Mightier than ever before in its 166 years of service to the nation — 'Semper Fidelis' — the U. S. Marine Corps entered the year 1942 with the treacherous December attacks on our Pacific bases as prelude for a tremendous expansion program in personnel and equipment. First to fight 'on land, at sea, and in the air', there were 75,000 men in Marine uniforms at the close of 1941, with a steady increase until, less than a dozen months later, Secretary of Navy Knox announced that the Corps had passed the 200,000 mark.
Achievements in 1942.
The Philippines, Wake Island, and Guam.
When the year opened, the Marines were defending Corregidor, Bataan, and other posts in the Philippines against the Japanese. Wake Island and Guam had fallen under assaults of the numerically superior Japanese. It had taken the invaders 14 days to conquer Wake Island, where 400 Marine officers and enlisted men were stationed under the command of dynamic Maj. James P. S. Devereux. There were only twelve planes on the island. The saga of Wake is characterized by the message 'Send us more Japs' in the closing days of the siege.
Early in the year it became evident that Manila and Cavite were no longer tenable as bases, and all naval units and Marines were successfully evacuated to the southward, where they joined General MacArthur's forces. Bataan and Corregidor both fell late in April, but the Japanese paid heavily for the capture of these posts in the Pacific. Col. Samuel L. Howard was in charge of the Fourth Regiment of the Marines, which had been ordered from Shanghai several weeks before the Nipponese struck at Pearl Harbor. Marines played their accustomed valiant roles in the defense of the Philippines, more than 170 Devildogs receiving awards and decorations.
The Midway Battle.
A month after the battle of the Coral Sea in early May, when the Japanese received their first setback, came the Midway engagement. Marine Corps dive bombers and torpedo planes rushed to meet the invasion fleet as it approached this little island. Participating with Navy air and surface craft, the Marine units helped to deal devastating blows that forced the enemy to limp away after four Japanese plane carriers had been sunk, three battleships damaged, two heavy cruisers and three destroyers sunk, several cruisers, destroyers and many auxiliary ships sunk or damaged, 275 planes lost or damaged, and 4,800 men killed or drowned. The world acclaimed the battle as an 'outstanding victory,' and the Marines received a mass tribute for their great part in the achievement. Few Marine air-group commanders returned alive. In an outstanding act of heroism, Maj. Lofton R. Henderson flew his flaming plane onto a Japanese carrier. Thus, although its defense was numerically outnumbered, skill and bravery saved Midway Island from major damage.
Marines on Guard in Alaska.
To the north, in the same month of June, the Japanese sent another fleet to the chain of Aleutian Islands off Alaska. This thrust was made by a smaller fleet than that employed at Midway. Marine anti-aircraft units took part in the defense at Dutch Harbor. Two of the attacking aircraft were shot down. Marines continued to remain on guard here.
Successful Invasion of the Solomons.
The year 1942 saw the Marine Corps launch and successfully carry out America's first land offensive of World War II, when it carried the fighting to the enemy by invading the Solomon Islands in August. This attack, the Leathernecks' outstanding offensive of 1942, was timed eight months to the hour after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941. The Allied world was cheered when it was announced that Marines had landed on the Solomons, almost in Japan's own front yard. Leathernecks who took part in the attack had been carefully picked after months of practice in amphibious landings and jungle fighting, for the war in the Pacific is essentially an amphibious war. Timed to the minute were landings at Tulagi, Gavutu, Tanamboga, and Guadalcanal. In most places the well-entrenched Japanese fought to the last man; in others they were caught so unprepared that they left partly eaten meals in their headlong flight before the Marines.
Raid on Makin Island.
The Marines' invasion of the Solomons was followed by a hit-run raid on Makin Island in the Gilbert Group on Aug. 17, with Lieut. Col. Evans F. Carlson leading his famous 'Raiders,' a specially trained and armed landing force.
Japanese Attempts to Retake the Solomons.
As 1942 drew to a close the Japanese sent strong fleets to the Solomons area in attempts to retake this highly strategic position, but Marines remained firmly rooted and fought them off, and even acquired new ground. The Japanese made some landings of additional troops, but American fleet and bomber patrols prevented large Japanese troop reinforcements from reaching the Solomons.
