When people think about the U.S. Marine Corps in the Second World War, they usually think of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The Marine Corps became famous for its amphibious campaigns across the Pacific.
But American Marines also served in the European and Mediterranean theatres.
They participated in the planning and execution of major amphibious operations, served aboard warships, guarded American diplomatic and naval installations, worked as intelligence officers, joined the Office of Strategic Services, and in some cases parachuted behind German lines to work with resistance movements.
What they generally did not do was deploy Marine divisions or regiments to Europe.
That distinction explains why the Marine presence in Europe was relatively small.
The Marine Corps had a very different war from the U.S. Army.
Why Were So Few Marines in Europe?
The simplest explanation is that the United States had decided where the Marine Corps was most needed.
After Pearl Harbor, American military planners recognized that the war against Japan would require large-scale amphibious operations across the Pacific.
The Marine Corps was therefore organized and trained primarily for the Pacific war.
The official Marine Corps history A Different War: Marines in Europe and North Africa (Amazon affiliate link) explains that the Marine Corps’ war plans were centred on the Pacific. Nevertheless, because the Marines were part of the naval establishment, the Corps also had responsibilities in the European and Mediterranean theatres.
This produced a peculiar situation.
The U.S. Army would provide the great majority of American ground troops in Europe, while the Marine Corps would concentrate its large combat formations against Japan.
That was not because Marines were considered incapable of fighting in Europe.
It was because the United States needed the Marine Corps elsewhere.
By the later stages of the war, the Marine Corps had six divisions and five aircraft wings, but the Pacific required virtually all of this expanding force.
The Army, meanwhile, had the overwhelming majority of American ground formations available for the European war.
There was therefore little reason to transfer entire Marine divisions to Europe.
Why Didn’t the Marines Conduct D-Day?
This is an especially interesting question.
The Allied invasion of Normandy was the largest amphibious operation in history.
Surely the Marines, America’s specialists in amphibious warfare, should have been leading it?
The answer is that American amphibious warfare was not exclusively a Marine Corps responsibility.
The U.S. Army had developed substantial amphibious expertise before and during the war.
The Army had already participated in major amphibious operations in North Africa, Sicily and Italy before D-Day.
By 1944, the Army and Navy possessed enormous experience in moving large formations from ships onto hostile beaches.
Consequently, the Normandy invasion was primarily an Army-Navy operation, with the British and Canadians providing their own amphibious forces.
The Marines were not needed as entire combat formations.
Instead, individual Marine officers were incorporated into the planning and execution of the operation.
This distinction is crucial.
The Marines were involved in D-Day, but the Marine Corps did not invade Normandy as a Marine Corps combat formation.
Marines Helped Plan the Invasion of Europe
Several Marine officers played important roles in the development of Allied amphibious doctrine and the planning of operations in Europe.
One important example was Colonel Robert O. Bare.
Bare arrived in London in 1943 and was assigned to the staff responsible for planning the cross-Channel invasion.
He eventually worked in the naval planning organization associated with Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay and the preparations for Operation Overlord.
Other Marine officers served as planners, liaison officers and observers.
Their experience was valuable because the Marine Corps had developed considerable expertise in amphibious operations during the interwar period.
The irony is that some of the lessons developed by Marines for the Pacific were also useful to the Army and Navy in Europe.
Marines and the Dieppe Raid
The involvement of Marines in European amphibious warfare actually predates D-Day.
In August 1942, the British and Canadians conducted the disastrous Dieppe Raid.
Two Marine colonels, Franklin A. Hart and John C. H. Lee?—more precisely, Marine officers assigned to British Combined Operations—were involved as observers and liaison officers during the planning and execution of the operation. The Marine Corps’ official history records that two Marine officers observed the raid from the British destroyer HMS Fernie.
Interestingly, three U.S. Marines had originally been scheduled to participate directly as members of a Royal Marine commando:
- Captain Roy Batterton;
- Sergeant Robert R. Ryan;
- Corporal Paul E. Cramer.
They boarded the British vessel HMS Locust in preparation for the operation, but postponements eventually cancelled their participation.
They were fortunate.
Dieppe became one of the most costly Allied raids of the war. Of more than 6,000 Allied personnel involved, approximately 3,648 were killed, wounded, missing or captured.
The raid nevertheless provided important lessons for the eventual invasion of Normandy.
Marines at Operation Torch
American Marines also participated in the invasion of North Africa in November 1942, although again in small numbers.
Marine officers served aboard naval vessels and on staffs involved in the operation.
One notable Marine was Major General William H. Rupertus? No—the important examples in this context were individual Marine officers serving in naval and amphibious commands.
Marine personnel participated as:
- staff officers;
- liaison officers;
- observers;
- naval personnel;
- specialists in amphibious operations.
Their presence reflected the Marine Corps’ institutional connection to the Navy.
When the Navy was conducting a major amphibious operation, Marines with relevant expertise could be assigned to the naval command structure even when no Marine combat division was involved.
Marines at the Invasion of Sicily
The same pattern continued during Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943.
Marine Colonel Richard H. Jeschke served as a Marine operations and training officer with the amphibious forces.
He participated in the Sicily landings and subsequently in the Normandy invasion.
During Sicily, Marine officers served alongside naval commanders and helped coordinate amphibious operations.
This was an important role.
The Marine Corps had spent the interwar period developing methods for amphibious assault, including doctrine for coordinating naval and ground forces.
The Europeans and Americans were now conducting enormous amphibious operations on a scale far beyond anything the prewar planners had imagined.
Marine expertise was useful even when Marines were not the troops going ashore.
Marines at Salerno
Marine officers also participated in Operation Avalanche, the Allied landing at Salerno in September 1943.
The invasion was intended to establish a foothold on the Italian mainland and support the Allied advance up the Italian peninsula.
Again, Marine officers served primarily in naval and liaison positions rather than as a Marine combat unit.
One Marine officer, Major Robert Rogers, served as a liaison officer during the operation.
The landing became a difficult battle.
German forces mounted strong counterattacks against the beachhead, demonstrating the hazards of amphibious warfare even when the initial landing was successful.
Marine observers and officers were therefore able to gain valuable experience from European amphibious operations.
Marines and Operation Overlord
By 1944, the Allies had accumulated enormous amphibious experience.
The culmination was Operation Overlord.
Marine officers participated directly in the invasion.
Colonel Richard Jeschke went ashore during the Normandy operation and made frequent liaison visits to Army units at the front.
Another Marine, Colonel Robert Bare, was associated with the British assault force operating with the 3rd Canadian Division.
Marine officers were therefore present on several parts of the Normandy battlefield.
There were even Marines serving aboard ships providing naval gunfire.
At Omaha Beach, Marine Colonel Jeschke and Lieutenant Weldon James were among the Marines participating in the landing.
James was an observer aboard the battleship USS Texas, which provided naval gunfire support to the invasion.
At the British and Canadian landing beaches, Marine officers likewise observed and assisted naval operations.
These were not thousands of Marines storming the beaches.
They were specialists performing jobs for which their experience was particularly valuable.
The Marine Role in Naval Gunfire
One of the most important Marine contributions to European amphibious warfare was expertise in naval gunfire.
The Marine Corps had long experience coordinating naval gunfire with troops operating ashore.
This was particularly valuable in amphibious operations.
At Normandy, naval gunfire was enormously important.
The Marine Corps history notes that the heavy and accurate naval gunfire supporting the Utah landing was an important factor in its success.
At Omaha, the situation was much more difficult, but naval gunfire still played a major role in supporting the troops.
Marine officers observing these operations were able to see how naval gunfire doctrine worked under the unprecedented conditions of a massive European invasion.
Marines in Britain
The largest continuing Marine presence in Europe was not on the battlefield.
It was in Britain.
The Marine Corps maintained a detachment in London, along with other facilities.
Marines performed security and administrative duties associated with American naval headquarters.
Their jobs could include:
- guarding naval facilities;
- serving as orderlies;
- transporting messages;
- escorting diplomatic couriers;
- providing ceremonial guards;
- protecting important military installations.
The London Marine detachment became the principal administrative headquarters for Marines serving in Europe.
There were also Marine facilities in places such as Londonderry and Iceland, as well as Marine detachments aboard American warships.
These Marines were not glamorous combat troops.
But their duties were important.
