On the night of 10-11 November 1918, two battalions of Marines, organic to the Army’s 2nd Division, made a grim and bloody crossing of the Meuse River south of Sedan, France. Their war ended only when runners found the men of Captain Charley Duntack’s 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, still advancing on the east bank, to announce the 1100 armistice cease-fire.1 By 17 November, the entire division was on the march, not to the west toward the port of Brest and a ship to Hoboken, tat to the east to carry out occupation duties in the German Rhineland. For the next seven months, the Marines would stay on as part of the large American contingent sent into Germany on a mission of peacekeeping and presence.
The Army’s Second “Indianhead” Division was a hybrid outfit, unique in the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). Its 3rd Brigade was formed from two historic Regular Army regiments—the 9th and the 23rd—and its 4th Brigade was formed from the 5th and 6th Marine regiments. In its first action at Belleau Wood, the Marine brigade had been commanded by Army Brigadier General tames Harbord. From 28 July, the division was led with distinction by Marine Major General John A. Lejeune.
On the morning of 11 November—thereafter celebrated as Armistice Day—the division was an exhausted and Weakened outfit. Since beginning the final phase of the Meuse-Argonne campaign on 1 November—in which it "'as teamed with the 89th Division as the center spearhead—the division had lost 97 officers and 3,201 men as dead and wounded. Thousands more were sick from intestinal and respiratory ailments caused by continued exposure to cold, wet weather, lack of food, and the exhaustion of combat. There would be scant time for rehabilitation.
The armistice terms gave the Germans 31 days to pull back through what had been their rear area base, then on across to the far bank of the Rhine. Three 30-kilometer- radius bridgeheads were to be established, north to south, with the British at Cologne, the Americans at Koblenz, and the French at Mainz. To meet this schedule, Supreme Commander Marshal Ferdinand Foch ordered the entire Allied line from Switzerland to the North Sea to move east on the morning of 17 November, following the German withdrawal with a rolling buffer of about six miles.
Of the two million American soldiers in France, 240,000 would advance into Germany under the just- formed Third Army. In selecting the units, there was an aspect of honor and reward for length and quality of combat service. On the more practical side, experienced divisions were needed in the forward areas to deal with an unpredictable, and perhaps hostile, population and to handle the situation if the final treaty negotiations were broken off.
In the few available days, Lejeune and his commanders ran at maximum effort to bring the troops into shape with shelter, food, and equipment. At 0530 on 17 November, the Indianheads were ready to begin the first phase of their move to the German border—60 miles in six marching days and one rest day. Marine writer-artist John W. Thomason, Jr., remembered the beginning of his rainy, muddy, march with the 1st Battalion of the 5th Marines:
Men walked silent, remembering the dead . . . there were few who remembered the early spring of 1918; in one company eight, in another eleven, in the whole battalion the merest handful. It had been a long road.2
The route of march crossed a portion of Belgium and Luxembourg; movement was then held for a coordinated crossing of the German border on 1 December. The second phase of the advance carried 100 miles across Germany to the west bank of the Rhine, where another coordinated move was set for 30 December.
The Rhine was crossed with due ceremony by each unit, with flags, bands, and commanders and staffs all a-row. To one 2nd Division soldier, it wasn’t all that glorious:
On December 13th, a Friday at that, we crossed the Rhine. Such a day it was! Pouring rain all day. Everybody was drenched. While we were crossing on the bridge a photographer kept yelling at us to smile. . . . Some of the boys told him to go to hell.3
The officers of the 2nd Battalion of the 6th Marines went as a body to urinate in the Rhine, thus setting a precedent for General George S. Patton, Jr., and Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who in World War II did likewise.
Within the Koblenz bridgehead, initially manned by the 1st, 2nd, and 32nd divisions, the 2nd Division was assigned the northwest sector with headquarters at Heddesdorf, a suburb of Neuwied. The Marine brigade was assigned to the forward outpost line, an arc of seven miles, with headquarters at Niederbieber, and the 3rd Brigade was based at the bottom of the arc centered on Bendorf. The 5th Marines were in the valley of the Wied River, and the 6th Marines were along the Rhine itself.
