From Makin to Bougainville: Marine Raiders in the Pacific War

Transcriber’s note: Table of Contents added by Transcriber and placed into the Public Domain.
Marines in World War II Commemorative Series
By Major Jon T. Hoffman U.S. Marine Corps Reserve
The Browning air-cooled .30-caliber machine gun was the weapon of choice for raider battalions because of its low weight in comparison to other available machine guns. The raider battalions were not armed with heavy weapons. Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 56108
Marine riflemen take on Japanese snipers while others put a captured 37mm field gun into operation during the raid on Koiari. Parachutists and raiders expected to surprise the enemy, but were themselves surprised instead when they landed in the midst of a well-defended supply dump. The enemy pinned the Marines to the beach with heavy fire, until evening. Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 69783

by Major Jon T. Hoffman, USMCR
In February 1942, Lieutenant General Thomas Holcomb, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, ordered the creation of a new unit designated the 1st Marine Raider Battalion. This elite force, and its three sister battalions, went on to gain considerable fame for fighting prowess in World War II. There is more to the story of these units, however, than a simple tale of combat heroics. The inception, growth, and sudden end of the raiders reveals a great deal about the development and conduct of amphibious operations during the war, and about the challenges the Corps faced in expanding from 19,000 men to nearly a half million. The raiders also attracted more than their share of strong leaders. The resulting combination of courage, doctrine, organization, and personalities makes this one of the most interesting chapters in Marine Corps history.
Two completely independent forces were responsible for the appearance of the raiders in early 1942. Several historians have fully traced one of these sets of circumstances, which began with the friendship developed between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Evans F. Carlson. As a result of his experiences in China, Carlson was convinced that guerrilla warfare was the wave of the future. One of his adherents in 1941 was Captain James Roosevelt, the president’s son. At the same time, another presidential confidant, William J. Donovan, was pushing a similar theme. Donovan had been an Army hero in World War I and was now a senior advisor on intelligence matters. He wanted to create a guerrilla force that would infiltrate occupied territory and assist resistance groups. He made a formal proposal along these lines to President Roosevelt in December 1941. In January, the younger Roosevelt wrote to the Major General Commandant of the Marine Corps and recommended creation of “a unit for purposes similar to the British Commandos and the Chinese Guerrillas.”