Good Morning Belleau Wood, Tooday : Hill 142 the attacks. At the beginning of June 1918, the 5th and 6th regiments of the U. S. Marine Corps-which, with the 9th and 23rd Infantry regiments, made up the U. S. Armys 2nd Division-were ready to embark on their first combat operation on European soil. Their principal objective was the German-held Bois de Belleau-Belleau Wood. Before that attack could be launched, however, two key positions had to be secured-Hill 142 to the left of the Marine line, and the town of Bouresches on the right. In the early dawn hours of June 6, the Marines moved out to take the first of these two objectives. The 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, commanded by Major Julius S. Turrill, was supposed to hit Hill 142 together with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, under Major Benjamin S. Berry. Because of command difficulties and inadequate time to organize the attack, only two Marine companies would be on the mark and ready to go at H-hour-Lieutenant Orlando C. Crowthers 67th Company and Captain George W. Hamiltons 49th Company, each company made up of approximately 250 Marines. Both units were spread out along an 800-yard front facing the Germans on Hill 142, a low, pine-covered hill between the Marine lines and the village of Torcy. To reach it, they would have to cross open wheat fields and meadows, little copses and shallow ravines, all of which were strongly held by the enemy. On the hill itself, the German infantry fanned out around a series of machine-gun nests sprinkled throughout the wooded areas and behind wood piles. First Lieutenant Crowthers 67th Company would attack along the western ravine and to the lower slopes east of Hill 142. Hamiltons 49th Company would attack along the crest and on the right flank of the hill on a nearly due-north bearing. As June 6th dawned, tendrils of mist drifted here and there along the ground; it promised to be a clear, hot day. As the Allied artillery barrage began to concentrate solely on the hill, the German commanders passed the word to their foremost gunners to be on the alert. The Allied artillery barrage of the previous night had already alerted them to the possibility of an attack. Crowthers and Hamiltons Marines deployed in front of the wood, the platoons of each company ready to move out in four attacking waves, as they had been taught to do. The men had stripped to their 20-pound combat packs and were festooned with hand grenades, bandoliers of extra rifle ammunition and gas masks. Still chilly from the damp night air, they stood ankle-deep in ground mist, rifles loaded, bayonets fixed, their eyes on the exploding terrain through which they soon must pass. After a brief preparatory pre-assault artillery barrage by light field artillery and machine guns, which did little more than alert the enemy, Major Turrill, although unready to do so, gave the order to attack. Nothing more could be done-time had run out.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 09:13:42 +0000