In his account of the political aspects of the Allied occupation, titled Victors Divided, Keith Nelson simplifies occupation attitudes to “French anxiety, British disinterest, American naivete, German fear and hope.”4 Americans were beyond the Rhine for the fundamental purposes, common to other military occupations, of presence and peacekeeping, or, as Nelson puts it, “The Americans were on the Rhine simply to remind themselves and the Germans that the Allies had won the war.”
To accomplish these goals, General John J. Pershing directed a massive program to preserve and protect the capabilities and personal welfare of his still-huge command. Military training took first priority, initially almost unrealistically so, but soon a better balance was gained through a “busy troops are happy troops” regime that came with a wide-ranging program of participant and spectator sports emphasizing unit competition, travel, technical training, formal civilian education, cultural programs, and every form of entertainment and solicitous personal care that could be mustered by the Young Men’s Christian Association, Red Cross, Salvation Army, Knights of Columbus, Jewish Welfare Board, and hundreds of religious services weekly.
Military training ranged from drill and range firing up to large unit tactical exercises, demonstrations, and division level command post exercises. The clatter of many typewriters replaced the frightful sound of Maxim machine guns. Training publications, with such titles as “I Have Captured a Boche Machine Gun. What Shall I Do With It?” abounded. A Marine officer on loan to an adjacent Army unit wrote:
I never in my life saw such a training schedule as came down to us from G.H.Q. You would have thought the war was just ahead of us instead of just behind us. I suppose the idea was to keep the men on their toes and out of trouble. But whatever the idea, they worked the hell out of those men.5
General Lejeune clarified the need for all this activity in his autobiography:
History . . . contains many references to the disintegration of conquering armies during the intervals which almost invariably elapse while the statesmen and diplomats quarrel over the details of the peace treaties.6
The military capabilities of the Marine brigade were not to be put to actual test during their Rhineland term, but three of their missions deserve mention:
►Rhine patrol: It was inevitable that some staff officer at Third Army looked at the Rhine River, remembered the presence of the Marines, and established a Rhine Patrol- Patrol craft were armed with machine guns, but the guns were probably not used.
►Control of civil affairs: Commanders at all levels had to adapt to this new task. Each became responsible for supervision of civil government in his own territory, and for controlling the relations between his troops and German civilians. American commanders issued instructions through the “burgermeisters” and other local authorities.
►Contingency deployment: An important aspect of the hard training was to support contingency deployment plans to respond to any German disruption of the status quo. If required, the American 1st and 2nd divisions would move out of the bridgehead and across the neutral zone to the east. This movement to possible contact was, in fact, once set in motion. In May 1919, friction at the Peace conference became acute, and the German delegates flatly refused the demands of the Allies. The concentration for Allied advance east was set to commence on 17 June, and the 2nd Division began its move (still within the bridgehead area) with the reinforced 3rd and 4th brigades abreast. This was not intended as just a demonstration. Rather, as recorded by the division historians:
All troops were to march prepared for action, with all dispositions for security. In the case of armed resistance by organized troops, it was to be promptly overcome. Any form of opposition by the civil population was to be suppressed by such means as necessary and the offenders were to be summarily dealt with.7
When the Germans announced their intention to sign the treaty on 23 June, all troops movements were suspended. After the actual signing on the 28th, the troops reverted to their garrison positions and routine. This was the closest the Marines came to violence in the Rhineland.
Americans had come to the bank of the Rhine on 13 December. Captain Charley Dunbeck, who had led his 2nd Battalion of the 5th Marines across the Meuse just over a month before, now assumed duties that were probably typical throughout the zone. He was automatically the military commander of the Segendorf-Rodenbach battalion area. There was considerable suspicion toward German civilians in the early days, but the mutual attitude quickly became one of tolerance and relaxation.
