Belleau Wood Part 10

On the 25th the heaviest bombardment of the battle strikes German positions in the remaining part of the wood controlled by the Kaiser's forces. The French have finally managed to commit heavy artillery, and it devastates the German positions.

But artillery can only do so much, and so in the afternoon the Marines assault again, weeding out the remaining machinegun nests at the point of the bayonet. By the end of the day, the wood is finally theirs.

The 26th sees some halfhearted counterattacks by the Germans but all are beaten off, and by midday Major Shearer sends the signal, "Woods now entirely US Marine Corps."

"At the battle's end…I lined the men up and looked them over. It was enough to break your heart. I had left Courcelles May 31st with nine hundred and sixty-five men and twenty six officers — the best battalion I ever saw anywhere. I had taken them, raw recruits for the most. Ten months I had trained them. I had seen them grow into Marines. Now before me stood three hundred and fifty men and six officers. Six hundred and fifteen men and nineteen officers were gone."

Battle of Belleau Wood
US casualties : 9777, 1811 fatal
German casualties : ?

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