Expansion Training, and Equipment.
During 1942 the Marine Corps was greatly expanded, and maintained its prestige as one of the best equipped and most versatile groups of fighters in the world. Amphibious tractors, tanks, artillery, parachute units, chemical warfare groups, peeps, jeeps, armored scout cars, gliders, and other weapons of offense and defense were developed and improved. One of the most potent of Leatherneck mobile weapons, the amphibious tractor, or 'alligator,' played an important role in the invasion of the Solomons. This new war machine transports troops and equipment from ship to shore in any kind of weather — and it can speed up the beach without spilling its cargo. While it is not an offensive weapon, it does carry weapons and armament.
Para-Marines.
Thousands of Marines were trained in 1942 as Para-Marines, learning to drop from large transport planes, form combat units, and get into action quickly, using weapons dropped by other parachutes. Only fully trained Marines who have the highest qualities of intelligence, physical endurance, and relish for personal combat are chosen for Para-Marine service.
Fleet Marine Force.
The Fleet Marine Force was greatly enlarged during the year to make it one of the fastest-hitting and best equipped striking forces in modern warfare. Component parts of the FMF include parachute units, tanks, artillery, amphibious tractors, planes, chemical warfare groups, armored cars, and infantry units armed with pistols, rifles, machine guns, mortars and cannon. Many Marines now are armed with the famed Garand rifle, known in the service as the 'MI.' Semi-automatic in action, it has a tremendous fire power. The FMF is designed to go ashore from transports and capture shore-based objectives, and troops assigned to it receive training in individual combat during a landing operation. All parts of the FMF are taught to work together in perfect unison, essential for attaining results in this kind of operation.
Training Recruits.
Training stations were enlarged and more intensive and varied combat training was given recruits, who flocked in increasing numbers to the 'boot' camps at Parris Island, S. C., and San Diego, Calif.
Training Candidates for Commissions.
With new officer personnel needed by the rapidly expanding Corps, Candidates' Classes for college graduates who desired commissions as second lieutenants continued to be held and enlisted men who were not college graduates were given chances to apply for commissioned rank after reaching non-com grades. Many of the new officers were assigned to the Fleet Marine Force after completing platoon leaders' courses.
Combat Correspondents and Photographers.
The year 1942 saw the development of Marine combat correspondents who, after receiving regular basic training, are sent to battlefronts to send back eyewitness accounts of the action taking place. Second Lieut. H. L. Merillat and Sergeant J. W. Hurlbut wrote graphic front line word pictures of the Solomons combat, and Lieut. Karl T. Soule sent back motion pictures of the fighting which were used throughout the country. Combat correspondents are stationed in war sectors all over the world, and more are being trained at 'boot camps' for military rudiments before final indoctrination at Headquarters, Washington, where they are detailed to outgoing units.
Main Branches of Service.
During 1942 the Corps continued to offer enlisted men seven main branches of service — aviation, line, mess, musician, paymaster, and signal and radio branch — listing tasks which either closely or exactly corresponded with the several thousand classifications of civilian jobs. The Corps boasts that it has a place for every man who can meet physical requirements. Marines were given opportunity to attend 69 vocational schools to learn everything from anti-aircraft training to tank destroying. Men on combat or guard duty were offered instruction in 58 academic and vocational subjects by the correspondence school method of the Marine Corps Institute.
The Commandant.
Many Marines received promotions during the year as the Corps enlarged. Lieutenant General Thomas Holcomb, Commandant, was promoted to that grade on Jan. 22, from the rank of major general. He is the first Commandant to hold this high rank. General Holcomb, the seventeenth Commandant of the Corps, was a brigadier general at the time of his selection as head of the Leathernecks.
Death of Lejeune.
The Corps lost one of its highest and most distinguished officers with the death on Nov. 20, in Baltimore, of Lieut. Gen. John Archer Lejeune, formerly Commandant.
From Defensive to Offensive.
At the end of 1941 Marines were on the defensive in the South Pacific, greatly outnumbered by hordes of attacking Japanese. The end of 1942, however, saw the Leathernecks once more on the offensive, carrying on 167 years of traditional glorious service.
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