_Negotiating an obstacle course while TNT charges explode nearby, this
raider carries a folding-stock Reising gun._]
[Illustration: _Hiking was a major training component for raiders,
considering their primary mission as light infantry in combat._
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 54678
]
]
_Reshaping the Raiders_
The 2d Raiders boarded a transport on 15 December and returned to Camp
Gung Ho on Espiritu Santo. There they recuperated in pyramidal tents in
a coconut grove along the banks of a river. The camp and the chow were
Spartan, and the only relief came when a ship took the battalion to
New Zealand in February 1943 for two weeks of liberty. The 1st Raiders
had returned to Camp Bailey in New Caledonia in October 1942. Their
living conditions were similar, except for a slightly better hillside
site looking over a river. They spent a month in New Zealand over the
Christmas holidays.
These were no longer the only raider battalions in the Marine Corps.
Admiral Turner had tried to force each Marine regiment to convert one
battalion to a raider organization, but General Holcomb, with an assist
from Nimitz, put a stop to that interference in the Corps’ internal
affairs. However, the Commandant did authorize the creation of two
additional battalions of raiders. The 3d Raiders came into being on
Samoa on 20 September 1942. Their commander was Lieutenant Colonel
Harry B. “Harry the Horse” Liversedge, a former enlisted Marine and
a shotputter in the 1920 and 1924 Olympics. The battalion drew on
volunteers from the many Marine units in Samoa, and also received small
contingents from the 1st and 2d Raiders.
The Corps activated the 4th Raider Battalion in Southern California on
23 October 1942. Major Roosevelt commanded this new unit. The 3d and
4th Raiders both arrived in Espiritu Santo in February 1943.
There as yet existed no common raider table of organization. Carlson
retained his six companies of two rifle platoons and a weapons platoon.
Griffith adopted the fire team concept, but added a fourth man to
each team and retained the four rifle companies and a weapons company
established by Edson. Roosevelt’s battalion had four rifle companies
plus a Demolition and Engineer Company.
On the anniversary of the creation of the 2d Raiders, Carlson addressed
his men in a “Gung Ho” meeting. He issued a press release later
to publicize his words. In addition to announcing his decision to
establish Marine Raider Organization Day, he reviewed the battalion’s
first year of existence. He noted that his morale had been “low” at
times, as the officers and men struggled to learn and implement the
philosophy of “Gung Ho.” In his mind, the tactical successes of the
outfit were less significant than the way in which he had molded it.
“Makin brought the story of our methods of living and training to
the world. Perhaps this fact was of even greater importance than the
material gains of the raid.” However, the days of Carlson’s influence
on the raiders were numbered.
[Illustration:
_Col Harry B. “Harry the Horse” Liversedge brought the 3d Raider
Battalion into existence in September 1942 and then became the first
commander of the 1st Marine Raider Regiment upon its activation in
March 1943. Here he cuts a cake for his raiders in honor of the Marine
Corps birthday on 10 November 1943._
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 67934
]
On 15 March 1943 the Marine Corps created the 1st Raider Regiment and
gave it control of all four battalions. Liversedge, now a colonel,
took charge of the new organization. A week later, Lieutenant Colonel
Alan Shapley took over command of the 2d Raiders. He was an orthodox
line officer who had earned a Navy Cross on board the _Arizona_ (BB
39) on 7 December 1941. He thought the Makin Raid had been a “fiasco,”
and he had no interest in “Gung Ho.” Shapley wasted no time in turning
the unit into “a regular battalion.” Carlson temporarily became the
regimental executive officer, but served there only briefly before
entering the hospital weak from malaria and jaundice. Soon thereafter
he was on his way stateside. A month later Lieutenant Colonel Michael
S. Currin, another officer with more orthodox views, took command of
the 4th Raiders from Roosevelt.
[Illustration: