1st Manchester Rifles, Territorial Force
When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908, the 2nd Volunteer Battalion became the 6th Battalion, Manchester Regiment, except 'N' Company at Manchester University, which became part of the Officers' Training Corps and was the forerunner of today's Manchester & Salford University OTC. The Manchester Brigade became part of the East Lancashire Division of the TF.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, Mobilisation
On the outbreak of war, the division was at its annual camp when the order to mobilise was received at 05.30 on 4 August. The units returned to their drill halls to mobilise, the men being billeted close by. On 20 August, having volunteered for overseas service, the division moved into camps for training, and on 9 September it entrained for Southampton to embark for Egypt. 6th Manchesters were under Lt-Col G.G.P. Heywood, who had been commanding officer (CO) since 1 September 1911.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, Mobilisation
On 31 August 1914, the formation of Reserve or 2nd Line units for each existing TF unit was authorised. Initially these were formed from men who had not volunteered for overseas service, and the recruits who were flooding in. Later they were mobilised for overseas service in their own right. From now on, the original battalion was designated the 1/6th Manchesters, and the 2nd Line was the 2/6th; later a 3rd line battalion was formed.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion
The East Lancashire Division began to disembark at Alexandria on 25 September and the 6th Manchesters went into garrison at Mustapha Barracks in that city. At first the division's role was simply to relieve Regular troops from the garrison for service on the Western Front, but on 5 November Britain declared war on Turkey and Egypt became a war zone. While the East Lancashire Division went to guard the Suez Canal, the Manchester Bde was detached to garrison Cairo.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Gallipoli
On 3 May 1915 the battalion (under the command of Major C.R. Pilkington, Lt-Col Heywood being unfit) embarked at Alexandria on the SS Derfflinger, a captured German Norddeutscher Lloyd shipping line vessel that had just arrived with a cargo of wounded from the initial landings at Gallipoli. Derfflinger missed her intended landing spot at Cape Helles, and so the Manchesters arrived late on 6 May, after the rest of the division had gone into action.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Gallipoli
The 1/6th Bn bivouacked above 'W' Beach ('Lancashire Landing') and during the night of 7/8 May was moved, with ammunition, rations and entrenching equipment, but no blankets or baggage, to the Krithia sector, where the men went into the firing line for a 10-day period. On 12 May the brigade made a feint attack to attract attention away from a movement elsewhere


