Bloody Beaches : Marine Raiders History in the Pacific War (WW2 Pacific Military History Series) by Daniel Wrinn

Author:Daniel Wrinn [Wrinn , Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Storyteller Books, LLC
Published: 2021-05-10T22:00:00+00:00

1st Raider Regiment

On December 15, the 2nd Raiders boarded a transport and returned to Espirito Santo. They recuperated in pyramidal tents along the banks of a river in a coconut grove. While camp and chow were Spartan, their relief came when a ship took the battalion to New Zealand in February 1943 for two weeks of liberty.

The 1st Raiders had returned to Camp Bailey in New Caledonia. Their living conditions were similar except for a somewhat better hillside site overlooking a river. They spent a month in New Zealand over the Christmas holidays.

These were no longer the only raider battalions in the Marine Corps. Admiral Turner had tried to force each Marine Regiment to convert one battalion into a raider organization. General Holcomb (with the help of Admiral Nimitz) stopped that type of interference in the Corps’ internal affairs. However, General Holcomb did allow the creation of two more raider battalions. The 3rd Raiders came into being on Samoa on September 20, 1942, commanded by Colonel “Harry the Horse” Liversedge (former enlisted Marine and an Olympic shot-putter). The 3rd Raiders drew volunteers from several Marine units on Samoa and received small contingents from the 1st and 2nd Raiders.

The 4th Raider Battalion was activated on October 23, 1942, in Southern California. Major Roosevelt commanded this new unit. The 3rd and 4th Raiders arrived in Espiritu Santo on February 1943.

While there was no common raider table of organization, Carlson kept his six companies of two rifle platoons and a weapons platoon. Griffith adopted the fireteam concept, added a fourth man to each team, and kept the four rifle companies and a weapons company initially established by Edson. Major Roosevelt’s battalion had four rifle companies plus an engineer and demolition company.

Carlson addressed his men in a “Gung Ho” meeting on the anniversary of creating the 2nd Raiders. He announced his decision to establish a Marine Raider Organization Day, where he reviewed the battalion’s first year of existence. He noted his morale had been low at times as the officers and men struggled to learn and implement a philosophy of “Gung Ho.”

In his speech, Carlson said: “Makin brought the story of our methods of living and training to the world. Maybe this fact was of greater importance than the material gains of the raid.”

On March 15, 1943, the Corps created the 1st Raider Regiment and gave it control of all four battalions. Liversedge (now a colonel) took charge of the new organization. A week later, Colonel Alan Shapley assumed command of the 2nd Raiders. Shapley was a traditional line officer who had earned a Navy Cross on board the Arizona on December 7, 1941. He believed that the Little Makin Island raid was a disaster and had no interest in “Gung Ho.”

Colonel Shapely wasted no time turning the unit into a regular battalion. Carlson temporarily became the regimental executive officer but served only briefly before entering the hospital with jaundice and malaria. Soon after, Carlson returned stateside. One month later, Colonel Michael Currin, another traditional line officer, took command of the 4th Raiders from Major Roosevelt.

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