Customer Reviews

US Marine Corps in World War I, 1917-1918 (Men-At-Arms Series, 327)

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This book is a must have for any student of the USMC during WWI who are interested in uniforms and equipment. This book is a highly detailed book that begs to be used over and over again.

This is a high quality, nuts and bolts review of the USMC in WWI. Surprisingly detailed for an Osprey-format book. The illustrations are excellent. This book is a must have for the collector, reenactor or historian.

I liked this book about some of Americas WWI shock troops & their fight in the "Big War" that probabdly save the Corp from budgetary extinction in the 1920's. Some good text and remarkably good illustrations are in this book, so this is a good value for the bucks paid out.

Fine work on an important aspect of USMC lore, that often goes unlooked by most! OORAH!!

The USMC is one of the two major seaborne fighting forces in the world, the other being the British Royal Marines. Both can trace their origins back to the period of the American Revolution.
The original functions of marines, can be compared with those of naval infantry; two major examples of which were those of the erstwhile Japanese Navy of World War II, well noted for their tenacious fighting, and those of the former Soviet Union, also noted for their ablities, and whose exploits have been comemorated by the wearing of the blue and white striped undershirts of the sailors by Soviet special troops.
As many of the traditions of the US Navy were adopted from the Royal Navy, likewise the role of Marines was also adopted, which originally was that of foot soldiers who served on ship, both as the captain's enforcers for quelling unruly and mutinous sailors, most of whom had been impressed (forced at gun point to serve) and during battle to man the fighting tops, baskets on the top of the masts, during battle, picking off enemy officers and sailors from above, sweeping the enemy's decks clear of effectives.
Naval infantry in contrast has always been organized in units whose purpose was to invade and occupy ports for the use of the fleets, and had small arms and other weaponry.
The USMC evolved from the captain' ennforcers, into today's all arms force including aviation, whose principal role is to make the difficult task of transitioning from a ship-borne force to a land force. Some opinion over the years, has held that this amphibious role could just as well be fulfilled by Army troops, but I believe that the development of amphibious warfare techniques during the 1930s would have been subdued at best within the army, whose strength in the period when the doctrine came to fruition, was so limited that amphibious warfare would have been neglected. In the event, during WWII, both the US Army Engineer Special Brigaded of landing forces and the British used the USMC doctrine verbatim.
On the way to this role as a fully organized amphibious force, the USMC went through a transition from their limited enforcer role, no longer necessary in an all-volunteer force, first into crews who in batle manned guns of the secondary armaments. Late 19th century battleships and cruisers bristled with all sorts of secondary guns intended to fend off toropedo boats, along with big guns for fighting other ships. At that time the fleet did not include swift destroyers which would screen the next generation of battleships introduced in the early 20th century.
So with the fading away of their former ship board roles, except for ceremonies, the USMC during the oughts and teens was in search of justification for its existence. After all, most major maritme nations had never had marines as such, just designated sailors who were fought ashore. The French term, Service de la Marine does not translate directly. It is a false cognate which translates as Servic of the Sea.
In rhia era and up to WWII, US sailors were thoroughly trained in small srms, riflery and infantry drill for they could expect to be able to land and capture a port. Though incapable of land operations out of rsnge of their ships' guns, naval landing party duties were trained for and to be expected. The last time this was done was in 1914, the Occupation of Vera Cruz, Mexico, by s mixed brigade of sailors and marines drawn from the Atlantic Fleet. Today's sailors are only taught drill in order that they might be moved in an orderly fashion from place to place. It is foolish to expect a person highly skilled in scientific skills to serve as a grunt as were his coal passer and deck hand predecessors.
Upon their relief by the Army, the Marines began to ponder their future. They soon organized the Advanced Base Force on a permanent basis so the members could train as units. Before 1915 expeditions were gathered together ad hoc from shore establishments and the fleet alike. Such troops were not well suited or equipped to prevail in the face of organized opposition.
One of the major reasons for the new emphasis on capturing bases was the consequence of the change from wind power to steam power, necessitating visiting coaling stations.No longer could a ship be sailed around the world for years. In peacetime a fleet could refuel at any port, but in wartime, the laws of neutrality required that visiting fleets leave within a few days.
The US had come late to the tableat which the other major powers had cut up the world into colonies. Thus the US insistence on world wide free trade for American merchant vessels. The US Navy had taken over a few places such as Midway and islands in Samoa, but these scattered left-overs of colonialism hardly made up a coherent network of bases. Too far from the centers of trade, these outposts had been mostly ignored by the major powers.
The absorption of Hawaii, plus after the War with Spain, the acquisition of extra-territorial rights in Cuba, the takeover of the Phillipines, and the purchase of the Virgin Islands from Denmark in 1917, projected the US Navy unto a wide operational area.
As a result of expansion, the Marine Corps' role expanded further to base defense as well as landing duties. Just before this transition began, the World War began, and the development of an expanded role became more urgent.
During the course of this transition, the US entered the world war and the Mzrines saw an opportunity to gain experience in modern large scale warfare and a way to justify their existence, for if they had spent the war period in continuing small scale pacification activities in the Caribbean and Central America, that role would hardly be enough to justify their continued existence as a specific force. (Today's SEALS exemplify what the Navy xould have done without a separate Marine Corps).
So it was desided that the Navy would deploy to France sailor-manned railway gun units, and a brigade of Marines organized in accordance with Army doctrine and to be included within the Army, not just accompany it for specisl duty.
During the active fighting, the Marines were given much well deserved ink in the press, which referred them as if they were a seperate force. This resulted from Gen. Pershing's ban on naming specific Army units by their numbers. This was done for security purposes, but it didn't work, as the Germans hsd plenty of spies as well as taking prisoners and reading their collar insignia. Such a policy was not followed in WWII at least at regiment and higher.
This volume describes the organization and trainng of the Marine Brigsde in France and is as thorough as it can be in this format.