
United States Marine Corps, 1940-1945
1st Marine Defense Battalion
Typical Organization (1941)
- 16th Infantry Defense Battalion
- 18th Infantry Defense Battalion
- 26th Infantry Defense Battalion
- HHB Defense Battalion Artillery
- 5th Field Artillery Defense Battalion [155-mm]
- 7th Field Artillery Defense Battalion [105-mm]
- 32nd Field Artillery Defense Battalion [105-mm]
- 33rd Field Artillery Defense Battalion [105mm]
- Headquarters, 1st Defense Battalion
- Headquarters and MilitaryPolice Company
- Artillery Band
- 1st Engineers Combat Battalion
- 1st Medical Battalion
- 1st Quartermaster Battalion
- 1st Signal Company
- 1st Reconnaissance Troop
Typical Organization (1944/1945)
- 16th Infantry Defense Battalion
- 18th Infantry Defense Battalion
- 26th Infantry Defense Battalion
- HHB Defense Battalion Artillery
- 5th Field Artillery Defense Battalion [155-mm]
- 7th Field Artillery Defense Battalion [105-mm]
- 32nd Field Artillery Defense Battalion [105-mm]
- 33rd Field Artillery Defense Battalion [105mm]
- 1st Reconnaissance Troop, Mechanized
- 745th Tank Battalion (attached 6Jun44-8May45)
- 634th Tank Destroyer Battalion (attached 1Aug44-6May45)
- 635th Tank Destroyer Battalion (attached 7Jun44-30Sep44)
- 703rd Tank Destroyer Battalion (attached 18Dec44-31Dec44)
- 103rd AAA Auto-Weapons Battalion (attached 16Jun44-7Feb45, 24Feb45-8May45)
- 1st Engineer Combat Battalion
- 1st Medical Battalion
- 1st Counter-Intelligence Corps Detachment
- Headquarters Special Troops
- Headquarters Company
- Military Police Platoon
- 701st Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
- 1st Quartermaster Company
- 1st Signal Company
Killed in Action: 3,616
Wounded in Action: 15,208
Died of Wounds: 664
Commanders
- Lieutenant Colonel Bert A. Bone: Mar 41
- Colonel Curtis W. LeGette: May 42
- Lieutenant Colonel John H. Griebel: Sep 42
- Lieutenant Colonel Frank P. Hager:
- Colonel Lewis H. Hohn: Feb 44
- Lieutenant Colonel Jean H. Buckner: May 44
Defense Battalion Narrative
The unit, formed at San Diego, California, deployed to the Pacific as one of the Rainbow Five, the five defense battalions stationed there in accordance with the Rainbow 5 war plan when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Under Lieutenant Colonel Bert A. Bone, elements of the battalion arrived in Hawaii in March 1941. The unit provided defense detachments for Johnston and Palmyra Islands in march and April of that year and for Wake Island in August. The Wake Island detachment of the 1st Defense Battalion received the Presidential Unit Citation for the defense of that outpost--which earned the battalion the nickname "Wake Island Defenders"--and other elements dealt with hit-and-run raids at Palmyra and Johnston islands. In March 1942, the scattered detachments became garrison forces and a reconstituted battalion took shape in Hawaii. Command passed to Colonel Curtis W. LeGette in May 1942 and to Lieutenant Colonel John H. Griebel in September. Lieutenant Colonel Frank P. Hager exercised command briefly; his successor, Colonel Lewis H. Hohn, took the unit to Kwajalein and Eniwetok, in the Marshall Islands, in February 1944. The following month found the battalion on Majuro, also in the Marshalls, where it became the 1st Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion on 7 May 1944, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Jean H. Buckner. As an antiaircraft unit, it served as part of the Guam garrison, remaining on the island through 1947.
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Last updated:
December 18, 1999