Marine Raiders
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Courtesy of www.military-graphics.com
The Marine Raiders were elite units established by the United States Marine Corps during World War II to conduct amphibious light infantry warfare, particularly in landing in rubber boats and operating behind the lines. However most combat operations saw the Raiders employed as regular infantry, and combined with the resentment within the Marines that the Raiders were a "Marine Corps within the Marine Corps", led to the abandonment of the experiment.
Four battalions served operationally but all were disbanded in February 1944 when the Corps made the doctrinal decision that standard Marine infantry battalions would be trained to perform their missions. The personnel from the Raider battalions were then used to reform the 4th Marine Regiment, which had been lost in the Philippines early in the war.
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[edit] Creation
The Raiders were created by an order from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, acting on proposals from Colonel William J. Donovan and Major (later, Brigadier General) Evans F. Carlson. Carlson, a former Marine, had spent years observing the tactics and strategy of Communist Chinese irregulars (Zhu De and the 8th Route Army in particular) as they fought the occupying Japanese, and had become enthralled with their version of guerrilla warfare. Carlson rejoined the Marines in April 1941, gaining a commission from the Commandant as a reserve major. Carlson had the President's ear as well, since FDR's son Captain James Roosevelt was his friend and protégé.
With America thrust into the war, the President became interested in creating an American counterpart to the British Commandos and the Marine Corps was the natural place for this organization. Indeed, the commanding general of the 2nd Marine Division initially proposed the name "Marine Commandos". The Commandant of the Marine Corps, Major General Thomas Holcomb, was of the opinion, however, that "the term 'Marine' is sufficient to indicate a man ready for duty at any time, and the injection of a special name, such as 'Commando,' would be undesirable and superfluous." General Holcomb redesignated the 1st Battalion 5th Marines as the "1st Separate Battalion" and created the 2nd Separate Battalion to be commanded by Carlson in response to pressure from the President. (1/5 had been previously employed to practice experimental landing techniques using high-speed transports and rubber boats.)
The debate over the creation of these elite units came to a climax when the new commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Chester Nimitz, requested "commando units" for raids against lightly defended Japanese-held islands. The commandant selected the term "Raiders" and created two battalions. The 1st Raider Battalion was activated on February 16, 1942, followed by the 2nd Raider Battalion on February 19. Carlson was given a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel and placed in command of the 2nd Raiders, and Lt. Col. (later, Major General) Merritt A. "Red Mike" Edson, command of the 1st.
[edit] Training
The Raiders were given the best of the Marines' equipment, and were handpicked from available volunteers. Carlson's unit took a different direction than Edson's; Carlson borrowed some of the principles learned from his years with the 8th Route Army in China. Lt. Col. Carlson infused his men with elements of the Communist philosophy, treating officers and enlisted men equally, even to the point of using the phrase "Gung-ho!" as a rallying cry. However, the 1st had a unique structure as well, set up by Edson in his pre-Raider days. Edson still held true to traditional Marine Corps doctrine in most ways, and the two battalions were quite dissimilar. It seemed the only thing they had in common were their names and status as elite units.
[edit] World War II Combat Action
Both Raider battalions were put into action at roughly the same time. Carlson's 2d Raider Battalion boarded the submarines Nautilus (SS-168, Cdr William H. Brockman, Jr.) and Argonaut (SS-166, Cdr John R. "Jack" Pierce) and performed a raid on Makin Island ("muggin"), a small Japanese base in the Pacific. The success of the raid was debatable; though the Japanese force was almost entirely wiped out, the intention was to divert Japanese men and materiel to smaller bases like Makin instead of larger targets (i.e. Guadalcanal). The long-term effect was to alert Japan to the weakness of her defenses in this area; they were much stronger when Nimitz returned to the Gilberts in November 1943. The operation (being a raid rather than a full invasion) was quick, and casualties were relatively light, including nine men unintentionally left on the island when the Raiders returned to the submarines.
Meanwhile (several days earlier), Edson's First Raider Battalion (along with the 1st Marine Division and other units) hit the beach on the Solomon Islands. Operation Watchtower, in sharp contrast to Makin, would last several months and prove to be some of the toughest fighting of the Pacific War. After their initial capture of Tulagi, the Raiders were moved to Guadalcanal. One of their most notable engagements was the "Battle of Edson's Ridge", where the 1st Raiders, remnants of the 1st Parachute Battalion, and the 2d Battalion, 5th Marines scored a major tactical victory over Imperial Japanese Army forces.
In the fall of 1942, two additional Raider battalions were created; the 3rd Raiders in Samoa, commanded by Lt. Col. Harry B. Liversedge, and the 4th Raiders at Camp Pendleton, California, commanded by now-Lt. Col. James Roosevelt. These battalions distinguished themselves in heavy combat alongside the 1st and 2d Raiders in the 1943 campaigns on New Georgia and Bougainville, as part of the Solomons and New Guinea campaigns.
[edit] Marine Raider Medal of Honor recipients
- Kenneth D. Bailey
- Richard E. Bush
- Justice M. Chambers
- "Red Mike" Edson
- Henry Gurke
- Clyde A. Thomason
- William G. Walsh
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Alexander, Joseph H. (Col., USMC ret.). Edson's Raiders: The 1st Marine Raider Battalion in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2000, ISBN 1-55750-020-7.http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marine_Raiders&action=edit
- McCormick, John. The Right Kind of War. ?: Onyx, 1994. ISBN 0-451-40450-5. (Novel.)
- Updegraph, Charles L., Jr. U.S. Marine Corps Special Units of World War II. Washington, D.C.: Historical Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1972. PCN 190 002596 00
