Marine Corps Engineer Association History
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Photo from National Archives MARINEMARINE CORPSCORPS ENGINEER ENGINEER ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION HISTORYHISTORY --201 20177 Engineers Up! - 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS WORLD WAR ONE BY PHIL MARTIN, MSGT(RET) 33 GATE GUARDIAN FOR MARINE CORPS ENGINEER 1312 SCHOOL RETURN OF THE TD 18 BY ROBIN GENTRY, COL(RET) MARINE CORPS ENGINEERS IN VIETNAM BY PHIL 1414 MARTIN, MSGT(RET) AND ROBIN GENTRY, COL(RET) SSGT RECKLESS: KOREAN WAR HERO EXCERPT 22 FROM NANCY LEE WHITE HOFFMAN’S 1992 22 LEATHERNECK ARTICLE FIRST COMBAT ENGINEERS COMMAND 24 24 CHRONOLOGY SECOND COMBAT ENGINEERS COMMAND 31 CHRONOLOGY 31 THIRD COMBAT ENGINEERS COMMAND 37 CHRONOLOGY 37 2 - Engineers Up! 2 WORLD WAR ONE BY PHIL MARTIN, MSGT(RET) Photo from National Archives THE BEGINNINGS It is believed that early man discovered fire, when lightning hit a bog full of moss. This prehistoric man kept the fire going by piling up the moss for cooking and warmth. As man evolved, he invented hunting tools to kill animals, such as the Woolly Mammoth and other fur bearing animals for their skins to make clothes and their meat for food. Roving bands of people attempted to barter for the things they needed or sometimes took the materials they wanted by harming or killing the opposing party. Eventually, mankind learned to cultivate crops allowing him to settle in farms to provide food for his family. With these beginnings of civilization, leaders and councils were picked to organize communities and make decisions for the betterment of the citizenry. The leaders formed governments and declared certain regions for themselves; forming kingdoms, granting councils the ability to make laws, and enforce regulations. The course of man’s history is filled with conflict and war. One of these wars was large enough to be called World War One and subsequently was called the War to end all Wars. The causes of World War I are complex, but generally historians say there were three reasons for the start of World War I: Imperialism, Militarism, and Nationalism. Imperialism - Imperialism began when many European countries had laid claim to large tracts of land in Africa and Asia. These lands were important for their raw materials and manufactured goods for European markets. These colonies provided markets for goods from the mother country. The value and expansion of European Colonies was often a cause of war between the imperial powers. The Boer War, is a prime example, with England fighting the Dutch over a piece of border in South Africa. Other wars broke out during this time between Germany against Britain, and France in North Africa. The Ottoman Empire during this Engineers Up! - 3 3 time was crumbling in the Middle East, and Austria and Hungary were in conflict in the Balkans with Russia. Nationalism – The Congress of Vienna Settlement of 1815 ignored the principle of Nationalism in favor of preserving peace. The divided states of Italy and Germany remained, until strong nationalist movements and revolutions led to the unification of Italy in 1861 and the unification of Germany in 1871. Later the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, left France seething over the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany, seeking revenge for Germany's action. The Balkans were a melting pot of many conflicting groups, such as Austria - Balkans, Pan Slavism (pro Slavic) of Serbia, and Russia's willingness to support its Slavic brother who lived in conflict with Austria–Hungary's Pan Gemanism (Pro German). Russia, during this time formed an Entente with Britain in 1907. This was after they had reached an agreement with Britain's ally, Japan. William II had further alienated Russia by supporting Austria’s ambitions in the Balkans. The Triple Entente (agreement) was an informal coalition between Great Britain, France, and Russia. They were now strong enough to counter the Triple Alliance between Germany, Italy, and Austria - Hungary. International tension was greatly increased by the division of Europe into two armed camps. The friction of an armed and divided Europe escalated into several crises in Morocco and the Balkans, which nearly ended in war. Another conflict resulted with the Austria-Hungarian annexation of the former Turkish province of Bosnia in 1908. One of the objectives of the Serbian movement was the acquisition of Slavic Bosnia, so Serbia threatened war against Austria-Hungary. Russia had signed an alliance with Serbia, so the Russian Army mobilized, which caused Germany who was allied with Austria-Hungary, to threaten war on Russia. The beginning of a World War, was narrowly avoided when Russia backed down, but relations with Austria-Hungary were severely strained. Militarism- With the signs of a coming war, the great powers of Germany, Britain, and Russia began stock-piling military supplies to build up their armies and navies. The French prior to WW One had the greatest population, but by the time war broke out French manpower had gone from 1st to 4th place. The French were slow to build up as the French believed in quality before quantity. Additionally, the French government found that most workers were employed in factories of less than one hundred men and usually they liked to work in with ten workers or less. As a result, the French found they were woefully unprepared to face their enemies when the war did start. Germany was one of the most industrialized nations in the world and did not have a problem producing weapons and ammunition in preparation for war. Additionally, Germany was one of the first nations to see the benefit of the submarine. The biggest problem with submarine warfare was that both the Germans and the English believed it 4 4 - Engineers Up! was an underhanded means of warfare. Both countries believed war should be fought face to face in a civil manner. During the time from 1872 to 1905, alliances were being made and broken. Two of these alliances were a part of the motivation for World War I. Bismarck of Germany formed the Three Emperor’s League in order to isolate France. This Alliance was made up between Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary in 1872. When Tunisia was occupied by the French, Bismarck took advantage of the resentment of the Italians toward the French and created the Triple Alliance between Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary in 1882. This agreement was made in exchange for Italy’s agreement to stay neutral if war broke out between Austria-Hungary and Russia. Germany and Austria-Hungary would protect Italy from France. This agreement called the Bismarckian Alliance. As a result of the collapse of this agreement. Russia and England made an Entente in 1907. Tensions between Serbia and the Balkan States increased and drove the Turks back to Constantinople after the Bosnian Crisis of 1908 in Africa, a second Crisis in Morocco in 1911, and the Balkan Wars of 1912-13 broke out. Europe by 1914, had reached its breaking point and every nation was postured for war and awaiting the spark that would ignite the conflict. THE WAR The war is said to have begun when the heir to the Austrian Empire, Franz Ferdinand and his wife went to tour Sarajevo, the Capital of Bosnia. Franz Ferdinand had been warned that his visit could provoke trouble, but he ignored the warning and visited Sarajevo anyway. At the very start of his tour, a car in his entourage was hit by a hand grenade and an Austrian officer was injured. Sarajevo proved to be a dangerous place for the Austrian nobleman. Ferdinand wanted to show that his family was in control of Sarajevo, so he continued his tour to quell any perception of weakness. As luck would have it, Franz had ordered the driver to take him to the hospital so he could visit the injured officer. The driver, not understanding the instructions got lost and stopped to ask for directions. Unfortunately, he stopped right by a man called Gavrilo Princip who was a member of the Black Hand Gang. He was also the individual who threw the grenade that wounded the officer. Princip could not believe his luck and quickly drew his weapon and shot the Duke and his wife on June 28, 1914. This incident was the leading cause into the First World War. Serbia was blamed by Austria which decided to punish Serbia. Austria could have easily crushed Serbia but was afraid the Russians would help Serbia, so the Austrians asked the Germans to help. The Germans agreed to this and their response aggravated the French government. When France called up her Army, Germany had no choice but to carry out the Schlieffen Plan. (The Schlieffen Plan was created by a senior German Army officer who believed that the German Army was superior to any Army in Europe, but believed that they could not fight a 5 Engineers Up! - 5 war on two fronts, France and Russia). This plan involved an attack on France by going through Belgium. Britain had given Belgium a guarantee in 1839, that if anyone attacked her, Britain would confront the attacker. Five of the six countries within weeks of the murders at Sarajevo, and had signed treaties stood at the brink of war. On August 4th 1914, Germany invaded Belgium Britain declared war on Germany. France and Russia supported Britain and Austria supported Germany. Only Italy did not join this initial rush to war. Every country concerned was convinced that the war would last only from August to Christmas 1914, and no one envisioned the horrors of trench warfare. TRENCH WARFARE After the initial movements of war and neither combatant gaining the needed advantage trenches were dug to allow for cover and concealment.