Military headquarters and naval installations required security, communications and administrative support.
Marines Aboard American Warships
Another large category consisted of Marines serving aboard U.S. Navy ships.
The traditional Marine detachment aboard a major warship had several responsibilities.
Marines could provide:
- shipboard security;
- protection for important spaces;
- armed guards;
- ceremonial duties;
- protection of prisoners;
- assistance during boarding operations.
Because the U.S. Navy operated extensively in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, Marines assigned to ships naturally found themselves in European waters.
Some of these men therefore participated in European operations without ever being assigned to a Marine Corps ground formation.
This was one of the major reasons Marines could be found throughout the European war.
The Most Unusual Marines in Europe: The OSS
Perhaps the most fascinating Marine involvement in Europe came through the Office of Strategic Services, or OSS.
The OSS was the American wartime intelligence and special operations organization that eventually provided part of the institutional ancestry of the CIA and U.S. special operations community.
The OSS recruited a small number of Marines for particularly dangerous missions.
These Marines were not sent to Europe because the Marine Corps suddenly decided to deploy a division.
They volunteered or were selected for specialized duties because of particular skills and experience.
The OSS used them for:
- intelligence gathering;
- sabotage;
- training resistance fighters;
- organizing partisan forces;
- reconnaissance;
- clandestine operations behind German lines.
The Marine Corps’ official history specifically identifies OSS service as one of the major ways Marines participated in the European war.
Major Peter J. Ortiz
The most famous Marine OSS operative was Major Peter J. Ortiz.
Ortiz was an extraordinary character even before joining the Marines.
He had served in the French Foreign Legion, fought in North Africa and France, been wounded and captured by the Germans, and escaped before returning to the United States.
He joined the Marine Corps in 1942.
His language abilities, European experience and military background made him particularly valuable to the OSS.
In 1944, Ortiz was parachuted into occupied France.
His mission was to assist the French Resistance.
He helped organize and train resistance fighters and participated in raids against German forces.
He even deliberately appeared in his Marine uniform to demonstrate that the Resistance was being supported by the United States.
His missions were extraordinarily dangerous.
Ortiz was eventually captured by the Germans and spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner.
He received two Navy Crosses, making him one of the most decorated Marines of the Second World War.
Marines Fighting Behind German Lines
Ortiz was not alone.
Other Marines volunteered for OSS special operations.
During the summer of 1944, several Marines joined Ortiz on the Union II mission in the French Alps.
They parachuted into occupied France and worked with the French Resistance.
The mission was extremely dangerous.
One Marine, Sergeant Charles R. Perry, was killed when his parachute failed to open.
Others were wounded.
The surviving Marines helped train the Resistance and participated in attacks against German forces.
This was perhaps the closest some American Marines came to the kind of ground combat associated with the Marine Corps in the Pacific.
But instead of attacking Japanese defensive positions with a Marine regiment, these men were operating in small teams deep behind German lines.
Why Did the Marines Participate in the OSS?
The OSS offered the Marine Corps a way to use particular talents that would otherwise have been underutilized.
The Marines selected for these missions might have:
- foreign-language skills;
- knowledge of Europe;
- parachute training;
- reconnaissance experience;
- unusual initiative;
- previous combat experience.
In Ortiz’s case, his French connections and experience with the French military made him particularly well suited to the mission.
The OSS therefore represented a completely different use of Marine manpower.
Rather than asking, “Where can we deploy a Marine division?” the question was:
“Which individual Marines possess the skills needed for this particular mission?”
Why Were There No Marine Divisions in Europe?
There were several overlapping reasons.
1. The Pacific Was the Marine Corps’ Primary Mission
The Pacific contained the kind of island warfare for which the Marine Corps had been specifically organized.
2. The Army Was Already Responsible for the European Ground War
The United States Army possessed the overwhelming majority of America’s European ground forces.
There was no operational requirement to duplicate that force with Marine divisions.
3. Amphibious Warfare Was Not Exclusively a Marine Mission
The Army had developed considerable amphibious capability.
It had already demonstrated that capability in North Africa, Sicily and Italy.
4. Marine Divisions Were Needed in the Pacific
Every Marine division sent to Europe would have been one fewer division available for the Pacific.
