A Narrative History of the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines:
During the Early History and Deployment of the 1st Marine Division, 1940-43
by James C. Rill
A Merriam Press Original Publication
Military Monograph MM45
There are several written accounts of the preparations and plans for the Guadalcanal operation and it is unnecessary to repeat them in this work. One thing that was plainly spelled out in the directive was to seize Tulagi and Guadalcanal. Nowhere in the orders did it state anything about occupation, defense or operation of the airfield on Guadalcanal. The 1st Marine Division was considered expendable and was combat loaded accordingly. This was the plan of the Navy commanders who never asked General Vandegrift for any contribution to the plan of attack. At the time, whenever a Navy officer and a Marine officer of equal rank were present, the Navy officer was always senior. It must have been extremely frustrating for General Vandegrift not being able to contribute to the destiny of his 1st Marine Division. General Vandegrift understood that once he got his division ashore, he was in command and he knew his Marines could defeat the Japanese. This is the role that was played by the 1st Marine Division and in particular, the part the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines played from its early formation, deployment and subsequently in the Battle of Guadalcanal.
This early history of the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, was researched and compiled by a Marine who was a member of the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, and accurately describes the organization and deployment of one of the most widely acclaimed Marine artillery battalions of the Fleet Marine Force. The author of this historical account was involved in the battalion’s original organization and served in the battalion for three years thereafter. The accent is on the organization and not on individual Marines. This is done to point out how the battalion was formed and where it was deployed. Obviously, a historical account of the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, with over 600 Marines, cannot describe what each and every one did. That would take a large volume to do that and would result in not only leaving out a large number of Marines never being mentioned, but also the organization would lose its historical significance. The succeeding generations that are related to the Marines who served in the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, will be interested in their family relative and it is left to the individual Marine of the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, to relate to their kin where they fit into this historical account and the sacrifices they made in accomplishing their mission of defeating the Japanese early in World War II.
This historical account describes the places and the ships on which the Marines of the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, served. Though not complete, it will give the reader much geographical information not given elsewhere. Included are historical maps and photos. Many of the places where the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, served are perceived to be tropical paradises; some were, but the tropics bred diseases such as malaria, dengue, and filariasis (mumu) uncommon to Americans from temperate climates. Marines contracted them in large numbers. If the exposure to tropical diseases wasn’t enough to deter one’s interest in the South Pacific, then the hot, humid weather, active volcanoes, earthquakes, cyclonic storms, tropical rainstorms, bugs, crabs, and fungi, etc., surely would.
Although every precaution has been taken to keep this history factual, there could be some unintentional omissions and mistakes, and the publisher welcomes any factual additions or corrections. Where dates and places are given, they are from official documents, personal interviews and from personal diaries.
So that a logical progression of events is understood by the reader, it is necessary to describe in this early history, how other units of the 1st Marine Division were deployed, and how that affected the various battalions of the 11th Marines and, in particular, the 1st Battalion.
When the idea came about to write a history of the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, it seemed that it would be a rather easy task to search all the literature about the 1st Marine Division. Then assemble the articles that applied to the 11th Marine Artillery Regiment and expound and elaborate on the subjects pertaining only to the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines—not so.
In any of the historical accounts relating to the early formation of the 1st Marine Division and in the early phases of World War II, there was little or nothing written pertaining especially to the 11th Marine Regiment let alone on the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines. It was very difficult writing about the regiments of the 1st Marine Division when the division started to increase its ranks to become a full strength Marine division and deploy. The 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, was in Western Samoa while some of the battalions and regiments of the Division were in New River, North Carolina, some units on transcontinental trains, and some units on ships in the Pacific and some in New Zealand.
There are some histories of the regiments of the 1st Marine Division, but when it came to naming dates, ships, and actions the Marine troops were engaged in, these histories focused on personalities and not what the troops did and where they were.
