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FIRST MARINE DIVISION PHOTO GALLERY |
The First
Marine Division served across the Pacific from first to last in the Second World War. The images below show some of the experiences that Marines of The Old Breed lived through in their wartime years.
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Guantanamo Bay, Cuba – 1941. Clad much as their forebearers in World War I, these 1st MarDiv Leathernecks practice an amphibious problem from a US Navy motor whaleboat. Life Magazine |
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Guantanamo Bay, Cuba – 1941. MajGen Holland M. Smith, who served as the first division commander of the Old Breed. Gen Smith was one of the key Marines in the development and execution of amphibious warfare in the Second World War II. Life Magazine |
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Guantanamo Bay, Cuba – 1941. Part of the divisional cantonment area. Many of the Gyrenes in the 1st MarDiv never set foot in a building while deployed overseas in the war years. Life Magazine |
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May 1942 - Norfolk, Virginia. Marines of the 1st MarDiv board their transport prior to sailing for New Zealand. They are wearing service dress greens with field transport packs. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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En route to New Zealand, a Marine takes time to read a book on the rail of his transport. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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Aboard their transport bound for New Zealand, Marines try to make do under very cramped conditions. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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June 1942 - Aboard USS Wakefield (AP-21), Col Pedro Del Valle, Commanding officer of the 11th Marine Regiment, scans the ocean. Col DelValle spent the entire war in the Pacific, and went on to command the First Marine Division on Okinawa. He retired as a LtGen in 1948 and passed away 1978. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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Aboard their transport bound for New Zealand, these Marines wear their overcoats to ward off the North Pacific cold. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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20 June 1942, Wellington Harbor, New Zealand. Troops of the 1st MarDiv debark from their transport after over a month at sea. Most of them wear the winter service uniform and they are still equipped with the M1903 rifle. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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20 June 1942, Wellington Harbor, New Zealand. The 1st MarDiv Band debarks from the ship. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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20 June 1942, Wellington Harbor, New Zealand. A newly-arrived Leatherneck smiles for the camera. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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20 June 1942, Wellington Harbor, New Zealand. MajGen A. A. Vandegrift, CG, 1st MarDiv, (wearing overcoat) and BrigGen William Rupertus, ADC, 1st MarDiv, (foreground) debark from the USS Wakefield (AP-21). Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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20 June 1942, Wellington Harbor, New Zealand. MajGen Vandegrift (wearing overcoat), and BrigGen Rupertus (center), confer dockside after debarkation. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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20 June 1942, Wellington Harbor, New Zealand. A Marine gets his first taste of fresh milk delivered to the dock by a milk wagon. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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20 June 1942, Wellington Harbor, New Zealand. Infantrymen of the 5th Marines march off the docks to board the train for their camp. The lieutenant in the right foreground carries a map case and binoculars. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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This 1st MarDiv Marine appears to have lost no time getting directions from a Wellington police officer. June 1942. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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20 June 1942, As a 1st MarDiv unit marches out to its camp, children line the road cheering. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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20 June 1942, At Camp Paekakariki outside of Wellington, Marines of the 1st MarDiv find their bunks under the watchful eye of their platoon sergeant. The Marine standing in the door is a BAR man and his NCO carries a Reising submachine gun. The division only stayed in New Zealand for a very short time. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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20 June 1942, A platoon sergeant forms his Marines at their new camp outside of Wellington, New Zealand. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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June 1942, NCO's of the 5th Marine Regiment reading The Dominion Post. The Fifth was a storied regiment with combat service in France during World War I. The corporal at right displays the French Fourragere, worn by all hands in the regiment. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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En route to Guadalcanal aboard a US Navy transport, a 1st MarDiv mortar squad works on crew drills with their tube. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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In convoy heading for the Solomons, USS Gregory (APD-3) steams past a transport carrying rifle company of the 1st Raider Battalion to its D-Day target, Tulagi Island. Landing craft are visible aft on the ship hung on their davits.