The battles of Tarawa, Saipan, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa consumed enormous numbers of Marines.
5. The European War Required Specialized Individual Assignments
Marine expertise could often be more efficiently used by placing individual officers and specialists in naval headquarters, planning organizations and special operations teams.
The result was a Marine presence that was wide but thin.
How Was It Decided Where Marines Would Serve?
The answer depended on the individual Marine’s specialty and the needs of the Navy and Marine Corps.
A Marine might find himself in Europe because he was:
A shipboard Marine
He served aboard a Navy vessel operating in the Atlantic or Mediterranean.
A naval staff officer
His amphibious expertise was useful to an admiral or naval planning organization.
An amphibious warfare specialist
He could be assigned to help plan or observe major landings.
A security Marine
He might guard a naval headquarters, embassy or military installation.
An intelligence officer
He could be assigned to naval intelligence or another specialized organization.
An OSS volunteer
He might receive specialized training and be sent behind enemy lines.
A liaison officer
His job was to connect naval, Army, Marine and Allied commands.
In other words, there was no single “Marine policy” determining that Marines would go to Britain, France or Italy.
Assignments were based on the needs of the wider American military establishment.
Marines in the Mediterranean and North Africa
The distinction between “European” and “Mediterranean” theatres can become somewhat artificial.
American forces operating from Britain were preparing for the invasion of Western Europe, while the Mediterranean campaign was simultaneously fighting through North Africa, Sicily and Italy.
Marines served in both environments.
The Marine Corps history therefore treats Europe and North Africa as part of a connected story.
Marine officers participated in Operation Torch in North Africa, Operation Husky in Sicily, Operation Avalanche at Salerno and Operation Overlord in Normandy.
The Mediterranean also provided an important laboratory for amphibious warfare.
Lessons learned there influenced later operations.
The Marine Corps and D-Day: A Different Kind of Contribution
The story of Marines at Normandy therefore illustrates the entire European experience.
They were there.
But they were not there in the way most people imagine.
There was no Marine division landing on Omaha Beach.
Instead, individual Marines were:
- planning the invasion;
- advising naval commanders;
- observing Army operations;
- coordinating amphibious activity;
- serving aboard ships;
- providing specialist knowledge.
One Marine colonel even went ashore with the invasion force and made liaison visits to front-line Army units.
Other Marines served aboard naval vessels supporting the invasion.
Their contribution was therefore real, but it was specialized rather than massed.
A Different Marine War
The European war was therefore truly a different war for the Marines.
In the Pacific, Marine formations conducted enormous amphibious assaults and then fought major ground campaigns.
In Europe, individual Marines were scattered across a huge military organization.
Some were in London.
Some were aboard battleships.
Some were planning invasions.
Some were observing amphibious operations.
Some were guarding naval headquarters.
Some were training Allied forces.
And a very small number were parachuting into occupied France to organize resistance fighters.
The Marine Corps itself recognized this distinction by describing its European and North African experience as “a different war.”
The Legacy of the European Marines
The Marines who served in Europe during the Second World War occupy an unusual place in Marine Corps history.
They were never numerous enough to become a major fighting force in the European war.
They did not establish a famous Marine battlefield legacy comparable to Guadalcanal or Iwo Jima.
But their contributions were often made precisely where specialized expertise mattered most.
They helped plan some of the greatest amphibious operations of the war.
They advised naval commanders.
They participated in the invasions of Sicily and Normandy.
They served aboard the ships that transported and supported Allied armies.
They guarded critical naval and diplomatic facilities.
And some of the most adventurous volunteered for the OSS and fought alongside resistance movements behind German lines.
The story of the U.S. Marines in Europe therefore provides an interesting reminder that military organizations do not always fight according to the popular image of themselves.
The Marine Corps was America’s specialist amphibious force, but that did not mean every Marine had to storm a beach.
Sometimes the most valuable Marine was the officer helping an admiral plan an invasion.
Sometimes it was the Marine standing guard outside a naval headquarters.
Sometimes it was the gun crew aboard a battleship.
And sometimes it was a Marine parachuting into occupied France to organize a resistance movement.
The Marine Corps’ main war was in the Pacific. But the Marines were never absent from the European war. They simply served there in very different ways.
