perfectly visible on the high crest, overlooking the open field they were about to cross. Corporal Pikes platoon reached the cover of some trees as the 2nd Divisions artillery, positioned several kilometers behind the front line, responded to the enemy guns. Last minute details of the pending advance reached Captain Zane and in order to convey the new information to his platoon commanders, he tasked his second-in-command, First Lieutenant Graves Erskine, to take the new data over to the 2nd and 4th Platoons. Erskine, who formerly command the a platoon in the 79th Company, arrived just as the first supporting artillery shells collided into the distant southern edge of Belleau Wood. From the seclusion of their wooded jump-off point, the men cheered above the distant crash that echoed across the valley, content that the Germans were finally on the receiving end of misery. The supporting fire did not go unanswered. Sergeant Romeyn P. Benjamin recalled several shells landing among a platoon of the 79th Company killing two men According to Second Lieutenant Jospeph C. Grayson of the 79th Company, most of the first wave of the 96th Company fell dead or wounded within the first three minutes of the assault. Casualties grew exponentially as the second wave of the 96th Company filled the vacancies left by the decimated first wave. Shells exploded with increasing ferocity. Private Harold I. Turney recalled, I had gone perhaps one hundred yards from our starting point, when bang! There was an explosion before me, and I dropped with several pieces of shrapnel in my groin and leg. Men immediately went to the prone position as the intensity of the German machine gun fire increased with every advance. Private John T. Miller remembered the screams of wounded men crying for help above the roar of battle. Simultaneously the 79th Company began the advance just as the last wave of the 96th Company cleared the seclusion of the woods. Corporal Glen Hill watched the spectacle of the 96th Companys advance and out of the woods, Lieutenant Leonard drew his pistol and fired a shot into the air and according to Corporal Hill, with the most unmilitary command said, Come on men, for Gods sake dont fail me now.

As the platoons of the 79th began their advance, Captain John A. West ran from the company headquarters back to his men to find the other platoons already advancing on his right. Captain Wests orders called for him to advance behind Major Berton Sibleys battalion. Immediately Captain West summoned Corporal Alfred O. Halverson. Squatting near the corporal and pointing across the open field, 2nd Lt. West ordered him to take his squad of twelve men across the open ground to fall in behind Major Sibleys 3rd Battalion. Following close behind Corporal Halversons group, another squad advanced followed by the remaining two squads of 2nd Lt. Wests platoon. The platoon pressed forward into the teeth of the enemy fire at intervals. Each squad moved a few meters and then dropped into the wheat. The platoon advanced north toward the southern fringe of Belleau Wood. 2nd Lt. West fell into the formation next to Gunnery Sergeant August T. Ziolkowski in the center of the platoon. From the town of Bouresches, enemy guns tore into the right front flank of 2nd Lt. Wests platoon while fire from the high ground inside Belleau Wood took a tremendous toll. Major Sibleys men had passed across the front of 2nd Lt. Wests men; most of them had disappeared into the southern fringe of Belleau Wood. As the platoon pushed south in desperate attempt to link with the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Lt. West recalled coming upon numerous dead and wounded men from Major Sibleys battalion. German artillery eventually targeted this sector of the field and began to drop shells with increasing intensity. Our own wounded were crying for first aid and stretcher bearers. There were none. I remember tying the puttee strings to stop the blood of a Third Battalion man. He had been shot through the calves of both legs by machine gun fire from Belleau Wood. Just a kid he was, crying hard. 2nd Lt. West continued to work his way along the line of his men now pinned to the ground. Eventually he worked his way back to the area of this wounded man only to find that a shell had killed him. 2nd Lt. West starred momentarily at the lifeless body sprawled out in the wheat, both legs blown off. Several men of the 3rd platoon worked their way through the lines to help the wounded. No stretcher bearers were available. Sergeant Ziolkowski and Private Luther A. Ersland desperately attempted to treat wounded men whose screams emanated from everywhere. 2nd Lt. West came upon a ghastly scene when he discovered the mangled bodies of two of his men. Both men died instantly when a single enemy shell burst nearly on top of them. The two men lay next to each other. 2nd Lt. West remembered seeing one of the men with a massive hole through the right side of his head. Further down the line he found another one of his men. 2nd Lt. West recalled the terrible scene when he saw the man’s stomach and testicles shot away by a shell, a mass of blood. He tried to help him but soon the mortally wounded man lost consciousness. Believing he had expired 2nd Lt. West moved to another wounded man. As he passed back over the seemingly lifeless body, he heard the wounded man cry out for help. Four other men came to assist, using a discarded pack in the field, formed a make-shift stretcher. Amidst the hellacious fire, the Marines dragged him away through the wheat several hundred meters back to the jump off point where a makeshift field hospital catered to the increasing flow of horribly wounded men. Shortly after Colonel Catlin ordered the 79th Company to dig in, his observation post came under intense fire. With no field phone to get updates on the advance, Colonel Catlin resorted to standing atop a small rise of ground protected only by a cluster of shrubbery.

Near the road leading out of Lucy-le-Bocage, Colonel Catlins position was extremely exposed. He watched the assault through his binoculars oblivious to the numerous bullets snapping, flinging dirt in the air as they hit the ground around him. Several guns of the 6th Machine Gun Battalion continued to fire an enfilading barrage along the southern edge of Belleau Wood as well as into the distant village of Bouresches. Their fire continued to draw a reply from the unseen German guns in the woods. Suddenly a snipers bullet struck Colonel Catlin in the chest. It felt exactly as though someone had struck me heavily with a sledge. It swung me clear around and toppled me over on the ground. When I tried to get up I found that my right side was paralyzed. Captain Thibot Laspierre, a French officer attached as a liaison to the Regiment, stood by Colonel Catlin. He immediately tended to the wounded Colonel. Pharmacist Mate 3rd Class Oscar S. Goodwin and Sergeant Sydney Colford Jr. ran toward the wounded officer as enemy bullets kicked up earth around them. Private John L. Tunnell, a runner from the regimental headquarters company, headed out very early in the assault looking for Colonel Catlin carrying a message that the German shell fire included gas rounds of which many of the masks were ineffective against. Smoke from the artillery shells blanketed the field, causing the young private to become disoriented. Eventually he reached regimental headquarters only to learn that Colonel Catlin had advanced toward the front to witness the assault. Finally he came to Colonel Catlins forward command post moments after he had been wounded. Private Tunnell recalled blood streaming from the Colonels chest. Bullets snapped all around as leaves from the shrubbery gently drifted to the ground.

 

Below is Colonel Catlin's gas mask that he was wearing that day. This is currently part of the National Museum of the Marine Corps's collection.

 

 

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. . .

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His CdG document and Purple Heart also part of the collection at the NMMC

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devildog34

With the remainder of 2nd platoon of the 79th Company pinned down in the field, 1st Lieutenant Graves Erskine noticed a wounded man crawling back toward the rear area. This young man was trying to evacuate himself. As the wounded man got closer, Lieutenant Erskine saw the severity of the injury. A bullet had blown the young mans nose off. Erskine immediately dressed the mans wounds up and told him to take a message back to Captain Zane stating that the platoon was pinned down under horrific fire. Twenty minutes later, with the blood-soaked bandage still plastered across his face, the young Marine braved the withering fire once more to make his way toward Lieutenant Erskine. The exhausted man looked at him and said, I told the Captain what you said and he said, get going goddammit!

On the extreme east side of the 79th Company, Captain Charles Murrays platoon came under the same terrible fire. According to Sergeant Vernon M. Guymon and Private Ora R. Allen, Lieutenant Murray suffered severe gunshot wounds to both arms and remained pinned to the ground unable to move. About the same time, enemy snipers targeted the wounded and anyone who unduly exposed themselves. Private Elbert E. Brooks saw the wounded Lieutenant struggling to move, but without the use of his arms, he remained dangerously helpless and exposed. While Sergeant Guymon dressed Lieutenant Murrays wounds, Private Brooks immediately came to the Lieutenants side, removing all the equipment restricting his commanding officer while in the prone position. Bullets continued to crack in the air just above the mens heads. Suddenly two stray rounds struck Private Brooks in the hip. Oblivious to the wounds he continued to work on the wounded officer and succeeded in removing all of Lieutenant Murrays gear. Private Brooks then managed to hoist and strap Lieutenant Murray on his back using the officers gear as a harness. Private Brooks then crawled through the wheat toward the battalion aid station. Miraculously the two men arrived at the aid station where the Lieutenant received immediate medical attention and Private Brooks was marked for evacuation. The wounded twenty-three-year old refused to leave and immediately made his way back toward the companys pinned down position.

While the 79th Company remained pinned in the open field, casualties mounted rapidly. A shell exploded next to Private Raymond W. Boone and a piece of shrapnel abruptly amputated two fingers on his right hand as another piece lacerated the back of his right hand. Another fragment sailed clean through the twenty-three-year olds upper lip. Another round exploded near Corporal David L. Spaulding and Corporal Harry B. Fletcher but both men refused to go to the rear. Several rounds struck First Lieutenant William A. Worton, the companys executive officer. He first suffered wounds in the neck and shoulder. While he lay wounded enemy artillery shells inundated the surrounding field. A single piece of shrapnel tore into Lieutenant Wortons chest.

While The 79th Company remained pinned in the open field, the 96th Company continued to move east toward the concealment of the ravine on the battalions right. Led by First Lieutenant James Robertson, the survivors quickly followed their commanding officer without any idea where they were headed. Second Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, who lay briefly unconscious from the machine gun round that glanced off his helmet, recovered his senses. I put the helmet on, looked around and my first thought was to run like hell to the rear cause I couldnt see anyone around me except wounded and dead. Suddenly, he saw four men in a ravine to his front right. He got on his feet and ran towards them, staggering to the ground two or three times. Second Lieutenant Cates eventually reached the ravine where one of the men noticed a large swollen knot on the Second Lieutenants head. He began pouring a smuggled canteen of wine over it. Dont pour that over my head, give me a drink of it, remarked Second Lieutenant Cates. He picked up a discarded French lebel rifle and took the four men down into the ravine towards the town of Bouresches. Several enemy troops came into view and the five men fired on them, but missed as the German soldiers disappeared out of view.

Lieutenant Robertson emerged from the western edge of the village with the remnants of Catess 4th platoon. From the outskirts of the center part of town, Cates hollered out towards Robertson. He evidently could not hear the Second Lieutenants shouts so Cates blew his whistle immediately grabbing Robertsons attention. Looking intently towards the sound, he spotted Cates waving him over. He took his men toward Cates’ position and turned them over. All right take your platoon in and clean out the town and Ill get reinforcements, said Lieutenant Robertson. Cates thought the order was, a hell of a thing. Second Lieutenant Cates entered the town to find several men, some were manning an automatic rifle. Most of the German troops that still occupied the town remained in the northern edge. The village was segmented into three streets: one going north, one northeast, and one northwest. Second Lieutenant Cates tasked Gunnery Sergeant Noyes V. Moore to take eight men to clear the street that meandered toward the northwest corner of the village. He then ordered Sergeant Earl Belfry, who had already been wounded, to take the northeastern corner of the town. Second Lieutenant Cates took the remainder of the platoon straight north through the center of the village. Wed gotten just about half way down when we ran into some enemy and a machine gun opened up on us, recalled Second Lieutenant Cates. Instantly a bullet went through the brim of his helmet and grazed his ear. He lunged for the cover of a stone wall as another round glanced off the top of his shoulder, nicking his second lieutenants insignia. Another enemy gun crew on the northeastern side of the town opened fire while men moved from house to house. Several men fell wounded. Second Lieutenant Cates pulled his men back out of the firing line and established four defensive posts until reinforcements could arrive. Twenty minutes later the remnants of the 96th Company entered the town. Soon thereafter survivors of the 79th Company made their way to the edge of the town and took up position along the left flank of the town opening fire on the exposed enemy.