Wakefield was a high speed transport designed to insert Raider units to their objctives. This gallant and beloved ship was sunk with the loss of eleven crewmen on 5 September 1942. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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Aboard USS McCawley (APA-4) enroute to Guadalcanal, MajGen Vandegrift confers with key members of his staff. L-R: MajGen Vandegrift, LtCol Gerald Thomas (D-3) , LtCol Randolph McC. Pate (D-4), LtCol Frank Goettge (D-2), Col William James (CoS). USMC Photo |
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En route to Guadalcanal, a Marine looks out across the Pacific Ocean. We can only guess at what he was thinking. He carries and M1 carbine slung over his left shoulder. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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Off the Lunga Beachhead on 7 August 1942, an LVT-1 of the 1st Amphibian Tractor Bn heads back to the ship after dropping a load of supplies. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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On D-Day at Guadalcanal, 7 August 1942, an LCP from USS Neville (AP-16) transports a load of Marines to the beachhead. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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On the Guadalcanal beachhead, a heavy machine gun squad digs in as an LVT-1 drives past in the background. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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Instructions to a Patrol by Capt Donald L. Dickson, USMCR. USMC Combat Art Collection |
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A Corpsman on Guadalcanal treats an Japanese POW for fungal infections. This must have been early in the campaign since the doc is still wearing a Red Cross armband. Corpsman stopped using this insignia because the Japanese used the red cross as an aiming reference. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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A Pharmacist's Mate at Charlie Med (Company C, 1st Medical Battalion) opens the door of probably the only refrigerator in the First Marine Division in the Guadalcanal perimeter.
This was a gasoline-powered unit used for storage of perishable medicines and vaccines. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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During a visit to Guadalcanal on 1 October 1942, Adm Chester Nimitz, CINCPAC, decorates Col Merritt 'Red Mike' Edson with the Navy Cross for heroism in action while in command of the 1st Raider Battalion in the assault on Tulagi from 7-9 August 1942. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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Lt Col Lewis B. Puller marches at the head of 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, during the campaign for Guadalcanal, 1942. Puller earned the third of his five Navy Crosses while commanding 1/7 on the 'canal, and he was wounded in action there. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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Marines just off the Guadalcanal perimeter line-up for hot chow. For most of its time on ther Canal, the First Marine Division encountered shortages of rations, forcing the Marines to subsist on a near-starvation diet. It took the Division nearly a year to recover for Guadalcanal. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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Marines test-fire a captured Japanese heavy machine gun on Guadalcanal. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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A 1st MarDiv honor guard in Melbourne, Australia, 1943. These Marines are wearing the Australian Army battledress blouse issued by the division Quartermaster when units arrived in Australia following the Guadalcanal campaign. Australian War Memorial |
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A posed shot of 1st MarDiv troops reading their mail, Melbourne, Australia, 1943. Australian War Memorial |
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Australia – 1943. BrigGen William Rupertus, Division ADC, inspects a newly issued M5A1 light tank of the 1st Tank Bn. USMC Photo |
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Los Angeles - Late-1943. Cpl Edward Melnitsky of Newton, Mass., enjoys a drink with a pretty companion.
Melnitsky served with 2nd Battalion, Fifth Marines and won the Navy Cross for heroism in action on Guadalcanal. During the Battle of the Matanikau River on 8 October 1942, Melnitsky and another Marine braved heavy enemy fire to rescue their severely wounded battalion commander, Maj David S, McDougal. Cpl Melnitsky was himself struck by three enemy machine gun rounds in this action.
USMC Photo |
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Pvt Al Schmid of Burholme, Penna., is awarded the Navy Cross by Col A. E. Russell at Marine Barracks, Washington, DC. Schmid earned his award while serving as a heavy machine gunner with H 2/1 on Guadalcanal. On the night of 21 August 1942, his unit was attacked by the Japanese Ichiki Detachment. Although blinded in the action, Schmid courageously manned his gun and was instrumental in breaking up the enemy assaults. Schmid died in 1982 and is interred in Arlington National Cemetery. US Marine Corps |
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A 6 x 6 truck of 3rd Bn, 17th Marines, plows through the morass of a trail at Cape Gloucester, 1944. Australian War Memorial |
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An Able Company, 1st Tanks crew attempts self-recovery on a mud-soaked jungle trail at Cape Gloucester. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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Cape Gloucester. The face of the 1st Marine Division. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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Cape Gloucester. The face of the 1st Marine Division. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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1944, Pavuvu Island. Infantry Marines practice debarking from their amphibian tractor in training for the Peleliu campaign. USMC Photo |
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1944, Pavuvu Island. A flamethrower team in training prior to an operation. The operator carries an M1 flamethrower. USMC Photo |
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1944, Pavuvu Island. A flamethrower team in training prior to an operation. USMC Photo |
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1944, Pavuvu Island. The crew of a 37mm antitank gun unloads their piece from a DUKW amphibian truck during the pre-operational training for the Peleliu campaign. USMC Photo |
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August 1944 – A Bird Dog observation plane carrying Bob Hope arrives at the airstrip on Pavuvu. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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August 1944 – Bob Hope shakes hands with the 1st MarDiv CG, MajGen William Rupertus. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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August 1944, Jerry Colonna entertains troops of the 1st MarDiv at Pavuvu. Colonna was Bob Hope's sidekick for many years and went on many USO tours. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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A small part of the crowd of 1st MarDiv Marines at the Bob Hope USO show on Pavuvu, August 1944. Many of the Marines who attended this event remembered it as one of their fondest memories of the war years. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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Pfc Michael Lazaro of Chicago, Ill. Michael joined the Marine Corps in February 1943. He served with Co C, 1st Battalion, Seventh Marines, at Cape Gloucester. After that campaign he was assigned to H & S Co, 1st Pioneer Battalion. Michael was killed in action during the campaign for Peleliu on 15 October 1944. His remains were never recovered and he is still listed as missing. Pfc Michael Lazaro was one of the 1,252 Marines who lost their lives on Peleliu. Photo and information from the Lazaro family website
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A1st MarDiv bazooka man fires his M1A1 rocket launcher during the campaign for Peleliu. The bazooka was an effective weapon for destroying Japanese armor and defensive complexes. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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A 1st MarDiv flamethrower operator employs his weapon during the campaign for Peleliu. He carries the M1-1 flamethrower. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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A Marine kneels at the grave of SgtMaj Lawrence J. Letellier on Peleliu. The SgtMaj served with HQ Co, 2nd Bn, 5th Marines and was killed in action by a Japanese mortar explosion on D-Day, 15 September 1944. He was one of the 1,361 Marines and FMF medical personnel who died in the assault on Peleliu. USMC Photo |
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Dedication ceremony after the battle of the Armed Forces cemetery on Peleliu. USMC Photo |
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The Price, by Tom Lea, depicting a wounded Marine of the 1st MarDiv during the D-Day assault on Peleliu. About this painting, Lea later wrote: "Lying in terror looking longingly up the slope to better cover, I saw a wounded man near me, staggering in the direction of the LVTs. His face was half bloody pulp and the mangled shreds of what was left of an arm hung down like a stick, as he bent over in the stumbling, shock-crazy walk. The half of his face that was still human had the most terrifying look of abject patience I have ever seen. He fell behind me, in a red puddle on the white sand." U. S. Army Art Collection |
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Down From Bloody Nose Ridge, by Tom Lea, depicting a combat fatigued Marine of the 1st MarDiv on Peleliu. In the background is the Umurbrogal complex. Lea wrote of this subject: "As we passed sick bay, still in the shell hole, it was crowded with wounded, and somehow hushed in the evening light. I noticed a tattered Marine standing quietly by a corpsman, staring stiffly at nothing. His mind had crumbled in battle, his jaw hung, and his eyes were like two black empty holes in his head. Down by the beach again, we walked silently as we passed the long line of dead Marines under the tarpaulins." U. S. Army Art Collection |
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Sundown at Peleliu by Tom Lea. U. S. Army Art Collection |
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War is Fighting and Fighting is Killing, by Tom Lea. U. S. Army Art Collection |
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1 April 1945, L-Day on Okinawa. An infantry Marine moves across the beach under cover of an LVT(A)-4 amphibian tank. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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1945-Marines in combat on southern Okinawa. The First and Sixth Marine Divisions fought in this, the last campaign of the war. The island's rugged terrain posed an extreme challenge that required the utmost in courage and tactics. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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1945-Marines in combat on southern Okinawa. These men move out under fire toward their objective. The rifle squad was the building block of Marine tactical operations. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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1945-Marines in combat on southern Okinawa. A .30-caliber light machine gun lays down fire support for an infantry attack. These automatic weapons were crucial elements in the rifle company's operations. Still image from USMC motion picture film |
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May 1945, Okinawa. Col Francis I. Fenton (kneeling) at the funeral for his son Michael, an infantryman in B 1/5 who was killed in action on 7 May 1945. At the time, Col Fenton was the Engineer Officer for the 1st MarDiv. Col Fenton's other son was also career Marine, as was his grandson. Col Fenton later said the other men who died on Okinawa weren't so fortunate as Mike, who "at least had his father there to pray over his body at the end." Life Magazine |
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Cpl Eugene B. Sledge of Mobile, Alabama in a fine studio portrait taken upon his return from World War II in 1946. Sledge served as a mortarman with Co K, 3rd Bn, Fifth Marines in the campaigns for Peleliu and Okinawa. After VJ-Day, he deployed to China for occupation duty. He was the author of the memoir, With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa, which has been widely acclaimed as one of the best personal narratives to come out of the wartime experience. Cpl Sledge passed away from cancer in 2001. Photo courtesy of the Sledge family |
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