Analysis Of The Battle Of Belleau Wood

During June of 1918, the Marines participated in the Battle of Belleau Wood in an attempt to secure the allied lines protecting Amiens and Paris. The battle lasted more than three weeks and the Marines, embedded with Army and allied forces, engaged four divisions of German Soldiers in an attempt to halt the enemy offensive and secure allied controlled territory. The battle began on 6 June and resulted in the greatest loss of life by a Marine unit at that time with more than 1,000 men killed, on that day alone. Both allied and enemy forces waged a ferocious attack over the three-week campaign often fighting hand-to-hand and using bayonets despite having endured a lack of sustenance and experiencing extensive sleep deprivation. The Marines
received praise for their expert marksmanship skills as they utilized the dense forest to pick-off German machine gunners. “The battle was such a hard-won success it led General Pershing to say, The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle” (USMC, n.d., para. 4). Advancing German forces returned artillery fire and additionally used poisoned gas to hold up the advancement of allied forces; however, after multiple changes in possession, allied forces were able to halt German forces and secure the friendly lines. Because of their ferocious and unyielding fighting spirit during the Battle of Belleau Wood, the German soldiers gave the Marines the nickname of Devil Dogs. This nickname originated as enemy soldiers witnessed Marines crawling up a hill suffering from the effects of poisoned gas, but refusing to yield