When the typists weren’t turning out training directives, they were producing unit histories. In early January, Dun- beck directed five second lieutenants to report to Captain Nathaniel Massie, Company F, to prepare a battalion history. Their account was, to say the least, eloquent. Starting with the battalion’s sailing from Philadelphia on 8 June 1917 (“A cool gentle breeze blew sleepily from the Jersey side.”) the writers warmed to the task of colorful combat narration:
The agonized cries of the wounded tore the heartstrings of their comrades. . . . Bodies lay scattered along the banks of the river, many floated on the icy current. . . . Amid the groans and piteous cries of the wounded that arose above the thunder of the cannon and shells, the marines, who lay huddled along the bank, prepared to go over.8
One sad duty was all too familiar to commanders of units that have been in battle. Dunbeck, with great care and consideration, wrote to and answered queries from the next-of-kin. (“I remarked to Captain Williams that we were in a dangerous place and should move; he said ‘Yes, Dunbeck, I agree with you,’ so we started to change positions, to take shelter behind the rocks, when Captain Williams was wounded.”)
But, too, it was a time of reminiscing and visiting. Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Wise, who had commanded the battalion at Belleau Wood and was now on duty with a nearby Army unit, found time for a homecoming:
Just after Christmas I ran over to visit my old outfit, the Fifth Marines. Their headquarters were only forty miles away in a beautiful old castle overlooking the Rhine. ... I went down to see my old battalion. Captain Dunbeck, the last survivor of my old company commanders, was battalion commander. I learned that only one hundred and forty-one were left of the six hundred I had brought to France.9
The affairs of the American occupation forces on the scenic Rhine were given the most assiduous attention by dutiful inspectors, committees, delegations, junketeers, and sightseers. Fortress Ehrenbreitstein was a first stop, and frequent “everybody out” parades on the Vallendar heights above Koblenz were a mark of high honor. Marshals Henri Petain and Ferdinand Foch, the Duke of York, and the House Committee on Military Affairs stopped by. Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had been instrumental in getting the Marines assigned to the first AEF contingent, spent a day with the brigade. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral William S. Benson reviewed and addressed the brigade. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels and Mrs. Daniels arrived for Easter weekend: he preached a sermon, and Mrs. Daniels gave a “happy and motherly talk” at dinner in a troop mess. On one of his several visits. General John J. Pershing reviewed the 2nd Division and decorated a hundred officers and men. Pershing gave to division commander Lejeune a favorable but terse critique: “General, your division is in splendid condition.”10
Third Army Headquarters sent down an anti-fratemization edict against close relations with German civilians “except on official business.” A columnist in a later issue of the soldier newspaper, The Amaroc News, wrote: “Tryin’ to keep these soldiers frum mixin’ with the German fat sex remin’s me of when Pa built a rail fence to keep the goats out’en the parsley patch.” One soldier complained about this state of affairs, “Now it’s a case of the army watching us and the Germans watching the party of the second part. It’s a hard game to beat.”11 Needless to say, not a few did manage. Venereal disease became a major
Soldiers in the occupation were offered the widest range of educational opportunities. There were schools for high school education and vocational training. Six thousand attended the AEF University at Beaune, France, for undergraduate and graduate work in technical professions, and 150 officers and men were selected for postgraduate work at French and British universities. Among those who were to shape their later lives in this process was Sergeant William March Campbell, who had come through all the adventures of Charley Dunbeck’s Company F and earned a Distinguished Service Cross and Navy Cross for rescuing wounded in the Blanc Mont attacks on 5 October. He unsuccessfully applied to attend a course of lectures at Oxford University on the subject of common law pleading, but then was accepted for four months of journalism training at Toulouse University. In 1933, as William March, he would write Company K, a novel recognized as a World War I classic, identifiably based on his months with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines.12
Would it be possible that a group of troops so busy and "'ell-tended could become bored and homesick and unruly? Certainly. Beginning in about mid-April 1919, the troop-to-population relationship soured when peace terms discussions and food and fuel shortages encouraged German insubordination. The newly anxious troops reacted. Consequently, Nelson records, “Drunkenness, street bawling, and the trading of insults became common among the rougher elements of the populace and the army. Harmony did not return until after the signing of the treaty in June.”13
A favorite pursuit of literate soldiers was composing letters to the editor and poetry for The Amaroc News. Going home was a favorite theme:
“Rumors are flying about fast and furious, Some good, some bad and all of them curious; We’re leaving next Christmas, or maybe this evening, Or any damn day of the time intervening.14
Unknown to the soldiers and Marines in their daily pleasures and grousings, larger forces in Paris were in motion to get them shipped home.