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Gallipoli
On 25 May, the East Lancashire Division was formally designated 42nd (East Lancashire) Division, and the Manchester Brigade became 127th (Manchester) Brigade.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Gallipoli
During another spell in front of Krithia beginning on 25 May, the 1/6th and 1/5th Manchesters advanced their line between 50 and 200 yards (180 m). The lines were now within assaulting distance of the nearest Turkish trenches, and a new attack (the Third Battle of Krithia) was launched on 4 June. After a bombardment starting at 08.00, the assault was launched at noon.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Gallipoli
The Manchester Brigade led 42nd Division's attack, with half of 1/6th Bn on the left, and in this sector all went well to begin with: despite intense rifle and machine gun fire the brigade took all its first objectives, the second wave passing through and parties advancing up to 1,000 yards (910 m) into the Turkish fourth line. The Official History records that 'The Manchester Territorials, fighting like veterans, were all in high fettle'. There was almost nothing between them and Krithia, and beyond that the ultimate target of Achi Baba.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Gallipoli
However, things had gone disastrously wrong for 127 Bde's neighbours, and the Turks were counter-attacking both flanks. C Company of 1/6th Bn, which had advanced furthest, was cut off and practically wiped out. Although the Manchesters held on to the first Turkish line they had captured, casualties had been severe, and only 160 out of 770 men of 1/6th Bn answered evening roll-call. The Manchesters consolidated their position on 5 June before being relieved that night and going into reserve.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Gallipoli
On 12 June the Manchester Brigade was withdrawn from the Gallipoli Peninsula and went to the island of Imbros for rest. It returned to Cape Helles on 22 June and 1/6th Bn went up to the firing line in the Krithia Nullah sector on 24 June. They held the Turkish trench they had captured while the formations on either flank attempted to improve their positions. The sector was given trench names reminiscent of home: 'Stretford Road', 'Greenheys Lane', 'Ardwick Green', etc. The 1/6th Manchesters then spent the next six weeks alternating in the line with 1/5th and 1/8th Bns, taking casualties steadily.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Gallipoli
A new attack at Helles (the Battle of Krithia Vineyard) began in August. 42nd Division delivered its main attack at 09.45 on 7 August, but despite the bombardment and assistance from machine guns and trench mortars, 127 Bde could make little progress. 1/6th Manchesters, described by the divisional commander as 'that fine battalion', seized a Turkish redoubt in Krithia Nullah and held it 'until they were practically annihilated'. By 19.15 that evening the Manchesters were back in their old positions.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Gallipoli
127th Brigade was temporarily unfit for service and its total strength was only that of a single battalion, though it relieved 125th (Lancashire Fusiliers) Brigade on 8/9 August and continued the fight, with 1/6th Bn doing good work in defending a trench near Krithia Vineyard. After a short rest and receiving a few drafts and returning casualties, the division was put back into the line on 19 August, still badly under strength and suffering from sickness. The 1/5th and 1/6th Manchesters were temporarily combined under the command of Lt-Col Pilkington.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Gallipoli
During September the Turks exploded a series of mines in front of the British trench known as the 'Gridiron' and damaging its defences. Repairs after one mine on 22 September were covered by a bombing party of 1/6th Manchesters who held the lip of the crater. The same day the Royal Engineers exploded a counter-mine and the Manchesters rushed the crater and built a barrier across it. Captain Harold Cawley of 1/6th Bn, the Member of parliament for Heywood, was killed that night by a Turkish sniper, and the crater became known as 'Cawley's Crater'. The division continued to hold its position, suffering casualties from mining and bad weather, until its infantry were evacuated to Mudros on 29 December.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Romani
The Gallipoli Campaign was shut down at the beginning of January, but 42nd Division remained on Mudros until the middle of the month before returning to the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) and the Suez Canal defences. From February to 1916 it was stationed at Shallufa, base for the Southern Sector of the defences, broken by spells of training in the desert. In June the division was moved to the Central Sector, between Ismailia and Qantara.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Romani
In July, 42nd Division became part of a Mobile Column (under Maj-Gen Hon Herbert Lawrence, former brigadier of 127 Bde) formed to counter a threatened Turkish thrust across the Sinai desert before it reached the canal. 127 Brigade was the advanced brigade of this force, and on 3 August 1/6th Manchesters moved to Pelusium, six miles north-west of Romani to prepare defences to cover the railhead for the arrival of the rest of the brigade.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Romani
The Battle of Romani opened early on the morning of 4 August, and the rest of 127 Bde was rushed up, passing through 1/6th Manchesters to support the Anzac Mounted Division, which was heavily engaged. That night the 1/6th Manchesters escorted the camel transport carrying vital water and supplies up to the front line troops, and then rejoined 127 Bde. During 5 and 6 August the brigade pursued the defeated Turkish force, suffering badly from extreme heat and lack of water, with many men falling out through exhaustion, until it reached Qatiya.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Romani
During the Autumn the railway and water pipeline were pushed forward, and 42nd Division participated in the EEF's Advance to Wadi el Arish, which began in late November 1916 and completed the Sinai Campaign in January 1917.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Western Front
42nd Division was now ordered to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front. In early February 1917 it returned to Egypt and by 2 March the last troopship had left for France. The troops were concentrated at Pont-Remy, near Abbeville, and re-equipped; the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield rifle was issued in place of the obsolescent long model with which the battalions had gone to war.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Western Front
The division was employed on working parties in the area abandoned by the Germans when they retired to the Hindenburg Line, and then the brigades started taking turns in the line near Havrincourt Wood. On the night of 8/9 June all four battalions of the Manchesters went into No man's land to dig a new trench 300 yards (270 m) closer to the enemy line, which was completed and occupied the following night. The battalions also carried out regular night patrols and raids.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Western Front
From 9 July to 22 August the division was in reserve, with 127 Bde stationed at Achiet-le-Petit. It then moved to the Ypres Salient to join the Third Ypres Offensive, passing through the Menin Gate on the night of 1 September. On 6 September 125 (Lancashire Fusiliers) Bde made an attack, with 1/6th Manchesters attached to provide carrying parties. After the failed attack, the Manchesters carried many of the Lancashire Fusiliers' dead back for burial.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Western Front
After 18 days in the Salient, the division was relieved and moved to the Nieuport Sector on the Belgian coast, where it remained under constant shellfire until November. It then moved to the La Bassée–Béthune sector where it spent the winter building concrete defences to replace the existing poor breastworks. The BEF was now suffering a manpower crisis, and in February 1918 around a quarter of its battalions were disbanded to reinforce others; the Manchesters absorbed drafts from the disbanded 1/9th  and 2/10th Bns.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Spring Offensive
When the German spring offensive opened on 21 March 1918, 42nd Division was in reserve, and on 23 March it was sent south in motor buses to reinforce Third Army. 127 Brigade debussed at midnight on the Ayette–Douchy road and set up an outpost line. The following day the division was ordered to relieve 40th Division, and 127 Bde advanced in artillery formation across open ground to take up its positions. At dawn on 25 March the Germans attacked, making some penetrations but being stopped by the Manchesters.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Spring Offensive
On reports that another attack was assembling SE of Bihucourt, 1/6th Manchesters sent a company there. This arrived simultaneously with the Germans and immediately made two attacks on them, finally being forced out of the village by superior numbers. This action gave time for reinforcements to stop the enemy advancing beyond Bihucourt to Achiet-le-Grand, which the CO of 1/6th Manchesters was ordered to prevent at all costs.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Spring Offensive
By 26 March the enemy was working round the division's flanks, and it was ordered to pull back to the Bucquoy–Ablainzevelle line; 127 Brigade slipped away unnoticed. The German advance was held in front of Bucquoy, despite heavy shellfire, and on the night of 27/28 March 1/6th Manchesters sent an aggressive patrol back into Ablainzevelle, which caused casualties and disruption. The following day the battalion counter-attacked again, breaking up another German attack, and held the line all day.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Spring Offensive
During one of the hottest attacks Corporal A. Brooks noticed that his men were running short of rifle oil and suffering jams, so he calmly went up and down the line with an oil can, lubricating rifle bolts while under fire. The first stage of the German offensive had been checked, although shellfire and raiding continued along the line until the division was relieved on 8 April.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Spring Offensive
When the division returned to the line front, the Third Army line was relatively quiet, the Germans having switched their offensive to the north. The policy was now to advance the line by means of small raids and aggressive patrolling (so-called 'peaceful penetration') and 1/6th Manchesters actively advanced by these means between 20 and 24 July, and in August held off determined attacks on these positions. In July the division was struck by the  flu epidemic, but did receive some drafts: on 31 July the 1/6th Manchesters absorbed the remaining cadre of the 2/6th Manchesters from 66th Division (see below), and thereafter was simply referred to as the 6th Bn.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Hundred Days Offensive
The Allied counter-offensive began with the Battle of Amiens (8–12 August), as a result of which the Germans began to give ground, and 42nd Division followed up against rearguards. Third Army began its formal assault (the Battle of Albert) on 21 August. 125 Brigade advance behind a creeping barrage onto its first objective, then the barrage switched to precede 127 Brigade advancing with 6th Manchesters on the right. Assisted by morning mist, the Manchesters took their first objective, and then cleared the ravine in which the Beaucourt–Puisieux road ran, the men getting to close quarter fighting with the defenders.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Hundred Days Offensive
However, it took two attempts for the brigades to take their third objective, the Manchesters finally advancing along the ridge up to Miraumont. A counter-attack from Miraumont at 04.15 the following morning was shattered by the Manchesters, as were two more against the division that day. On 24 August the Manchesters worked round Miraumont, 6th Bn securing fords over the River Ancre, and large numbers of prisoners were taken. The division continued to advance slowly against rearguards until the end of the month. Lieutenant-Colonel T. Blatherwick, commanding 6th Manchesters, was awarded a DSO for making reconnaissances under fire.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Hundred Days Offensive
On 2 September 127 Bde put in an attack on Villers-au-Flos with support from tanks, aircraft, mortars and a creeping barrage, 6th Bn on the left making good progress as the village was enveloped and cleared. The division then exploited this success, and a period of open warfare ensued, with cavalry going into action.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Hundred Days Offensive
After a period of rest, the division returned to the line for the set-piece assault on the Hindenburg Line (the Battle of the Canal du Nord). 127 Brigade advanced at 08.20 on 27 September with 5th Manchesters leading over the Trescault Ridge to the first objective, after which 6th and 7th Bns passed through to the second and third objectives despite losses from machine guns. By 14.30, a weak company of the 6th Manchesters was on the fourth objective. The 6th and 7th Battalions were now too weak to attempt the final objective, but it was taken that night by the rest of the division, which continued to advance the following morning.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Hundred Days Offensive
42nd Division next participated in the Battle of the Selle. The divisional Royal Engineers bridged the River Selle on the nights of 17–19 October and the attack went in at 02.00 on 20 October. 127 Brigade set off at 07.00 and passed through towards the second objective. Although the leading company of 6th Manchesters suffered casualties from machine gun nests, these were successfully cleared out and the battalion captured the village of Marou.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Hundred Days Offensive
Although the men of 6th Bn were anxious to carry on to the third objective, they were ordered to consolidate until the 5th Bn on their right could catch up. The Germans massed for a counter-attack at midday, but this was broken up by artillery and machine gun fire and 127 Bde captured its final objective that afternoon. When the advance was resumed on 23 October 127 Bde was in support. During the subsequent pursuit (3–11 November), it remained in support, marching through the Forest of Mormal and across the River Sambre behind 42nd Division's advanced guards until the Armistice with Germany came into effect on 11 November.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Hundred Days Offensive
42nd Division remained at Hautmont on the Sambre during November, then moved to Charleroi where demobilisation began. As the men went home the division's units were reduced to cadres by 16 March 1919, and 6th Bn was disembodied on 10 April.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 1/6th Battalion, Commanding officers
The following officers served as CO of the 1/6th Manchesters during the war:


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 2/6th Battalion
The 2/6th Bn was formed at Hulme in August 1914 and shortly afterwards was included in the 2/1st Manchester Brigade of 2nd East Lancashire Division. There was a great shortage of arms and equipment, and the 2nd Line Lancashire units had to train with .256-in Japanese Ariska rifles until the end of 1915. Training was also interrupted by the need to supply reinforcement drafts to the 1/6th Bn overseas.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 2/6th Battalion
It was not until August 1915 that the division (now numbered as the 66th (2nd East Lancashire), with the 2/1st Manchester Bde as 199 (Manchester)) was able to concentrate in Kent and Sussex. By the end of the month all Home Service men had left to join Provisional Battalions (see below). Early in 1916 the division was transferred to coastal defence duties in East Anglia, but training was still hindered by the requirement to supply drafts to the 42nd Division. It was not until 1 January 1917 that the division was declared ready for overseas service.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 2/6th Battalion
The division began embarking at the end of February, and was concentrated at Berguette and Thiennes by 16 March. It served in the desultory operations along the Flanders coast in the summer, then moved to the Ypres salient  in October to join the Third Ypres Offensive.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 2/6th Battalion, Poelcapelle
The division's first attack was on 9 October at the Battle of Poelcappelle. Its role was to advance up a ridge to the outskirts of the village of Passchendaele. Ground conditions were bad, but it was believed that there was no German wire to negotiate. The division began its 2.5 miles (4.0 km) approach march at 19.00 the evening before, and was expected to be resting at its jumping-off line by midnight. But the mud was so bad that the troops arrived 20 minutes after the attack was launched, and simply fixed bayonets and kept walking.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 2/6th Battalion, Poelcapelle
As well as the mud, which seriously hindered movement, clogged weapons and deadened artillery fire, they were faced by unanticipated barbed wire. The artillery had made no impression on German pillboxes. Although patrols from 66th Division did reach Passchendaele, by the end of the day all temporary gains had been wiped out, and the division did note even hold a consolidated line.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 2/6th Battalion, Operation Michael
When the German Spring Offensive opened, 66th Division had recently been moved from Ypres to Fifth Army and was holding a line among the undulating valleys of the River Somme's tributaries. Reconnaissance had revealed strange new holes in No man's land, which turned out to be forming-up points for the German Stormtroopers. The divisional front was held by three battalions in the Forward Zone and three out of the other six in the Battle Zone.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 2/6th Battalion, Operation Michael
2/6th Manchesters was among the battalions held back from the Battle Zone, but the divisional commander had forbidden them to move into position until the battle actually started. Aided by early morning fog, the German attack on 21 March quickly broke through the Forward Zone, isolating the battalions, and continued into the Battle Zone.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 2/6th Battalion, Operation Michael
The Manchesters now had to march up to their allotted positions under gas shelling, 2/6th Bn moving up the hill from Montigny towards Hervilly, which was under heavy shellfire, and into Hervilly Wood. Casualties had been light so far, but between 11.00 and 11.15 the Germans advancing in the fog split the battalion and surrounded both A and C Companies. Battalion HQ formed a defensive line and 2/6th Manchesters held on at Fervague Farm for several hours, until driven out at 13.00 by flamethrowers.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 2/6th Battalion, Operation Michael
Many of the survivors were captured, and when the battalion reached Carpenza Copse it consisted of only 12 officers and 150 men. Here, under the command of Maj John Whitworth and joined by some dismounted cavalry, they held on doggedly until 14.00 on 22 March before falling back under cover of fog to the 'Green Line' at Hébécourt, where 50th (Northumbrian) Division was hurriedly digging in.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 2/6th Battalion, Operation Michael
The remnants of 66th Division took up position on the Somme Canal at Péronne, where 2/5th and 2/6th Manchesters held 'Bristol Bridge' for the retiring rearguards of 16th (Irish) Division until the Germans entered Peronne late on 24 March. The bridge was then demolished at 18.00 by 180th Tunnelling Company, RE, and the retreat continued to Rosières, where the division narrowly escaped being surrounded, until Germans were halted by a new defence line on the River Luce.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 2/6th Battalion, Operation Michael
66th Division had suffered some of the heaviest casualties during the battle, and in April its battered battalions were reduced to training cadres. 2/6th Manchesters was disbanded on 31 July, the remaining personnel being transferred to the 1/6th Bn in 42nd Division.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 3/6th Battalion
This battalion was formed at Hulme in March 1915, with the role of training drafts for the 1/6th and 2/6th Bns. Early in 1916 it moved to Witley. On 8 April that year it was renamed the 6th Reserve Bn, Manchester Regiment, and on 1 September it was absorbed into the 5th Reserve Bn.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War I, 28th Battalion
The Home Service men of the 6th Manchesters, together with those of other TF battalions of the Manchesters and Lancashire Fusiliers, were combined into 45th Provisional Battalion, which became 28th Manchesters on 1 January 1917. It served in 73rd Division and was disbanded in 1918.


1st Manchester Rifles, Interwar
42nd (East Lancashire) Division began reforming at home in April 1920. When the TF was reconstituted as the Territorial Army (TA) in 1921, the 6th Manchesters was combined with the 7th Battalion (originally the 3rd Manchester RVC) and reformed at Hulme as the 6th/7th Battalion, Manchester Regiment in 127 (Manchester) Brigade of 42nd Division on 31 December.


1st Manchester Rifles, Interwar
In the 1930s the increasing need for anti-aircraft (AA) defence for Britain's cities was addressed by converting a number of TA infantry battalions into AA brigades of the Royal Artillery (RA). The 6th/7th Manchesters was one unit selected for this role, becoming 65th (The Manchester Regiment) Anti - Aircraft Brigade, RA (TA) on 10 December 1936, still based at Hulme. The unit consisted of 181, 182, 183 and 196 Batteries, and initially formed part of 33rd (Western) Anti - Aircraft Group in 2nd AA Division.


1st Manchester Rifles, Interwar
On 1 January 1939 the RA adopted the more normal terminology of 'regiment' instead of 'brigade', which allowed the AA groups to adopt the designation of 'brigades'. By then, the 33rd AA Bde had moved to 4th AA Division in Anti- Aircraft Command, and by the outbreak of war in September, 65th AA Regiment had moved to a new 44 AA Brigade within 4 AA Division.


1st Manchester Rifles, Interwar
(On 31 July 1939, as part of the doubling in size of the TA before the outbreak of war, new 6th and 7th Battalions of the Manchester Regiment were created as duplicates of the 5th and 8th (Ardwick) Battalions respectively; these served as infantry during World War II.)


1st Manchester Rifles, World War II, Mobilisation and Phoney War
The TA's AA units were mobilised on 23 September 1938 during the Munich Crisis, with units manning their emergency positions within 24 hours, even though many did not yet have their full complement of men or equipment. The emergency lasted three weeks, and they were stood down on 13 October. In February 1939 the existing AA defences came under the control of a new Anti- Aircraft Command.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War II, Mobilisation and Phoney War
In June a partial mobilisation of TA units was begun in a process known as 'couverture', whereby each AA unit did a month's tour of duty in rotation to man selected AA and searchlight positions. 65th AA Regiment was at a practice camp at Burrow Head in Scotland when AA Command was fully mobilised on 24 August, ahead of the declaration of war. It immediately travelled back to man its war stations and was joined by its attached Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) company, which had been training at Manorbier in Wales.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War II, Mobilisation and Phoney War
Initially, the regiment manned sites with old 3-inch guns and a few modern 3.7-inch static guns. The first 4.5-inch guns began arriving in November. Surplus men manned Lewis light machine guns (LMGs) at Vital Points (VPs) including 181 Bty at Kearsley Power Station. A single 3-inch gun of the regiment was posted at Baxter's respirator (gas mask) factory at Leyland. By November the regiment was distributed as follows:


1st Manchester Rifles, World War II, Mobilisation and Phoney War
196 Battery fired the regiment's first shots on 17 November when J Gunsite engaged a single Heinkel He 111 that entered the area. The VPs were soon taken over by specialist Light AA (LAA) units. On 1 June 1940, the RA's AA regiments were redesignated Heavy AA (HAA) to distinguish them from the newer LAA units being formed, the 65th becoming 65th (The Manchester Regiment) Heavy Anti- Aircraft Regiment, RA.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War II, Battle of Britain
In June 1940, after the end of the Phoney War and the Dunkirk evacuation, 65th HAA Rgt was distributed as follows:


1st Manchester Rifles, World War II, Battle of Britain
During the height of the post-Dunkirk invasion scare in July 1940, 181 HAA Bty was temporarily detached to 6th HAA Rgt in 2 AA Bde in Kent. This regiment was involved in a defence scheme codenamed 'Bovril' to defend roads leading inland from possible invasion sites on the South Coast and was also reconnoitring the area for future AA gunsites.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War II, Battle of Britain
In August, 181 HAA Bty was once again attached to 6th HAA Rgt, now stationed in the West Midlands, to allow that regiment's batteries to attend practice camps. It manned gunsites H1 at Coven Heath and H18 at Merry Hill.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War II, Battle of Britain
As the Battle of Britain progressed, small numbers of Luftwaffe bombers appeared over North West England by day and night, leading to a few AA engagements and a small amount of damage. These increased in late August, with considerable damage in the Bolton and Chorley areas on the night of 28/29 August. Gunsites B and J opened fire using the new GL Mk I gunlaying radar, causing some raiders to take evasive action.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War II, Home Defence
At the beginning of October, 65th HAA Rgt went to the Orkney & Shetland Defence Force (OSDEF), where it served in 58 AA Bde defending the naval base at Scapa Flow.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War II, Home Defence
The regiment supplied a cadres of experienced officers and other ranks to provide the basis for a new 402 HAA Bty formed on 12 December 1940 at 210th HAA Training Rgt, Oswestry, which joined 123rd HAA Rgt. It regiment provided another cadre to 211th HAA Training Rgt, Oswestry, which formed 432 HAA Bty on 8 May 1941. This battery did return to 65th HAA Rgt on 6 August, replacing 182 Bty transferred to newly-formed 128th HAA Rgt.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War II, Home Defence
The regiment returned to mainland UK in June 1941, joining 34 AA Bde defending Birmingham and Coventry in 11 AA Division.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War II, Home Defence
In the autumn of 1941 the regiment moved again, joining 51 AA Bde in 3 AA Division in Scotland. On 4 November 1941, 432 HAA Bty transferred to 136th HAA Rgt and was replaced by 465 HAA Bty, also from a cadre supplied by the regiment and formed at 209th HAA Training Rgt at Blandford on 7 August. The regiment then left AA Command in December and joined the War Office Reserve, preparatory to going overseas. The war establishment for overseas service was three batteries, so 465 HAA Bty left to help form a new 146th HAA Rgt.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War II, Overseas
65th HAA Regiment left the UK in January 1942 as part of the reinforcements for the Far East following the Japanese invasion of Malaya. It reached Ceylon in March, and Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service raids against Colombo and Trincomalee began on 5 April (the Easter Sunday Raid) using Nakajima B5N 'Kate' bombers escorted by Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters. Lacking effective radar cover the HAA gunners had difficulty engaging their targets against strong dazzle from the sun but claimed a number of 'kills'. The Japanese Naval aircraft raided again on 9 April, causing further damage. Over succeeding months the AA defences were improved, with GL Mk II radar, and the Japanese threat diminished.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War II, Overseas
By degrees, the AA defences of Ceylon were taken over by Indian Artillery units and the British regiments were released for service elsewhere. In March 1943, 65th HAA Rgt sailed with 181, 183 and 196 Btys to join Middle East Forces, and by May it was with 8 AA Bde at Tahag in Egypt. This formation was not yet operational but was training for the Allied invasion of Italy.


1st Manchester Rifles, World War II, Overseas
In the event, 8 AA Bde did not move to Italy until December 1943, and 65th HAA Rgt did not go with it. It returned to Home Forces in August 1944 and remained in the UK for the remainder of the war. The regiment with 181, 183 and 196 HAA Btys was placed in suspended animation on 15 June 1946.


1st Manchester Rifles, Postwar
When the TA was reconstituted in 1947, the regiment reformed as 465 (Manchester) HAA Regiment RA, with its HQ still at Stretford Road, Hulme. It formed part of 70 AA Bde (the former 44 AA Bde based at Salford).


1st Manchester Rifles, Postwar
On 10 March 1955, AA Command was abolished, and there were wholesale disbandments and amalgamations among its units. 465 HAA Regiment was merged with 310 (8th Bn Lancashire Fusiliers), 360, 574 (7th Bn Lancashire Fusiliers), and 606 (East Lancashire) HAA Rgts to form 314 Heavy AA Regiment, RA, with RHQ at Hulme, and P (Manchester) Battery formed from 465 and 606 HAA Rgts.


1st Manchester Rifles, Postwar
In May 1961, 314 HAA Rgt was broken up, with RHQ and P Bty amalgamated into 252 (The Manchester Artillery) Field Regiment, RA, whose present-day descendants are part of 103rd (Lancashire Artillery Volunteers) Regiment, RA.


1st Manchester Rifles, Insignia
During World War II, the 65th HAA Regiment wore a printed arm badge consisting of a yellow letter 'M' on a green square.


1st Manchester Rifles, Battle Honours
The battalion was awarded the battle honour South Africa 1900–1902 for the service of its volunteers during the 2nd Boer War. During World War I the battalion contributed to the honours of the Manchester Regiment. The Royal Artillery does not carry Battle Honours, so none were awarded to 65th HAA Regiment.


1st Manchester Rifles, Honorary Colonels
The following officers served as Honorary Colonel of the unit:


1st Manchester Rifles, Memorials
A memorial plaque to the men of 2nd VB Manchester regiment who served in the Second Boer War is now in the Manchester & Salford University OTC Hall at University Barracks in Boundary Lane. It lists 157 names, of whom six died on service.


1st Manchester Rifles, Memorials
On 12 June 1921 a memorial was unveiled at the Stretford Road drill hall comprising dark oak panels bearing the names of 1057 officers and men of the 6th Manchesters who died during World War I. When the drill hall was demolished and replaced by the new University Barracks in 1995 the panels were re-installed in the new building. A brass plate bearing the names of the members of 1/6th Bn who died in Egypt and Gallipoli was installed in the Chapel of Mustapha Barracks, Alexandria.


1st Manchester Rifles, Memorials
When British troops left in 1946 the memorial was sent to England and is now also located at University Barracks. There is an elaborate marble memorial plaque in Eye Parish Church in Leominster to the three sons of Lord and Lady Cawley who were killed in World War I, including Capt H.T. Cawley, MP, of 1/6th Manchesters. Captain Cawley is buried at Lancashire Landing Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery.


1st Manchurian Army
The 1st Manchurian Army (Russian: 1-я Маньчжурская армия / 1 МА) was a field army of the Russian Empire that was established in 1904 during  the Russo-Japanese War, for the purposes of operating in the Manchuria region against Japan. It was one of the three such armies that were created and was involved in every major engagement.


1st Manchurian Army, History
It was formed in October–November 1904, from the basis of the Manchurian Army that had existed until September of that year, which had been dissolved after the Battle of Liaoyang. The previous "Manchurian Army" was a term that encompassed all units of the Russian Imperial Army formations operating in the region against the Imperial Japanese Army. It consisted of the following formations: 1st Siberian Army Corps primarily as the southern detachment and the 3rd Siberian Army Corps primarily as the eastern. In September 1904, that army was officially disbanded by order of Emperor Nicholas II and replaced by the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Manchurian Armies.


1st Manchurian Army, Order of battle
The 1st Manchurian Army consisted of the following units, as of January 1905.


1st Manchurian Army, Commanders
The formation was commanded by the following officers until its dissolution.


1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade
The 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade (1st MEB) was a United States Army brigade located at Fort Polk, Louisiana. The Brigade was tasked to improve the movement capabilities and rear area security for commanders at division level or higher. The Brigade has deployed units for combat operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and for humanitarian assistance in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.


1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade
The MEB is a tailored combined arms force with a headquarters staff designed to plan and execute protection, movement and maneuver, and sustainment tasks. It uses its subordinate units within their specialties to conduct maneuver support operations in its area of operations (AO) and within the broader AO of the organization it supports. The MEB provides added security and defense for other units and enhances freedom of action for the supported higher command. The capability to synchronize maneuver support operations and support area operations under the MEB provides a unique set of capabilities to other Army, joint, and multinational elements.


1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade
Aside from its headquarters element and the organic communications and logistics elements that form the basis for commanding, controlling, and supporting the brigade, the Brigade is a mission, enemy, terrain and weather, troops and support available, time available, and civil considerations-dependent organization. The MEB leverages the current modular principles and the "plug-and-play" nature of current forces to apply the right force for the mission. Typically, but not exclusively, the MEB is composed of engineer, military police, chemical, air defense, and other units that routinely function together during protection, stability, and support operations.


1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Unit history, Afghanistan 2008–2009
From Jun 2008 through Sep 2009, the Brigade was deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom to act as the tactical command element for Bagram Airfield, a French infantry battalion and the Provincial Reconstruction Teams in the Parwan Province. The unit earned a Campaign Streamer embroidered "Consolidation II" and the Meritorious Unit Citation for this mission.


1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Unit history, Defense CBRNE (Chemical, Radiological, Biological, Nuclear, and Explosive) Response Force 2011–2013
The Brigade was committed to the United States Northern Command and United States Army North as part of Joint Task Force-Civil Support to serve as the CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, and served as an on-call federal response force for terrorist attacks and other natural or manmade emergencies and disasters. This assistance is termed "Defense Support of Civil authorities". This response is subject to the limitations of the Posse Comitatus Act. See also the National Response Framework.


1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Unit history, Currently
On 23 February 2015 the U.S. Army Center of Military History authorized the special designation "Guardian Brigade" for the 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. The 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade inactivated on 17 August 2015. The 46th Engineer Battalion was assigned to the 20th Engineer Brigade at Fort Bragg. The 519th Military Police Battalion was assigned to the 16th Military Police Brigade at Fort Bragg.


1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Composition
The 1st MEB was composed of the following units at the time of its inactivation:


1st Manitoba Legislature
The members of the 1st Manitoba Legislature were elected in the Manitoba general election held in December 1870, the first general election for the new province. The legislature sat from March 15, 1871, to December 16, 1874.


1st Manitoba Legislature
Lieutenant Governor Adams George Archibald's "Government party" held the balance of power in the assembly with 17 seats. The Canadian Party, also known as the "Loyal party", led by John Christian Schultz, won 5 seats; they demanded swift punishment for the leaders of the Red River Rebellion. Henry Joseph Clarke served as government house leader in the assembly but Lieutenant Governor Archibald performed the functions of Premier. In December 1872, Alexander Morris replaced Archibald as Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba.


1st Manitoba Legislature
In July 1874, a government led by Henry Joseph Clarke was defeated by a motion of non-confidence. Marc-Amable Girard was asked to form a government and was allowed to select the members of his cabinet, thus introducing responsible government to the province. On December 1, 1874, all but one member of the Girard cabinet resigned due to ethnic tensions. Robert Atkinson Davis was asked to form a new government which went to the polls later that month.


1st Manitoba Legislature
Joseph Royal served as speaker for the assembly from 1871 to 1872. Curtis James Bird was speaker from 1873 to 1874.


1st Manitoba Legislature, Members of the Assembly
The following members were elected to the assembly in 1870:


1st Marine Aircraft Wing
The 1st Marine Aircraft Wing is an aviation unit of the United States Marine Corps that serves as the Aviation Combat Element of the III Marine Expeditionary Force. The wing is headquartered at Camp Foster on the island of Okinawa, Japan. Activated in 1940, the wing has seen heavy combat operations during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.


1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Mission
Conduct air operations in support of the Fleet Marine Forces to include offensive air support, antiair warfare, assault support, aerial reconnaissance including active and passive electronic countermeasures (ECM), and control of aircraft and missiles. As a collateral function, the Wing may participate as an integral component of Naval Aviation in the execution of such other Navy functions as the Fleet Commander may direct.


1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Subordinate units
1st MAW consists of four subordinate groups, a headquarters squadron and a liaison unit:


1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Subordinate units, Locations
Units of 1st MAW are located in the Pacific Region at the following bases:


1st Marine Aircraft Wing, History, World War  II
In late 1940, Congress authorized a naval air fleet of fifteen thousand aircraft. The Marine Corps was allotted a percentage of these planes to be formed into 2 air wings with 32 operational squadrons. On the advice of Navy and Marine advisors returning from observing the war in Europe these numbers were doubled very soon after. It was under this expansion program that the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing was activated at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, on July 7, 1941. The First Marine Aircraft Group which was the largest east coast aviation unit in the Marines at the time, became its first component. Although a new wing, it is considered an unofficial descendant of the Northern Bombing Group of World War I.


1st Marine Aircraft Wing, History, World War  II
Following the attacks on Pearl Harbor, the wing transferred to Naval Air Station San Diego, California, on December 10, 1941, and then to Camp Kearny on December 31. The first deployment for 1st MAW came in August 1942 when forward elements of the Wing arrived on Guadalcanal and made up the Cactus Air Force  supporting the 1st Marine Division during the Battle of Guadalcanal.


1st Marine Aircraft Wing, History, Korean War
At the beginning of the Korean War, the initial deployment of Marines was a provisional brigade activated on July 7, 1950 — the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade — formed from the 1st Marine Division and the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. Its core consisted of two units — a regimental combat team from the 5th Marine Regiment and Marine Aircraft Group 33 (MAG-33). Their job was to provide close air support, resupply, and Medevac for Marine ground forces.


1st Marine Aircraft Wing, History, Korean War
In late-June 1952, 75 aircraft from 1st MAW participated in the attack on the Sui-ho Dam which were strikes aimed at the hydroelectric plants in North Korea. The Wing's Chief of Staff Frank Schwable was shot down in July 1952 and while a prisoner of war confessed to having participated in germ warfare. He was eventually cleared of all charges, but his case prompted a review of training and expectations of prisoners-of-war.


1st Marine Aircraft Wing, History, Korean War
Two 1st MAW aircraft groups, MAG-33 and MAG-12, and the 1st Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion served during the course of the war. The wing flew 127,496 sorties of which over 40,000 were close air support and Marine helicopters evacuated more than 9,800 wounded personnel


1st Marine Aircraft Wing, History, Taiwan
From 6 March – 30 April 1963. The VMF-114, VMA-542 and VMF-235 of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing from Okinawa deployed to Pingtung Air Base, Taiwan and with ROC Air Force participated in “BLUE EAGLE“ exercise. While on Taiwan these units were under the control of United States Taiwan Defense Command.


1st Marine Aircraft Wing, History, Vietnam
From April 1962, when HMM-362 flew into the Mekong Delta to set up operations at the Sóc Trăng Airfield, through April 1975, when helicopters of HMM-164 evacuated the last Americans from the US Embassy, Saigon. While early missions involved Marine helicopters providing logistical support for South Vietnam, this role quickly expanded when 1st MAW pilots and crewmen were called upon to perform their traditional role of providing close air support for Marine combat units as American involvement in the war escalated.


1st Marine Aircraft Wing, History, Vietnam
Helicopters played an extensive role in air operations in Vietnam, as Marine pilots flew CH-34s and later CH-46s and CH-53s to transport Marines into landing zones near suspected enemy concentrations, and to evacuate the wounded following combat engagements. Helicopters, supplemented by C-130 transports where there were landing strips, were also used to re-supply Marines in the field at remote outposts. Other Marine pilots flew UH-1E Hueys and AH-1 Cobras. Many of these choppers provided reconnaissance and armed air cover for combat air operations.


1st Marine Aircraft Wing, History, Vietnam
The buildup of American troops resulted in the deployment of the Marine Corps' attack and fighter aircraft including the Douglas A-4 and the McDonnell F4B, as well as the maintenance, ordnance, and other support personnel necessary.


1st Marine Aircraft Wing, History, Global War on Terror
HMH 463 has deployed to support the Operation Enduring Freedom Mission in Afghanistan in 2009.


1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Unit awards
A unit citation or commendation is an award bestowed upon an organization for the action cited. Members of the unit who participated in said actions are allowed to wear on their uniforms the awarded unit citation. The 1st Marine Aircraft Wing has been presented with the following awards:


1st Marine Artillery Regiment (France)
The 1st Marine Artillery Regiment (French: 1er Régiment d'Artillerie de Marine, 1er RAMa) is one of the oldest marine artillery units in the military of France, as part of the troupes de marine within the French Army {Founded 1692}.


1st Marine Artillery Regiment (France), History
With two infantry marine regiments it formed the 2nd Brigade of the Blue Division during the Franco-Prussian War. Based in Laon since 1993, it is the artillery regiment of the 2nd Armoured Division.


1st Marine Artillery Regiment (France), History
1956 −1962: A detachment of the regiment participated in operations in Algeria.


1st Marine Artillery Regiment (France), History
1977: The regiment left Melun for the new garrison at Monthléry.


1st Marine Artillery Regiment (France), History
1993: On 2 August the regiment took its new headquarters in Laon Couvron, a former air base.


1st Marine Artillery Regiment (France), History
1993 - 1996: The 1er RAMa sends detachments in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Rapid Reaction Force (RRF) (Serb bombardment of the batteries Mount Igman) during the bombing of Bosnia Herzegovina by NATO 1995ou of IFOR, in charge of enforcing the Dayton.


1st Marine Artillery Regiment (France), History
2009: The regiment received the first cannon CAESAR June 10 This gun replaces the AMX AUF1 in service since 1990. On 1 August it left the 2nd Armoured Brigade, after 42 years and joined the 1st Mechanised Brigade.


1st Marine Artillery Regiment (France), Etendard (Standard/Colours) of the regiment
The banner is decorated with the Cross of the Legion of Honor, the Croix de Guerre 1914-1918 (two palms), the Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 (three palms) and the Cross of Liberation. He is entitled to use the forage in the colors of ribbon the Croix de Guerre 1914 1918 since August 13, 1918, with olive-colored ribbon for the Croix de Guerre 1939-1945. Then from 18 June 1996 to feed the ribbon colors of the Croix de la Liberation.


1st Marine Brigade (Iran)
1st Marine Imam Hossein Brigade (Persian: تیپ یکم تفنگداران دریایی امام حسین) is a marines brigade of Islamic Republic of Iran Navy based in Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan. The unit is one of top Takavar units among Iranian Armed Forces. The brigade operates in Persian Gulf and is able to operate 3,000 kilometers away from its HQ.


1st Marine Division
The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine infantry division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF).


1st Marine Division
It is the oldest and largest active duty division in the United States Marine Corps, representing a combat-ready force of more than 19,000 men and women. It is one of three active duty divisions in the Marine Corps today and is a multi-role, expeditionary ground combat force. It is nicknamed "The Old Breed".


1st Marine Division, Mission
The division is employed as the ground combat element (GCE) of the I Marine Expeditionary Force or may provide task-organized forces for assault operations and such operations as may be directed. The 1st Marine Division must be able to provide the ground amphibious forcible entry capability to the naval expeditionary force (NEF) and to conduct subsequent land operations in any operational environment.


1st Marine Division, Organization
The 1st Marine Division currently comprises a headquarters battalion, four regiments and five separate battalions as follows:


1st Marine Division, History, Pre-World War II
The lineal forebear of the 1st Marine Division is the 1st Advance Base Brigade, which was activated on 23 December 1913 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Subsequently, the brigade was redesignated on 1 April 1914, as the 1st Brigade, and on 16 September 1935, as the 1st Marine Brigade). The brigade consisted of the Fixed Defense Regiment and the Mobile Defense Regiment, later designated as the 1st and 2nd Regiments, 1st Brigade, respectively. In 1916, while deployed in Haiti, the two regiments were again redesignated, exchanging numerals, to then become the 2nd and 1st Regiments, 1st Brigade.


1st Marine Division, History, Pre-World War II
Between April 1914 and August 1934, elements of the 1st Brigade participated in operations in Mexico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba, receiving campaign credit for service in each nation. While the 1st Brigade did not serve ashore in the European theater during the First World War, the brigade was awarded the World War I Victory Medal Streamer, with one bronze star, in recognition of the brigade's service during that conflict. On 16 September 1935, the brigade was redesignated as the 1st Marine Brigade and deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in October 1940.


1st Marine Division, History, World War II
The 1st Marine Division was activated aboard the USS Texas on 1 February 1941. In May 1941, the 1st MARDIV relocated to Quantico, Virginia and Parris Island, South Carolina and in April 1942, the division began deploying to Samoa and Wellington, New Zealand.


1st Marine Division, History, World War II
The division's units were scattered over the Pacific with the support elements and the 1st Marine Regiment transported en route to New Zealand on three ships, the USATs Ericsson, Barnett and Elliott from Naval Reserve Air Base Oakland to New Zealand, and later were landed on the island of Guadalcanal, part of the Solomon Islands, on 7 August 1942.


1st Marine Division, History, World War II
Initially, only the 7th Marine Regiment was in garrison on British Samoa, with the 5th Marine Regiment having just encamped at Wellington, New Zealand after disembarking from USAT Wakefield, and the 1st Marine Regiment not scheduled to arrive in New Zealand until 11 July. The 1st Raider Battalion was on New Caledonia, and the 3rd Defense Battalion was in Pearl Harbor. All of the division's units, with the 11th Marines (artillery) and 75mm howitzer armed 10th Marines battalion would rendezvous at Fiji.


1st Marine Division, History, World War II
Due to the change in orders and shortage of attack and combat cargo vessels, all of the division's 2.5-ton trucks, M1918 155-mm howitzers and the sound and flash-ranging equipment needed for counter-battery fire had to be left in Wellington. Also, because the Wellington dock workers were on strike at the time, the Marines had to do all the load reconfiguration from administrative to combat configuration.


1st Marine Division, History, World War II
After 11 days of logistical challenges, the division, with 16,000 Marines, departed Wellington in eighty-nine ships embarked for the Solomon Islands with a 60-day combat load which did not include tents, spare clothing or bedrolls, office equipment, unit muster rolls, or pay clerks. Other things not yet available to this first wave of Marine deployments were insect repellent and mosquito netting. Attached to the division was the 1st Parachute Battalion, which along with the rest of the division, conducted landing rehearsals from 28 to 30 July on Koro Island, which Major General Alexander Vandegrift described as a "disaster".


1st Marine Division, History, World War II
On 31 July the entire Marine task force was placed under the command of Vice Admiral Frank J. Fletcher's Task Force 61. The division as a whole would fight in the Guadalcanal Campaign until relieved at 1400 on 9 December 1942 by Alexander Patch's Americal Division. This operation won the Division its first of three World War II Presidential Unit Citations (PUC). The battle would cost the division 650 killed in action, 1,278 wounded in action with a further 8,580 contracting malaria and 31 missing in action. Others were awarded for the battles of Peleliu and Okinawa.


1st Marine Division, History, World War II
Following the Guadalcanal Campaign, the division's Marines were sent to Melbourne, Australia for rest and refit. It was during this time that the division took the traditional Australian folk song "Waltzing Matilda" as its battle hymn. To this day, 1st Division Marines still ship out to this song being played.


1st Marine Division, History, World War II
The division would next see action during Operation Cartwheel which was the codename for the campaigns in Eastern New Guinea and New Britain. They came ashore at the Battle of Cape Gloucester on 26 December 1943 and fought on New Britain until March 1944 at such places as Suicide Creek and Ajar Ridge. During the course of the battle the division had 310 killed and 1,083 wounded. Following the battle they were sent to Pavuvu in the Russell Islands for rest and refitting.


1st Marine Division, History, World War II
The next battle for the 1st Marine Division would be the bloodiest yet at the Battle of Peleliu. They landed on 15 September 1944 as part of the III Amphibious Corps assault on the island. The division's commanding general, Major General William H. Rupertus had predicted the fighting would be, "...tough but short. It'll be over in three or four days – a fight like Tarawa. Rough but fast. Then we can go back to the rest area."


1st Marine Division, History, World War II
Making a mockery of the prediction, the first week of the battle alone cost the division 3,946 casualties, during which time they secured the key airfield sites. The division fought on Peleliu for one month before being relieved. Some of the heaviest fighting of the entire war took place in places such as Bloody Nose Ridge and the central ridges of the island that made up the Umurbrogol Pocket. The month of fighting against the 14th Division (Imperial Japanese Army) on Peleliu cost the 1st Marine Division 1,252 dead and 5,274 wounded.


1st Marine Division, History, World War II
The final campaign the division would take part in during World War II would be the Battle of Okinawa. The strategic importance of Okinawa was that it provided a fleet anchorage, troop staging areas, and airfields in close proximity to Japan. The division landed on 1 April 1945 as part of the III Amphibious Corps. Its initial mission was, fighting alongside the 6th Marine Division, to clear the northern half of the island – that they were able to do expeditiously.


1st Marine Division, History, World War II
The Army's XXIV Corps met much stiffer resistance in the south, and on 1 May 1945 the Marine division was moved south where it relieved the Army's 27th Infantry Division. The division was in heavy fighting on Okinawa until 22 June 1945, when the island was declared secure. The 1st Marine Division slugged it out with the Japanese 32nd Army at such places as Dakeshi Ridge, Wana Ridge, "Sugarloaf Hill" and Shuri Castle. Fighting on Okinawa cost the division 1,655 killed in action.


1st Marine Division, History, World War II
During the war, the division had five Seabee Battalions posted to it. the 6th NCB was attached to the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal. They were followed by the 19th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) which was assigned to the 17th Marines as the third battalion of the regiment. They landed at Cape Gloucester with the division. The 17th Marines were inactivated with the 19th NCB being reassigned. After that, the 33rd NCB was posted to the 1st for the assault on Peleliu and they were replaced by the 145th NCB for the invasion of Okinawa. (see:Seabees)


1st Marine Division, History, World War II
On Peleliu, the 17th Special NCB(segregated) was assigned to the 1st Pioneers as shore party. Together with the 16th Marines Field Depot(segregated) they helped evacuate wounded and bury the dead for the 7th Marines. On the first night of the assault, nearly all of the 17th Seabees volunteered to hump ammo to the frontlines. They also reinforced the Marines in sections where directed, were used to crew a 37mm, and were utilized for several days. For their efforts, they received an official "well done". The 33rd NCB also had 202 Men assigned to the shore party.


1st Marine Division, History, World War II
Following the surrender of Japan, the division was sent to Northern China as the lead combat element of the III Amphibious Corps with the primary mission of repatriating more than 650,000 Japanese soldiers and civilians still resident in that part of China. They landed at Taku on 30 September 1945 and would be based in Hopeh Province in the cities of Tientsin and Peiping, and also on the Shandong Peninsula, with the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party raging around them.


1st Marine Division, History, World War II
Most Marines in the division would be charged with guarding supply trains, bridges, and depots to keep food and coal moving into the cities. During this time they increasingly fought skirmishes with soldiers from the People's Liberation Army who saw the railways and other infrastructure as attractive targets to ambush, raid, and harass.


1st Marine Division, History, World War II
By the summer of 1946 the division was suffering the effects of demobilization and its combat efficiency had dropped below wartime standards; however, its commitments in China remained. As it became increasingly apparent that a complete collapse of truce negotiations among the Chinese factions was apparent, plans were laid for the withdrawal of all Marine units from Hopeh. The last elements of the division finally left China on 1 September 1947.


1st Marine Division, History, Korean War
Following the end of World War II and the postwar drawdown of forces, by 1950 the division only possessed the strength of a reinforced regimental combat team. The division would be assembled on the battle field and would participate in the amphibious assault at Inchon under the orders of United Nations Command (UN) commander General MacArthur. The division was the unit chosen to lead the Inchon landing on 15 September 1950.


1st Marine Division, History, Korean War
At Inchon, the division faced one of its most daunting challenges, deploying so hurriedly it still lacked its third infantry regiment and ordered to execute an amphibious assault under the worst tidal conditions they had ever faced. After the landing they moved north and after heavy fighting in Seoul they liberated the city.


1st Marine Division, History, Korean War
After the liberation of Seoul, the division was put back on ships and taken to the eastern side of the Korean peninsula and landed at Wonsan on 26 October. As part of X Corps commanded by Army Major General Edward Almond the division was ordered to push north towards the Yalu River as fast as possible. The then commanding officer of the division, Major General O.P. Smith, did not agree with his superiors and had become convinced that they were stretched thin and that the Chinese Forces had entered the war.


1st Marine Division, History, Korean War
He purposely slowed his advance and consolidated along the way at every opportunity. The 1st Marine Division was attacked by ten Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) infantry divisions on 27 November 1950. They fought their way out of the Chosin Reservoir against seven PVA divisions suffering over 900 killed and missing, over 3,500 wounded and more than 6,500 non-battle casualties mostly from frostbite during the battle. The greater part of the PVA 9th Army was rendered ineffective as they suffered an estimated 37,500 casualties trying to stop the Marines' march out of the "Frozen Chosin". The division was evacuated from Hungnam in mid-December and then landed in Pusan.


1st Marine Division, History, Korean War
Beginning in early 1951 the division participated in several UN offensives in east-central Korea. This was followed by defending against the Chinese Spring Offensive. By June 1951 the 1st Marine Division had pushed northward and secured the Punchbowl and then settled into a defensive line 11 miles (18 km) long.


1st Marine Division, History, Korean War
In mid-March 1952 the 8th Army, to whom the Marines were attached, instituted Operation Bootdrop. The operation was a massive redeployment of UN forces designed to put more Republic of Korea Army units on the Jamestown Line, the UN's Main line of resistance (MLR). The 1st Marine Division was reassigned to the far western end of the MLR defending a 35 miles (56 km) line that encompassed the Pyongyang to Seoul corridor.


1st Marine Division, History, Korean War
For much of the next year, in what would be termed the "Outpost War", action along this line consisted of small, localized actions because much of the fighting revolved around the holding and retaking of various combat outposts along the MLR, including the Battles of Bunker Hill, First Hook and Outpost Vegas. Fighting continued until the Armistice took effect on 27 July 1953. During the Korean War the division suffered combat casualties of 4,004 dead and 25,864 wounded.


1st Marine Division, History, Korean War
In 1953 the division command post was established at Tonggu. The site was later named Camp Howze by the US Army. A memorial to—US and ROK—Marine participation in the war is located at the adjoining district of Bongilcheon-ri (봉일천리) ().


1st Marine Division, History, Vietnam War
In August 1965, the Division's 7th Marine Regiment participated in Operation Starlite, the first major engagement against the Vietcong (VC) for American ground troops in South Vietnam. This was followed in September by Operation Piranha. In December Division elements conducted Operation Harvest Moon.


1st Marine Division, History, Vietnam War
In March 1966 Division elements conducted Operations Utah, Oregon and Texas. March also saw the 1st Marine Division Headquarters established at Chu Lai. By June, the entire Division was in South Vietnam, its Tactical Area of Responsibility (TAOR) was the southern two provinces of I Corps — Quang Tin and Quang Ngai. In August the Division conducted Operation Colorado. Between March and October 1966 to May 1967, the Division conducted 44 named operations. The Division received its 7th Presidential Unit Citation for service from 29 March 1966 to 15 September 1967.


1st Marine Division, History, Vietnam War
From January to April 1967 the 7th Marines conducted Operation Desoto. In early April 1967 under Operation Oregon the Division moved north to Da Nang to support the 3rd Marine Division and Task Force Oregon took over the Division's former TAOR. From April to May Division units conducted Operations Union and Beaver Cage. From May to June the 5th Marine Regiment conducted Operation Union II with Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces. In September Division units and ARVN forces conducted Operation Swift. In November the 5th Marines conducted Operation Essex.


1st Marine Division, History, Vietnam War
On 4 December 1967 Task Force X-Ray was activated to implement Operation Checkers, the movement of the 1st Marine Division from Thừa Thiên Province north to Quảng Trị Province to support the 3rd Marine Division which was engaged in heavy combat along the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. From 28 December 1967 to 3 January 1968 Division units conducted Operation Auburn on Go Noi Island south of Da Nang.


1st Marine Division, History, Vietnam War
On 11 January 1968 Task Force X-Ray headquarters was established at Phu Bai Combat Base and assumed operational control of the 5th Marine Regiment which moved north from Da Nang and the 1st Marine Regiment already based at Phu Bai. When the 1968 Tet Offensive began at the end of January, the Division was involved in fierce fighting with PAVN/VC throughout its TAOR and together with ARVN units would defend Da Nang and fight the Battle of Huế. The 1st Marines would receive a Presidential Unit Citation for its actions at Huế.


1st Marine Division, History, Vietnam War
From May to August Division units conducted Operation Allen Brook on Go Noi Island. From May to October Division units conducted Operation Mameluke Thrust in Happy Valley southwest of Da Nang. From 1 to 19 October Division units conducted Operation Maui Peak to relieve Thường Ðức Camp. From late October to early December the 5th Marines conducted Operation Henderson Hill in Happy Valley. From 20 November to 9 December Division units conducted Operation Meade River south of Da Nang. From 6 December to 8 March 1969 Division units conducted Operation Taylor Common in the An Hoa Basin west of Hội An.


1st Marine Division, History, Vietnam War
From 31 March to 29 May 1969 Division and ARVN units conducted Operation Oklahoma Hills southwest of Da Nang. From 26 May to 7 November Division, ARVN and Republic of Korea Marine Corps (ROKMC) units conducted Operation Pipestone Canyon on Go Noi Island. On 7 June PFC Dan Bullock of 2/5 Marines was killed in a PAVN sapper attack on An Hoa Combat Base, having lied about his age to enlist, he was, at 15 years old, the youngest American killed in the war.


1st Marine Division, History, Vietnam War
From July to August 1970 Division units conducted Operation Pickens Forest southwest of An Hoa Combat Base. From 1 September to 7 May 1971 Division and ROKMC units conducted Operation Imperial Lake in the Quế Sơn District south of Da Nang.


1st Marine Division, History, Vietnam War
On 13 January 1971 Operation Keystone Robin Charlie began with the standing down of the initial units supporting the Division. The redeployment accelerated in mid-February but then slowed when HMH-463, HML-167, HMM-263 and MASS-3 were retained to support Operation Lam Son 719. Throughout April the remaining Division units transferred bases and tactical areas of responsibility to the Americal Division. On 14 April 1971 the 3rd Marine Amphibious Brigade was activated at Camp Jay K. Brooks and III Marine Amphibious Force transferred all remaining Marine forces to it. On 30 April President Richard Nixon welcomed the Division back to Camp Pendleton and awarded it a second Presidential Unit Citation for its service in South Vietnam.


