Battle of Belleau Forest
| date | June 1 to June 26, 1918 |
|---|---|
| place | Belleau forest near Château-Thierry |
| output | The German forces evade and the Allies take the forest |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
|
|
| Troop strength | |
 Parts of the 6th Army Parts of the IX. Corps 2 Army Divisions US Marine Corps 
|
Parts of the 10th Division Parts of the 28th Division Parts of the 87th Division Parts of the 197th Division Parts of the 237th Division |
| losses | |
|
9,777 |
unknown |
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The Battle of Belleau Forest was a skirmish that took place during World War I between German and American troops in the Bois de Belleau, about eight kilometers northwest of the French city of Château-Thierry . Between June 1 and June 26, 1918, during the German advance on Paris as part of the German spring offensive , heavy fighting broke out in the 2.6 square kilometer forest in which dispersed German troops had holed up.
course
During the Blücher attack by the German 7th Army across the Aisne towards the south on May 27, 1918, the Winckler ( XXV. Reserve Corps ) and Conta ( IV. Reserve Corps ) corps groups, directed at Paris, had the Marne after heavy fighting - Reached the river at and to the west of Château-Thierry and had been stopped by the troops of the Entente .
Between June 1 and 3, the sections of the German 10th , 28th, 197th, 87th and 237th divisions, worn out and confused after heavy offensive battles, occupied the Belleau forest and set up provisional defensive positions against the French 6th Army . The 2nd US Infantry Division (Major General Omar Bundy), brought up to this focal point from the reserve , also laid its line of defense north of the village of Lucy-le-Bocage . On June 4th, a German attack on the Les Mares farm was repulsed. The Germans had not recognized a gap between the 2nd Battalion, which was positioned directly at Les Mares, and the 1st Battalion of the 5th Marine Infantry Regiment, which was further west in the direction of Champillon , and were therefore able to detect the miscoordination of General James Harbord Do not take advantage of standing US Navy troops.
Based on the assumption that the German troops had only occupied a small part of the forest, the French XXI. Corps (under General Jean-Marie Degoutte , from June 10 under Stanislas Naulin ) of the subordinate 2nd US Infantry Division launched the attack on the forest on June 5, which was mainly to be carried out by the 4th US Marine Brigade stationed there. First, the Marines managed to take a tactically important hill above the forest before the frontal attack was to take place. Without having undertaken the necessary clarification beforehand, the US troops stormed towards the forest with the aim of conquering the Bois de Belleau and the eastern village of Bouresches . The attack failed because of the well-established German defensive lines and the open terrain that had to be crossed. On that day 1,097 Marines lost their lives.
Except for small skirmishes , the next few days passed without changes. On June 10th and 11th, the US troops succeeded in capturing two thirds of the forest with a massive attack with artillery support and forcing the Germans to evade. The Germans managed to hold the northern third of the forest area until June 13, when they started a counterattack with the support of the artillery positioned in Bouresches. The forest could not be recaptured by the Germans despite several attack attempts, instead the US troops reached Bouresches. Between June 16 and 21, the 7th US Infantry Regiment of the 3rd US Infantry Division , used as a replacement for the Marines, tried unsuccessfully through several offensive operations to force the military decision in the Bois de Belleau. As a result, the infantry regiment was replaced and replaced by the 5th US Infantry Regiment of the 4th US Marine Brigade, which tried to occupy the forest until June 24 with heavy losses. After a massive 14-hour artillery bombardment by the French III. Corps (General Lebrun ) on the forest, US troops managed to capture the forest area on June 25th.
Another German counterattack by the remaining troops hiding in the forest was repulsed the following day. The Bois de Belleau had been captured by the forces of the American Expeditionary Forces .
Result and meaning of the battle
Allied forces involved in the battle suffered a loss of 9,777 soldiers, 1,811 of whom were killed. This was the greatest loss of soldiers in a battle for the Americans during their participation in the First World War.
So far nothing is known about the number of German casualties, as there were an incalculable number of soldiers from various units in the forest. US troops captured about 1,600 Germans.
Compared to US military history , which often rates the battle in the Belleau Forest as an essential part of Allied defense operations in view of the last German advance on Paris in the spring and summer of 1918, European and especially German military historiography sees no significant influence of the battle on Combat events on the western front as a whole.
For the US Marine Corps (USMC), the Bois de Belleau was the hour of birth of its myth as the most powerful association of the US armed forces . This unfounded myth, measured by the duration and intensity of the battle, can also be attributed to the fact that the merits of the other US troops and, above all, the involvement of French and British units were withheld by the USMC during the ongoing fighting. The participation of other troops in the battle is still excluded in the tradition of the USMC today. In addition, the Battle of Belleau is seen by the Marine Corps as the first evidence of the effectiveness of this association in modern military history, after the US marine infantry received little attention in the 19th century, especially in Europe.
Commemoration
- In 1922 a German military cemetery with over 8,000 dead from the German spring offensive in 1918 was inaugurated near the forest near Beaulieu-Ecuvilly.
- In 1923, an American war memorial was erected at the entrance to the forest . At the same time, the French government renamed the forest “Bois de la Brigade de Marine” ( Forest of the Marine Brigade ).
- Two US warships were named after the forest ( USS Belleau Wood ).
Trivia
The battle is the origin of the nickname of the Marines - Devil Dog called the German soldiers of the US troops are said to have influenced in a fight report on the aggressive fighting style - (Devil Dogs). Since the designation cannot be proven in any German source and is also contradictory, the question of who actually came up with it must remain open.
literature
- Richard D. Camp: The Devil Dogs at Belleau Wood. US Marines in World War I. Zenith Press, Minneapolis MN 2008, ISBN 978-0-7603-3189-7 .
- Alan Axelrod: Miracle at Belleau Wood. The Birth of the Modern US Marine Corps. Lyons Press, Guilford CT 2007, ISBN 978-1-59921-025-4 .
- David Bonk: Château Thierry & Belleau Wood 1918. America's baptism of fire on the Marne (= Osprey Military Campaign Series. 177). Illustrated by Peter Dennis. Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2007, ISBN 978-1-84603-034-5 .
- Robert B. Asprey: At Belleau Wood. University of North Texas Press, Denton TX 1996, ISBN 1-574-41016-4 .
- Richard Suskind: The Battle of Belleau Wood. The Marines almost stood. Macmillan et al., New York NY et al. 1969, ISBN 0-02-788690-5 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thomas J. Fleming: The Illusion of Victory. America in World War I. Basic Books, New York NY 2004, ISBN 0-465-02467-X .
- ↑ German Myth 13: Teufelshunde - Devil Dogs and the Marines