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Kaiserschlacht Begins
On March 21, 1918, the Germans launch their Spring Offensive, also known as "Kaiserschlacht" or "Kaiser's battle." By the end of May, the German offensive penetrated the Western Front to within 45 miles of Paris. Fortunately, the Allies manage to halt the German advance. -
Hill 142
At 3:45 on June 6, the Allies attack the halted German forces. At dawn, U.S. Marines attack Hill 142 to prevent flanking fire on their French allies by the Germans. The Marines took heavy losses, but secured the hill. During the German counterattack, Gunnery Sergeant Ernest A. Janson would become the first Marine to earn the Medal of Honor in WWI for repelling the advance of 12 German soldiers by himself. -
The Battle of Belleau Wood Begins
At 17:00 on June 6, the Marines advanced into Belleau Wood. They found themselves crossing a waist-high wheatfield into enemy fire. At the start of the advance, two-time Medal of Honor recipient First Sergeant Dan Daly uttered the famous words "Come on, you sons of bitches. Do you want to live forever?" The Marines managed to push into Belleau Wood, and at the cost of over 1,000 men, the most casualties in Marine Corp history at the time, managed to establish a foothold in Belleau Wood. -
Allied Artillery Barrage
On June 9, an American and French artillery barrage ravages Belleau Wood, turning the once beautiful hunting preserve, into a war-torn wasteland. -
June 10 Attack
On June 10, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines attacked north into Belleau Wood. Though the attack at first appeared to be going well, it was eventually halted temporarily by German machine gun fire. The Germans also deployed large amounts of mustard gas. However, the 6th Marines pushed forward from the south while 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines attacked from the west. -
"Terribly Reckless Fellows"
On June 11, the 5th Marines advanced toward Belleau Wood through a thick morning fog. The Marines quickly found themselves taking many losses to heavy machine gun fire. As it turned out, they were going in the wrong direction. Despite this, they moved forward and smashed the German southern defensive lines. A German private whose company of 120 had been reduced to 30 wrote "We have Americans opposite us who are terribly reckless fellows." -
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Fighting in Belleau Wood
Over the next two weeks, the Marines would engage in ferocious fighting with German soldiers, often in hand-to-hand combat. Between June 11 and June 26, the Marines attacked Belleau Wood 6 more times before they could finally expel the Germans -
A Costly Allied Victory
After another two weeks of fighting, US Marines finally pushed the last Germans out of Belleau Wood on June 26. Major Maurice E. Shearer submitted a report to his superiors stating "Woods now U.S. Marine Corps entirely," bringing an end to one of the bloodiest battles that the US took part in in WWI. The US suffered almost 10,000 casualties, but took about 1,600 Germans prisoner. An exact figure for the number of German casualties is unknown.