Thread by @TaubHistory

"Retreat? Hell, we just got here!"
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The famous words were spoken by Cpt. Williams to a French officer as his #Marines arrived on Hill 142. What he was most likely witnessing was the withdrawal of the @152eRI from Belleau Wood. What was actually happening?

Image via @ecpa_d

"A Belleau les heures sont graves. Tout cède devant Attila, Mais le vieux Quinze-Deux est là. La vague meurt devant ses braves."

The #152eRI was going to push the Germans back out of Torcy and Belleau. In the Regimental HQ (PC) the phone rang. Colonel Meilhan picked it up.

"It's understood, my general. We will do our best.

General Michel, the division commander, had just the 152e to go on the counter-attack. More than anyone else, Colonel Meilhan knew that his regiment was at the end of its tether...

The men were determined to be killed on the spot rather than give up more ground, the battalions, decimated, deprived of most of their cadres, were hardly in a position to lead an assault.

They went forward, back into Belleau Wood. Feats of bravery were the norm for the 152e RI by this point in #WWI. Adolphe Bernadin of the 9th Company mounted a parapet with his Chauchat. The fusilier-mitrailleur played a large part in the repulse of a German counterattack.

Marcel Chandieu of the 10th Company refused to be evacuated, demanding those more seriously wounded them he be taken by the brancardiers first.

Georges Balizet of the 9th Co, took his chauchat into plain sight of the enemy as they launched a counterattack. Under machine gun and artillery fire he stayed at his position and was a "model of bravery and sang-froid".

Claude Stenegri of the 11th Co was the first to leave the 152e's jumping-off line. Launching forward with his bayonet fixed he found himself well in advance of section. He continued on his own and guided the #Poilu to their objective.

Well in advance of the rest of the line, the @152eRI had checked the German assault. For the first time Since May 27 and the attack on the Aisne, the Germans had been counterattacked and driven back in several positions. However, now was time for the 152 to escape encirclement.

The order to reform and refuse their line in between Hill 142 and Lucy-le-Bocage was now given. This was what Lloyd Williams and the US Marines witnessed. French soldiers withdrawing? Yes. Withdrawing in defeat? Hardly. The men of the 152 had again forced the Germans to halt.

The losses of the 152 were high. From 31 May to 3 June they lost 20 Officers and over 700 Soldats. Think of their action, as well as the other Poilu of the 6th Army when reading overly patriotic and exceptionalist works on Belleau Wood and the Marne.
#1GM #FWW #WWI #WW1