I Marine Amphibious Corps[B]
Forward Echelon
Medical Battalion
Company A
Company B
Motor Transport Battalion
Company A
Signal Battalion
1st Medical Battalion[B]
Detachment
1st Marine Raider Regiment[A]
Headquarters Company
1st Raider Battalion
Headquarters Company
Company A
Company B
Company C
Company D
4th Raider Battalion
Headquarters Company
Tank Platoon
Marine Aircraft Group 25[C]
Headquarters
Marine Service Squadron 25
Marine Transport Squadron 152
Marine Transport Squadron 153
Marine Transport Squadron 253
Flight Detachment
Marine Fighter Squadron 121[A]
Marine Fighter Squadron 122[A]
Marine Fighter Squadron 123[B]
Marine Fighter Squadron 124[C]
Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 132[A]
Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 141[C]
Marine Torpedo-Bomber Squadron 143[C]
Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 144[A]
Marine Fighter Squadron 214[C]
Marine Fighter Squadron 215[C]
Marine Fighter Squadron 221[C]
Marine Fighter Squadron 222[B]
Flight Detachment
Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 232[B]
Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 233[C]
Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 234[C]
Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 235[B]
Flight Detachment
Company N
Company O
Company P
Company Q
2d Marine Aircraft Wing[A]
Forward Echelon
2d Separate Wire Platoon[A]
3d Special Weapons Battalion[B]
4th Defense Battalion[B]
Headquarters & Service Battery
155mm Artillery Group
90mm Antiaircraft Group
Special Weapons Group
9th Defense Battalion[A]
Headquarters & Service Battery
155mm Artillery Group
90mm Antiaircraft Group
Special Weapons Group
Tank Platoon
10th Defense Battalion[A]
Tank Platoon
11th Defense Battalion[A]
Battery E
Battery K
Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 236[B]
Marine Night Fighter Squadron 531[A]
2d Platoon, Battery A
4th Base Depot[B]
[A] New Georgia only
[B] Vella Lavella only
[C] New Georgia and Vella Lavella
]
[Sidebar (page 6): Individual Combat Clothing and Equipment
[Illustration:
Drawing by Kerr Eby, U.S. Navy Combat Art Collection
]
By 1943, the cotton sage-green herringbone twill utility uniform was
being issued to the troops in the field (although some camouflage
clothing was available) and to new Marines at the recruit depots. These
jackets and trousers were worn with field shoes, leggings, and the M1
steel helmet. Individual combat equipment was the distinctive Marine
Corps 1941 pattern that derived from earlier Army M1910 designs. Basic
components included the cartridge belt, belt suspenders, haversack,
and knapsack; supplemented by poncho, shelter half, entrenching tool,
gas mask, and canteens. Lieutenant Colonel Samuel B. Griffith II,
commanding the 1st Raider Battalion, recalled that officers and men
landed with a basic allowance of ammunition, a canteen of water, a
battle dressing, and individual first aid kit on the belt. In the
pack were two days K-Rations, one D-Bar (a highly enriched and very
hard chocolate bar), tobacco, a change of underwear, three pairs of
socks, a poncho, and a pair of tennis shoes. The pack roll was made
from a shelter half, blanket, and “one utility garment.” A 4th Raider
Battalion Marine noted that at Vangunu they “learned that one canteen
of water was not enough. We all had been issued a second canteen.”
]
_The Munda Drive and the Fighting Ninth_
Elements of four Marine defense battalions played an important part in
the Central Solomons campaign. Attached to the XIV Corps to support
of the attack on Munda Point was the 9th Defense Battalion, commanded
by Lieutenant Colonel William J. Scheyer. The battalion was organized
with an artillery group (Batteries A and B), a heavy antiaircraft
group (Batteries C through F), a light antiaircraft group (Batteries
G through I), and a headquarters and service battery. The 9th Defense
Battalion’s participation in the Guadalcanal campaign from December
1942 had provided it needed experience, as the island was typical of
conditions to be found in the Central Solomons. Some Marines from the
light antiaircraft group were withdrawn from gun crews to train with
the battalion’s tank platoon for tank-infantry operations. The greatest
challenge in preparing for the campaign was Lieutenant Colonel Archie
E. O’Neil’s conversion of his seacoast artillery into a field artillery
unit, at the same time absorbing 145 new men into the group. This was
accomplished in 22 days, a feat that Admiral Halsey complimented.
[Illustration: _This picture gives a clear view of the beach congestion
that plagued the landing of the artillery group with its 155mm guns. At
right is a .50-caliber antiaircraft gun of the Special Weapons Group._
Marine Corps Historical Collection
]
One of the major equipment changes for the campaign was the acquisition
of 155mm guns as replacements for the older M1918 French Grande
Puissance Filloux (GPF) guns. The battalion exchanged 90mm guns with
the Army 70th Coast Artillery Battalion, giving the antiaircraft group
new guns. High-speed and standard dual-mounts for 20mm guns were also
obtained. These were adapted by the 9th from 37mm gun mounts, giving
the light antiaircraft group greatly increased mobility by replacing
the stationary naval single-mounts. The 9th Defense Battalion obtained
additional .30-caliber heavy, water-cooled machine guns, and trained
the battalion band to employ them with Headquarters and Service
Battery. The battalion acquired three Landing Vehicle Tracked Alligator
amphibious tractors for the operation, and then was augmented by a
whole amphibious tractor platoon of nine vehicles from the 3d Marine
Division.
[Illustration:
Marine Corps Historical Collection.
_The antiaircraft group of the 9th Defense Battalion moves ashore at
Rendova. Here a TD9 tractor pulls a 90mm gun from an LST. The TD9
tractor would soon prove too light to move through the muddy terrain
beyond the beach._]
On 27 June 1943, the battalion consisted of a total of 1,459 officers
and men, reinforced with additional personnel from the 3d Marine
Division and I Marine Amphibious Corps. Most of these Marines had been
on Guadalcanal for seven months. At one time or another, 40 percent of
them had malaria and the debilitating effects of the tropics had been
felt by the entire unit. But the 9th was a well-trained, experienced
unit, outfitted with the best equipment then available to Marine
defense battalions. In the words of Lieutenant Colonel Scheyer, “the
prospect of closing with the enemy was all that was needed to supply
morale.”
[Illustration: _The first Japanese aircraft shot down from the beach
was credited to this gun crew on its first day ashore. From the left
are 1stLt William A. Buckingham, PFC Francis W. O’Brien, Cpl Paul V.
Duhamel, and PFC Nemo Hancock, Jr., of the 9th Defense Battalion._
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 56812
]
On 29 June, the 9th Defense Battalion was attached to XIV Corps for
the duration of the New Georgia operation. The battalion was given the
mission assisting in the capture, occupation, and defense of Rendova
Island, by landing on the beaches south of Renard Channel entrance.
Here it was to move immediately into position to provide antiaircraft
defense. A third mission was to fire 155mm guns on the enemy
installations, bivouac areas, and the airfield at Munda. As a fourth
task, the tank platoon would support the attack on Munda Airfield.
Fifth, the battalion would be prepared to repel attack by hostile
surface vessels. When the Japanese forces on New Georgia Island were
overrun, the battalion would then move as a whole or in part to Munda
to defend the field when Allied air units moved in and began operating.
All these assigned tasks reflected the battalion’s varied capabilities.
[Illustration: