The Stage is Set

On 22 November 1941, General Holcomb spoke to the American public on NBC radio as part of a Navy public relations program. In his brief remarks, he summed up the Corps' situation in the context of the country's readiness. He noted that there were 61,000 Marines in uniform and that:

Beyond the continental limits of the United States, Marines do duty as the frontiersmen of the nation's huge new defense network. The existing stations from the Philippines to the Virgin Islands have had their garrisons increased. The Navy's new bases — Iceland, Newfoundland, Bermuda, Santa Lucia, Antigua, Trinidad, Jamaica, British Guiana, Dutch Harbor, Samoa, Kodiak, the Hawaiian Island group, and other outlying stations — all are garrisoned and guarded, at least partially, by United States Marines.

Every Marine in the prewar era was required to qualify annually with his T/O weapon and generally spent two weeks in preparing to fire for record. Here, West Coast FMF troops are at the La Jolla rifle range in 1940 for their weapons training. Photo courtesy of C. M. Craig

On the same day, he wrote to Brigadier General John Marston, commanding the 1st Provisional Brigade in Iceland, telling him that it was "important to get the Brigade home" and promising "you can be sure that we will leave no stone unturned to accomplish it." Its men were wanted back in the 2d Marine Division and the arrival of U.S. Army reinforcements in strength in Iceland gave the Marine Corps strong argument for the recovery of its forces. The fact that the Marines had come under Army command did nothing to lessen the urgency of the situation.

Marine recruits are drilled on the parade ground at Paris Island in the early 1940s. Note the sun helmets on the troops as they march to the cadence of the DI. Sketch by Vernon H. Bailey, Navy Art Collection

In his radio report, the Commandant did not mention the Marines stationed in China, perhaps because the decision had been made to withdraw them. In September, the American Consul-General at Shanghai, the Navy commander of the Yangtze River Patrol, and the Commanding Officer, 4th Marines had jointly recommended that all U.S. naval forces in China be pulled out of Japanese-controlled territory, a recommendation heartily endorsed by the Commander, Asiatic Fleet. The authorization for the evacuation was delayed by State and Navy Department negotiations until 10 November and it was the 27th before the first of two chartered passenger liners, the President Madison, loaded half the 4th Marines and its equipment and departed Shanghai. The next day, the rest of the regiment boarded the President Harrison and sailed.

Helmets of World War II One of the most noticeable changes in the Marine Corps uniform at the outset of World War II was the transition from the M1917A1 helmet reminiscent of World War I to the familiar M1 helmet of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. At the outbreak of World War II, Marines were wearing a modernized version of the helmet first introduced to Marines serving in France during World War I. The American M1917 helmet was nearly identical to the British "Brodie Pattern" helmet. In 1939, this helmet was superceded in the Marine Corps by the improved M1917A1 helmet (as shown below, worn by men of the 6th Marines in Iceland). The padded leather liner and two-piece canvas chinstrap of this updated version of the "tin hat," as it was then called, made it far more comfortable and sturdier than its predecessor. The steel helmet shell remained the same. In the Marine Corps, the helmet was worn both with and without insignia and, while most Marines wore the helmet in the rough olive drab paint, some units, most notably those in China, burnished, waxed, and polished theirs. Less than two years after the Marine Corps' adoption of the M1917A1, a U.S. Army research team at Fort Benning under of Major Harold Go Sydenham, began working on a new design for a two-piece helmet which offered far more protection for the wearer. Adopted by the government as the M1 helmet on 9 June 1941, the Hadfield manganese steel helmet was first made by the McCord Radiator Company of Detroit, Michigan, while the fiber liner was manufactured by the Hawley Products Company. At the suggestion of General George S. Patton, the liner's suspension system was patterned after a design by John T. Riddell that was used in contemporary football helmets. The new helmet was issued to the Marine Corps in the spring and early summer of 1942 and, by the time of the Guadalcanal campaign later that summer, had all but supplanted the old "dishpan" helmet. -Kenneth L. Smith-Christmas Photo courtesy of Col Tames A. Donovan, USMC (Ret.)

The destination of both liners was the naval base at Olangapo in the Philippines where the 4th was to join the naval forces defending the islands, in particular the 1st Separate Battalion at Cavite. The ships arrived on 30 November and 1 December. The President Harrison, as planned, was unloaded quickly in order to return to China and pick up the Marines stationed at Peiping and Tientsin, but it was too late. The Japanese Pearl Harbor attack force was already well on its way to its target.

The embassy guard detachments in China were assembling their gear to ship out through the all-weather port of Chinwangtao. The small Marine camp there was named Camp Holcomb, a fact that annoyed the Commandant somewhat as he believed no Marine facilities should be named after living persons. He pointed out in his 22 November letter to General Marston that the camp still bore his name "but it will be a thing of the past in a few days." The Commandant was obviously referring to the impending evacuation of the embassy Marines, but in fact these men, trapped in a hopeless situation, less than 200 in number, were captured on the first day of the war.

Scene at Camp Elliott in spring 1941. The new base, near San Diego, was activated in mid-1940. It housed west coast FMF units and also served for advanced training. Photo courtesy or Col James A. Donovan, USMC (Ret)

In 1940, Fleet Marine Force units stationed at the San Diego fields of the Mission Bay area, in khaki uniforms with the Recruit Depot conducted some small unit training in the open 1903 Springfield rifle, and wearing World War I helmets. Photo courtesy of Col James A. Donovan, USMC (Ret)

In a general sense, the Marine Corps was ready to fight on 7 December 1941, as it has always been regardless of its size. Nearly a third of the Corps' strength was already overseas deployed to stations and outposts, where it shared, often with Navy and Army forces, the challenge of being in the forefront of battle if war came. The few thousand Marines who could realistically picture themselves at risk of immediate attack embodied the spirit of thousands more who knew their turn would come.