The reduction of American troop strength in Europe in 'be first half of 1919 was paced by the dual (and opposing) functions of available shipping space and French insistence on our maintaining a large precautionary presence in Europe. By mid-May, all combat divisions except five in 'be occupation zone had phased out, and by 1 July Pershing had negotiated the rotation of the 2nd, 3rd, and 1st divisions. When Third Army was phased out on 2 July, 'here were 110,000 men in the newly designated Ameri- Can Forces in Germany. By September that number had been reduced by 90%.
Within this process, on 5 July the 2nd Division was released from all duties to prepare for stateside shipment, with the exuberance of horses finally headed for the barn, they met the multitude of close-out requirements and moved to Brest on 26 trains, embarked, and by 8 August had arrived in New York for the official homecoming parade up Fifth Avenue. Mounted on horseback, division commander Lejeune and staff led the parade and then moved aside to watch 25,000 troops in field uniform and steel helmets pass in review for an hour. Lejeune wrote, “Great shouts and mighty cheers rose above the din of the great city. Never before or since have I felt such emotions. . . .”15
The Marine brigade moved from the parade to 16 trains for Quantico, where they were demobilized in carefully systematized processing. It was time for farewells, personal and official. Captain Dunbeck’s took the form of a full-page letter to all his men, dated 13 August 1919. After reviewing the battalion’s combat and occupation duties since he took command in late October, he closed, “No matter what I do, there is nothing of which I shall be so proud as having been in command of the 2nd Battalion . . . proud of the fact that to the very end there was no let up in the work, drill, and discipline. . . . Devotedly yours, Charley Dunbeck.”16
1. Rolfe L. Hillman, “Crossing the Meuse,” Marine Corps Gazette, November 1988, pp. 68-73.
2. John W. Thomason, Jr., Fix Bayonets (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1926), pp. 232-233. During the occupation period, Thomason commanded Companies B and A of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines. See Roger Willock, Lone Star Marine (Princeton: Privately Printed, 1961), pp. 63-64.
3. 0liver L. Spaulding and John W. Wright, The Second Division, American Expeditionary Forces in France 1917-1919 (New York; Hillman Press, 1937), p. 289.
4. Keith Nelson, Victors Divided: American and the Allies in Germany 1919-1923 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975), p. 30.
5. Frederick M. Wise and Meigs O. Frost, A Marine Tells It to You (New York: J. H. Seras, 1929. Reprinted Marine Corps Association 1981), pp. 292-293.
6. John A. Lejeune, Reminiscences of a Marine (Philadelphia: Dorrance and Co., 1930. Reprinted Marine Corps Association 1979), p. 434.
7. Spaulding and Wright, op. cit., pp. 232-235.
8. A copy of Dunbeck’s directive to the historians and a short typescript are in USMC Historical Center Reference Section folder on 5th Marines. In this same period. Captain Clifton B. Cates began a history of 96th Company. See Charles Anthony Wood, Clifton Bledsoe Cates, 1893-1970: Register of His PersonaI Papers (Washington: History and Museums Division, HQ. USMC, 1985). A variety of division and brigade historical documents were printed by local firms.
9. Wise, op. cit., pp. 294-295.
10. Lejeune, op. cit., pp. 436-443.
11. Alfred E. Comebise, “Der Rhein Entlang: The American Occupation Forces in Germany, 1919-1923, A Photo Essay," Military Affairs, December 1982, pp. 185-186.
12. For the Marine service and writing career of William March Campbell, see Roy S. Simmonds, The Two Worlds of William March (Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 1984), passim; Rolfe L. Hillman, “Rediscovering Company K," Marine Corps Gazette, February 1986; and Rolfe L. Hillman, “Fighters and Writers,” Marine Corps Gazette, November 1988), pp. 90-98.
13. Nelson, op. cit., p. 51.
14. idem.
15. Lejeune, op. cit., p. 458.
16. A copy of this letter is with Dunbeck's personal papers, in the possession of his son-in-law, Colonel R.D. Cail, USMC (Ret.), in Lajolla, California.
