During the month of September the Sixth Marine Division prepared for an
operation, the forthcoming occupation of Tsingtao, China. From 2 October
until 11 October the division was aboard ship en route to China and
commenced unloading at Tsingtao on the latter date.
While aboard the division command ship en route to Tsingtao, General
Shepherd stated the general mission of his command:
“Our mission is to land and occupy Tsingtao and the adjacent Tsangkou
Airfield; to assist local authorities in maintaining order and in
preventing disease and starvation; to release, care for, and evacuate
Recovered Allied Military personnel and Allied internees; to cooperate
with Chinese Central Government forces; to accept, when necessary, local
surrender of Japanese forces, as authorized by higher authority, and to
assist the Chinese in effecting the disarming and confining of these
forces.”
The city of Tsingtao, with 1,300,000 inhabitants is situated on a
promontory on the southern coast of Shantung Peninsula. It is regarded
as one of the finest ports in China, and is second only to Shanghai as a
textile manufacturing center. When the division landed, it found the
citizens of Tsingtao to be a polyglot group: Communist agents, former
Nazis, White Russians, Koreans, Japanese civilians, Japanese military
personnel, Europeans, Eurasians, and Chinese.
Politically, Tsingtao, as the most coveted city on Shantung Peninsula,
was a hotbed of intrigue and strife. The Communists, with a stronghold
at Chefoo, hoped to gain control of the peninsula, and the city.
Resisting them were Japanese troops, protecting rail lines leading into
the city. Here too, were independent factions ostensibly aligned with
the Chungking government. Still in evidence, but ineffective, were
puppet groups. At large, but not easily identified with either Chungking
or Yennan, were small groups of brigands which terrorized Tsingtao
despite the Mayor and his poorly trained and discipined troops.
Most of the interior of the Shantung Peninsula was controlled by
Communists; their only access to the sea was at the port of Chefoo.
Early in the month of October an emissary from the Commander-in-Chief of
the Liberation Army of the Communists entered the harbor and sought an
audience with General Shepherd. Permission was granted and a letter was
presented which proposed, in essence, passive collaboration between the
Marines and the Communists. Offering to enter the city to “restore
order” by killing puppet troops, that is those troops who professed
allegiance to Chiang Kai-Shek’s Chinese Central Government, the
Communists promised not to disturb the Marines of the Sixth Division. To
this General Shepherd replied firmly that he would have no part in a
fratricidal war between factions in China, and that his combat veterans
could prevent any disorders in the city.
Obviously, the Communist forces had hoped to gain complete control of
the Shantung Peninsula at the cessation of hostilities through the
surrender of Japanese troops to them.
One of the earliest problems to confront the men of the Sixth Marine
Division in Tsingtao was a financial one, the fluctuating rate of
exchange. With inflation rampant, attempts to stabilize the exchange at
one American dollar to 2,000 Chinese Federal Reserve Bank dollars
failed. Black markets flourished for a while and speculation in local
currency helped to make that currency unstable. Food was plentiful but
there was a shortage of coal.
Law and order was more a matter of theory than practice. Throughout
October uniformed Chinese perpetrated many small crimes against both the
Japanese and German residents. These usually consisted of breaking into
houses, threatening the occupants with rifles or pistols, and stealing
jewelry, silver, or small valuables. Marine roving patrols remedied this
situation. It wasn’t long before the Sixth Marine Division found itself
regarded as the guardian of minority groups within the city.
The morning of 25 October found the Twenty Second Marines, the Twenty
Ninth Marines, the Sixth Tank Battalion, the Sixth Engineers, the Sixth
Marine Division Headquarters Battalion, and other troops, marching out
to the race track at the edge of Tsingtao to witness the surrender
ceremony of the Japanese to representatives of the United States and
Chinese Central Governments.
At 1100 the ceremony began. For the Japanese, Maj. General Eiji Nagano,
commanding officer of the Japanese 5th Independent Mixed Brigade,
stepped up on the platform and affixed his signature to copies of the
surrender document. After laying his sword on the table Nagano withdrew
to rejoin his staff, who immediately followed his example. On the
platform representing the United States was General Shepherd who signed
his name next. Lt. Gen. Yen Nien Li, deputy commander of the 11th War
Area and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek’s personal representative, signed
for the Chinese Central Government.
The surrender document stated that all Japanese forces in the Tsingtao
area were to surrender unconditionally to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek
and that all equipment and records were to be turned over to the Allies
in good condition. Civilian internees and prisoners of war were to be
released immediately. General Shepherd, as Commanding General of the
Sixth Marine Division, was named as Chiang’s authorized representative.
By the end of October, the division had settled to its routine duties.
Guards had been established over American properties and Japanese
warehouses; patrols were maintained throughout the non-Chinese sections
of the city. A new training program was started. Special Services
distributed athletic gear and arranged athletic events; in addition, an
education program had been started. The division began to make plans for
withdrawal as soon as the 8th Chinese National Army arrived. By 23
November, before a lapse occurred, 6,701 Japanese military personnel and
877 Japanese civilians had been evacuated to Japan. Along with the
repatriation of the Japanese, many members of the division were
“repatriated” to the United States through rotation as point scores
dropped.
During the month of December the Sixth Marine Division continued its
duties in Tsingtao; 7,827 military and 18,390 civilian Japanese were
repatriated. Near the end of the month Major General A. F. Howard, USMC,
arrived to relieve Major General Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr., USMC, as
Commanding General of the Sixth Marine Division.
Gradually many of the functions of the division were absorbed by the 8th
Chinese National Army and the division turned to schools and training
prior to deactivation on 1 April, when from its units the Third Marine
Brigade was formed.
The career of the Sixth Marine Division had been relatively brief, a few
days less than nineteen months, but in that short time the division had
won a respected position among the fighting divisions of this war. For
its excellent work on Okinawa the division was warmly commended by both
Lt. General Roy S. Geiger, Commanding General, III Amphibious Corps, and
the late Lt. General Simon B. Buckner, Commanding General, Tenth Army.
To each of the three infantry regiments of the Sixth Marine Division,
the Twenty Second Marines, the Twenty-Ninth Marines and the Fourth
Marines, went the highly coveted Presidential Unit Citation. While it
lived, the division not only upheld all the proud traditions of the
Marine Corps, but added to the impressive record of brave deeds long
associated with the Corps.