Page:History of the Sixth Regiment, United States Marines.djvu/6

 A brief history of the Sixth Regiment, United States Marine Corps, from its organization, July, 1917, throughout the world war; its demobilization in August, 1919; reorganization in March, 1927, to its present station in Tientsin, China, May 1, 1928.

Although the formation of the Sixth Regiment of Marines was contemplated when it was decided to send a brigade of Marines to France, and preliminary plans were made, the work of assembling the units and of molding them into an efficient fighting body was not begun until the latter part of July, 1917. A site for a training camp had been purchased the previous spring by the Navy Department at Quantico, Virginia, and it was there that the Marines destined for overseas service with the American Expeditionary Forces were to be mobilized and receive their last intensive training in the new methods of warfare.

The construction of an up-to-date cantonment to accommodate some ten thousand Marines was only well under way when the first elements of the Sixth Regiment began training during the last days of July and the first part of August. Only a comparatively few wooden barracks had been completed at that time. Consequently it was necessary to regulate the induction of new companies into Quantico by the speed with which the barracks were put in readiness for occupation. However, by the middle of August the regiment had attained approximately three quarters of its strength in enlisted personnel, but there was a serious shortage of officers of lower grades. This need became urgent and a demand was made upon the officers' training school in Quantico for a number of lieutenants for immediate duty with companies with more to be supplied from time to time. Here a problem presented itself, the course of instruction in the officers' school had started on July 30th, 1917, and was to cover a period of three months. Were these new officers then, some with little experience, many with none at all, and all young in the service, fit for assignment to duty with troops after receiving but three weeks of schooling? Among These new officers was a number of old non-commissioned officers who, without further delay, were assigned for duty with the Sixth Regiment and the 1st Machine Gun Battalion, later to be designated and to function as the 6th Machine Gun Battalion of the Second Division. There were other junior officers who were graduates of military academies, some who had received military training at college prior to enrolling in the Marine Corps, others who had formerly been members of the National Guard, and a few former members of the Marine Corps who had returned to the service to take an active part in the war. The required number to fill the complement of the regiment was drawn from these available sources. Many of these were, indeed, comparatively new to the service yet they had an eagerness to learn, a desire to serve, and