Lieutenant Leonard entered the town with several survivors of his platoon. They maneuvered down one of the streets beyond the defensive positions established by Second Lieutenant Catess men. Lieutenant Leonards group came upon a German machine gun position and spread out as it fired. Maneuvering from wall to wall and building to building, members of the 2nd Platoon succeeded in killing the enemy crew and captured the gun. Eventually Lieutenant Graves Erskine brought up the remnants of a Platoon of the 79th Company. As he entered the outskirts of the town several of the enemy guns had already been captured, except one on the edge of town, which continued to fire. Lieutenant Erskine, with his pistol drawn, approached the enemy gunner from behind and kicked him in the shoe. Startled, the German soldier stood up, slung his weapon over his shoulder, and surrendered to Lieutenant Erskine. With a shaking hand, Lieutenant Erskine trained his pistol on the husky adversary. He turned the enemy soldier over to the control of a private who escorted the German to the rear. When Private Slattery returned soon after, Lieutenant Erskine grew suspicious. you shot that prisoner, inquired Lieutenant Erskine. Astounded by the Lieutenants accusation he replied, How did you know? Lieutenant Erskine gave the young man a tongue lashing to which he replied, Yes, but I havent had a chance to kill one of those bastards all day, all they are doing is killing us, and I cant go back to Minnesota and tell them I didnt kill a German.

 

Among the Marines of the 79th Co. wounded during the attack was Pvt. James B. Latell. Below are Latell's Purple Heart and Good Conduct Medals.

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devildog34

A view of Bouresches as seen during the time of the battle and a modern view.

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The church inside Bouresches. The Church spire held a German machine gun position during the battle.

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devildog34

When the 79th Company was pinned down during their advance on Bouresches. Gunnery Sergeant William J. Kirkpatrick rallied his platoon and encouraged them to continue the advance despite the murderous machine gun fire. Below is Kirkpatrick's Silver Star for his actions that day as well as his Croix de Guerre.

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The reverse of the Silver Star.

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devildog34

Another Marine who distinguished himself that day during the attack on Bouresches was 22 year old George Caygill. He was wounded but continued encouraging his comrades to advance. Below is Caygill's 2nd Division citation for bravery that afternoon.

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devildog34

Back at the jump-off point next to this field hospital, a dugout in a cluster of trees, members of the battalion’s thirty-seven millimeter gun crews, under the command of First Lieutenant Clyde P. Matteson, fired a tremendous barrage into the distant buildings of Bouresches. The fire of these guns commonly known as “one-pounders,” attracted the attention of numerous enemy shells. Privates Alton R. Vanlaningham and Alva C. Tompkins and Corporal Carlos E. Stewart pushed their gun crews forward to a more exposed position and continued to unleash withering fire on the enemy-held town. Among these crews was Private Ronald T. Chisholm, who had suffered a minor wound the day before. He chose to remain with his gun crew instead of seek evacuation to an aid station.

Shells continued to explode in the open field and Privates Edmund T. Smith, Walter E. Rider and Walter A. Gross continued to run out into the open to supply the thirty-seven millimeter guns with ammunition despite the terrific volume of artillery fire. As the gun crews continued to fire into German positions a cluster of shells landed in succession near one gun crew. An exploding round riddled Private Alvin H. Harris with shrapnel. Fragments of the shell penetrated the twenty-four year old Marine’s stomach and legs in fourteen places. Despite the terrible pain, he refused to be treated and maintained a continuous volume of fire from his gun.

 

Below is a photo of Pvt. Walter Gross who bravely supplied the exposed 37mm gun position with vital ammo.

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Here is Gross's helmet.

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another view

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devildog34

I will continue to add to this thread throughout the month to commemorate the battle. Semper Fi, I hope you all enjoy it.

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Kevin,

 

Wow, as usual, well researched and presented. Thank you for sharing this information and the images!

 

Mike

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Very impressive presentation exceeded only by the depth and amazing quality of your collection! Thanks so much for your commemoration of the events as they happened 100 years ago today and the rest of the month. Outstanding!

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Kevin, I awoke early this morning to imagine what it was like for these men 100 years ago. As the sun was rising "the breadth of a mans hand" I read your account and I imagined no more. Thank you for this fine tribute. Kevin

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Kevin Thank you for this post. One of best I've read and for sharing you collection. It really makes it come to life and I'll be looking forward to more as you add to it

Mark

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