To compose an illuminating history of the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, a substantial number of personal contacts with Marines who served with the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, were made and these Marines shared their personal experiences from their diaries and their recollections. Some faded old battery pictures and maps were also obtained. On visits to Australia, bits and pieces of information were obtained in interviews with Australians in Ballarat and Melbourne.
This document is a true history as it was written from information contributed by the Marines of the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, and they are listed in the Bibliography section of this history.
Contents
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Early Formation
- Deployment
- First Amphibious Landing
- Guadalcanal Against All Odds
- The First Offensive
- The Shelling
- Relief From Guadalcanal
- Appendices
- A Personal Letter to Each Member of the Third Marine Brigade
- Design of the 1st Marine Division Shoulder Patch Insignia
- Presidential Unit Citation for the 1st Marine Division
- It Brings Back Memories
- Photographs of Batteries of the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines
- Bibliography
- About the Author
Specifications
- Second edition (June 2006)
- 126 - 6 x 9 inch pages
- Paperback ISBN 1-57638-316-4
- Perfect bound, full-color wrap-around cover
- Hardcover ISBN 1-57638-317-2
- Blue linen cover with title stamped in gold on spine, full-color dust jacket
- Over 31,000 words
- 22 photos
- 2 drawings
- 7 maps
- 2 documents
The Author
Two weeks after graduating from high school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on July 2, 1940, James C. Rill enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and went through recruit training with Platoon 57 at Parris Island, South Carolina.
From boot camp, Jim was sent to Radio School, Quantico, Virginia, and upon graduating from there was sent to the 1st Marine Brigade, which at that time was stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in anticipation of an amphibious operation against the Vichy French on Martinique. Jim joined the radio section of the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, which became the core artillery unit for the 1st Marine Division when the 1st Marine Brigade became the 1st Marine Division on February 1, 1941.
Shortly after war was declared, the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, with the 7th Marine Regiment detached from the 1st Marine Division, formed the 3rd Marine Brigade and deployed to Upolu, Western Samoa. Jim became chief of the radio section of the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, and when the battalion rejoined the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal, Jim was 20 years old and promoted to sergeant.
After the Battle of Guadalcanal, the 1st Marine Division was sent to Melbourne, Australia, for rest and training. The 11th Marines was stationed in the up-country town of Ballarat, Victoria, and shortly after arriving there, Jim went on a weekend leave to Melbourne and there met his future wife, Carmel Denier at a dance at St. Kilda Beach. Carmel was 17 and Jim was still 20 years old. Jim was promoted to staff sergeant before his 21st birthday and was the youngest Staff NCO to eat in the Staff NCO mess in Ballarat.
Returning to the U.S., Jim was in and out of hospitals and communication schools and then returned overseas to rejoin the 1st Marine Division for the Okinawa operation. When the war ended, Jim was a technical sergeant and after being discharged joined the engineering staff of the Radio Corporation of America, married Carmel, built a home and had a daughter.
His career at RCA was interrupted when the he was called to active duty for one year for the Korean War, but while on active duty was promoted to master sergeant.
Jim returned to RCA, earned his Associates degree in Physics from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and worked for RCA for 23 years in research and development. Jim then went with Hughes Aircraft Company in Carlsbad, California, as a Member of the Technical Staff (MTS) for ten years. He retired and moved east to be closer to his family and worked ten years for EG&G in Crystal City, Virginia, as a support engineer on Navy radar displays.
Finally retiring in 1990, he worked on home projects and on his hobby, short wave radio. He was asked to work in the national office of the 1st Marine Division Association, which he did full-time until his death in September 2003.
Jim and Carmel were married 58 years and lived in Chantilly, Virginia. They have one daughter, three grandchildren, and one great grandson. They enjoyed travel to Melbourne and Ballarat, Australia, to visit with family and friends, to compile family genealogy, and to touch base with war memories, including visiting the spot where Jim had his tent in Ballarat during the war.
[A photograph of the author in uniform can be seen by clicking on the View More Images link just underneath the book cover image at the top of the page.]