Prewar Marine infantry battalions each rated 12 of these Browning .30-caliber, 1917 water-cooled machine guns. The overall weight of the gun with its tripod was 85 pounds. Each weapon had a cyclic rate of fire of 400-520 rounds per minute. Sketch by Col James A. Donovan, USMC (Ret), Marine Corps Art Collection

In the immediate future, once war began, the Corps would grow to unheralded numbers, far beyond what any prewar Marine had imagined. The nucleus of Marines that would give strength to this vast assemblage, almost half a million men and women by 1944, was already in place in 1941. The generals were all veterans of World War I, Caribbean, and China service; the officers who would lead the battalions and regiments, squadrons and air groups in the first months of war were also veterans of extensive foreign and expeditionary duty. Many of the company commanders and flight leaders were products of the 1930s when the Marine Corps wisely recruited the pick of Army ROTC honor graduates. The pilots of all ranks, although as yet only a few hundred in number, were skilled and capable, men who could look forward to leading thousands of men who were in the training pipeline.

These Quonset huts at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina, housed the large influx of recruits at the beginning of the war. Recruits were also billeted in barracks and tents at the depots on both coasts until late 1945. Sketch by Vernon H. Bailey. Navy Art Collection

85. Uncle Sam — Marine Cargo Net Landing One of the things that have been said about the Marines is that they are "first ashore and at the scene of action" This means that the men who join Uncle Sam's Marine Corps must be well trained in the duty of getting ashore quiddy. One of their drills that teaches them to make a rapid landing from their transport employs a cargo net slung over the ship's side. With their rifles dangling from their shoulders the "Leathernecks" line up on the deck of the ship. Then at a given signal they climb over the side, using the cargo net as a rather unsteady ladder. The first men down grab opposite sides of the net to help steady it for those who follow. For training purposes the men land on a stationary platform or pier over which the cargo net is hung (see picture). 90. Uncle Sam — Marine Marine Sky Troops Not to be outdone by their Soldier cousins, the "Soldiers of the Sea"— the United States Marines—have also been experimenting with Parachute Troops. This new idea of landing troops from the sky promises to be a valuable addition to Marine training, fitting nicely into their landing party duty. Similar to the training of Army Sky Troops, the Marines who volunteer for this service practice jumping from various heights to become skillful in making a sudden landing from the sky. They attempt to drop from lower and lower heights to cut down the time it takes to reach the earth and thus to lessen the danger of discovery by the enemy. The chute opens automatically. There is also an emergency 'chute which can be opened by the jumper if necessary. The picture shows a detachment of jumpers being dropped from a slow-moving Navy blimp during an initial stage of training. 63. Uncle Sam —Marine Field Radio The problem of field detachments of troops keeping in touch with headquarters and bases of supplies is today largely solved by radio. At the Marine Radio Operators School, selected marines have an opportunity to study elementary radio theory, elementary electricity, radio sending and receiving, typing, Naval radio procedure and field radio sets. It qualifies them for positions of greater trust and responsibility while in Service for Uncle Sam and fits them for good- paying positions on the outside when their period of enlistment is ended. In the picture two marines are operating a portable radio sending and receiving set in the field. In this case they are keeping in touch with headquarters aboard a transport anchored in the harbor a good many miles away. 29. Uncle Sam —Marine Shore Duty On shore marines live in large barracks or Service buildings where they can be quickly mobilized for emergencies. When stationed on shore at the Navy Yards and at Naval Stations their duties are to protect government property from theft, injury, or fire, and to prevent disorders of any kind. They also perform duties as infantrymen, artillerymen, machine gunners, signal men, motor transport, and occasionally as mounted infantry. The picture shows marines on Guard Duty in a Navy Yard during a war emergency. At these times the regulations are tightened and the marines have to be on the alert to prevent suspicious-looking individuals from gaining any information that would be harmful to Uncle Sam's interest. Save to get all these picture cards showing Uncle Sam's soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen and civilians in training for National Defense. GUM, INC., Phila., Pa. Printed in U. S. A., 1941 Popular bubblegum cards printed in 1941 illustrate how the American public viewed the Marines of the prewar period. Collector cards donated by LtGen William R. Maloney, USMC (Ret.)

Dominating the whole scene of Corps mobilization and increases in strength was a solid core of noncom missioned officers who had shared the veteran officers' experiences and who were, in the words of many qualified to comment, truly "the backbone of the Corps." In a real way, these sergeants and corporals of whatever stripe were the ones who epitomized the Marine Corps traditions of leadership and loyalty to fellow Marines. They imbued in the men with whom they served a feeling of what it means to be a Marine, of what if takes to be a Marine.

Handy items in the prewar Fleet Marine Force were Cole carts, used to carry such weapons as heavy machine guns and their tripods, 81mm mortars and their base plates, and ammunition for all the weapons in the infantry battalion. Sketch by Col James A. Donovan, USMC (Ret), Marine Corps Art Collection

In the war that was to come, on the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack, these Marines of all ranks had a strong identity with the past. They were the inventors, in General Holcomb's words in his 1941 Marine Corps Birthday message, of "this high name of distinction and soldierly repute" won for all by "those who have preceded us in the Corps." The prewar Marines, both boot and veteran, were to add immeasurably to the Corps' laurels and traditions in the first year of fighting at Wake, Guam, Bataan, Corregidor, Midway, Makin, and Guadalcanal. Throughout the course of World War II, they were the men of "The Old Corps" whose accomplishments set the standard for all Marines.