1st Marine Division, History, Vietnam War
The Division lost 7,012 men killed in action in South Vietnam.


1st Marine Division, History, Vietnam War
In 1975, the division supported the resettlement of South Vietnamese refugees by providing food and temporary shelter at Camp Pendleton for Vietnamese refugees as they arrived in the United States.


1st Marine Division, History, Desert Shield and Desert Storm
In 1990, the 1st Marine Division formed the nucleus of the massive force sent to the Middle East in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. During Operation Desert Shield, the division supported I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) in the defense of Saudi Arabia from the Iraqi threat. In 1991, the division went on the offensive as part of U.S. Marine Forces Central Command (MARCENT)with the rest of Coalition Forces in Operation Desert Storm. The 1st Marine Division destroyed around 60 Iraqi tanks near the Burgan oil field without suffering any losses. 1st Marine Division Task Force Ripper (RCT-7) M60A1 RISE Passive Patton tanks destroyed about 100 Iraqi tanks and armored personnel carriers, including about 50 top-of-the-line Soviet T-72 tanks. These efforts were instrumental in the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi forces.


1st Marine Division, History, 1992 Los Angeles riots
On 2 May 1992, the 1st Marine Division took part of Operation Garden Plot to help local and state law enforcement as well as the California Army National Guard in quelling the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles County, California. It was part of the 3,500 federal military force sent to Los Angeles. The Marine Corps contingent included the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, commanded by Marine Corps General John F. Kelly.


1st Marine Division, History, 1992 Los Angeles riots
As part of the Joint Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Los Angeles, Marines took up positions in Compton and Long Beach to prevent further rioting and disorder. No rioters or civilians were killed or injured by the Marines, nor did the Marines themselves suffer any casualties. On 10 May, six days after the riots ended, Marines formally withdrew from the city and returned to Camp Pendleton.


1st Marine Division, History, 1990s humanitarian relief
Immediately following the Persian Gulf War, the Division sent units to assist in relief efforts following a typhoon in Bangladesh (Operation Sea Angel) and the eruption of volcano Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines (Operation Fiery Vigil). In December 1992, Operation Restore Hope, bringing relief to famine-stricken Somalia, kicked off with the early morning amphibious landing of Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which was supported by 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. More than 15,000 metric tons of food was successfully distributed from 398 different food sites in the city during the operation. The final phase of the operation involved the transition from a U.S. peacemaking force to a United Nations peacekeeping force. U.S. Marine involvement in Operation Restore Hope officially ended on 27 April 1993, when the humanitarian relief sector of Mogadishu was handed over to Pakistani Armed Forces.


1st Marine Division, History, Iraq War
The 1st Marine Division, then under the command of Major General James Mattis, was one of the two major U.S. land forces that participated in the 2003 invasion of Iraq as the land component of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. In December 2002, Mattis was quoted as saying, "The President, the National Command Authority and the American people need speed. The sooner we get it over with the better. Our overriding principle will be speed, speed, speed."


1st Marine Division, History, Iraq War
Initially, the division fought through the Rumaila oil fields, feinted an attack towards Basrah then moved north on Iraq Highway 1 to An Nasariyah – a moderate-sized, Shi'ite dominated city with important strategic significance as a major road junction and proximity to nearby Talil Airfield. The division then fought its way to Baghdad and pushed further to secure Tikrit by forming Task Force Tripoli after the fall of Baghdad. The division covered 808 kilometers in 17 days of sustained combat, the deepest penetrating ground operation in Marine Corps history. After the invasion the division settled in to conduct security and stabilization operations in Baghdad, Tikrit, and then in south-central Iraq from May to October 2003. For actions during the war as part of I MEF the division was awarded its 9th Presidential Unit Citation.


1st Marine Division, History, Iraq War
The division returned to Iraq in February 2004 and took control of the Al Anbar province in western Iraq; it was the lead unit in Operation Vigilant Resolve and Operation Phantom Fury in 2004. During February and March 2005, the division was relieved by the 2nd Marine Division concluding the largest relief in place in the history of the Marine Corps. In 2006, the division again deployed to Iraq as the ground combat element for I MEF in the Al Anbar province. It returned to MCB Camp Pendleton in early 2007.


1st Marine Division, History, Afghanistan War
Battalions from the 1st Marine Division have been regularly deployed to Afghanistan since 2008. The division headquarters and staff were sent forward in March 2010 to take command of all Marine forces in the Helmand Province operating in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. This will be a year-long deployment for the division.


1st Marine Division, Insignia
Originally termed a battle blaze, the shoulder sleeve insignia of the 1st Marine Division was designed by Lt. Col Merrill Twining, Division D-3 in February 1943 while the division was stationed in Victoria, Australia. The blue diamond with the Southern Cross is similar to the Flag of Victoria. The red numeral one in the middle denotes the division's first action on Guadalcanal. A commercial firm in Melbourne first produced the shoulder patch with every Marine issued two of them that was sewn on his battle jacket.


1st Marine Division, Insignia
The 2nd Marine Division originally had a similar battle blaze of the same design with a red snake in the shape of a "2" also reading GUADALCANAL.


1st Marine Division, Insignia
Marine Corps shoulder sleeve insignia were officially authorized on 15 March 1943. Some in the division who served on Guadalcanal wore their "battle blaze" on the right shoulder to distinguish themselves from replacements who had not been on "The Canal".


1st Marine Division, Unit awards
A unit citation or commendation is an award bestowed upon an organization for the action cited. Members of the unit who participated in said actions are allowed to wear on their uniforms the awarded unit citation. The 1st Marine Division has been presented with the following awards:


1st Marine Division (Wehrmacht)
The 1st Naval Infantry Division (German: 1. Marine-Infanterie-Division) was formed in February 1945 in Stettin from Marine-Schützen-Brigade Nord. Replacement troops were provided by 1. Marine-Infanterie-Ersatz- und Ausbildungs-Bataillon located in Lübberstedt bei Wesermünde. Activated from Kriegsmarine forces it fought on the northern flank of the German line on the Oder river until the end of the war.


1st Marine Division Band
The 1st Marine Division Band is a regional military band of the United States Marine Corps, reporting directly to the 1st Marine Division. It is stationed in Camp Pendleton, California. The band serves as the de facto USMC representative for the Western United States, performing at over 300 military and state functions, civic events, and military parades a year.


1st Marine Division Band, History
The 1st Marine Division Band was organized during World War II when the division was based in Australia to participate in the Pacific War. On the occasion of President George Washington's birthday in February 1943, the 1st MARDIV Band played Waltzing Matilda, an Australian bush ballad which would later be the official march of the division. The band would play this march again in April of that year during an ANZAC Day parade in Melbourne and would continue to play it exclusively during the division's deployment to Australia.


1st Marine Division Band, History
In recent years, all 50 members of the band have taken up arms to serve on the battlefield, especially during the Gulf War, the Iraq War and the Iraq conflict (2003–present). During the lattermost conflict, the band was attached to Headquarters Company, 5th Marine Regiment at Camp Fallujah, Iraq from February 2006–January 2007. During this deployment, the band served as a security platoon. In 2008, the band was awarded the "Colonel George S. Howard Citation of Musical Excellence for Military Concert Bands" by the John Philip Sousa Foundation. In 2006, the band took part in the State funeral of President Gerald Ford and has annually taken part in the Rose Parade as part of the USMC West Coast Composite Band.


1st Marine Division Band, Ensembles
The following ensembles are subordinated to the 1st MARDIV Band:


1st Marine Division Band, Gallery
CWO3 Edward Hayes, director of the 1st Marine Division Band, conducting during  a concert at the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo.


1st Marine Division Band, Gallery
Members of the band with the Musique des Troupes de Marine in 2015.


1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade (United States)
1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade (1st MEB) is a unit in the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) and is the "middleweight" global crisis response force.


1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade (United States), History
The brigade was stationed at Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) from 1956 (when the 1st Provisional Marine Air Ground Task Force was redesignated as the 1st Marine Brigade), until 30 September 1994, when the brigade was deactivated. In 1960 and again in 1964, the brigade participated in large-scale exercises in Taiwan; and in 1990 the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade deployed to Southwest Asia during Operation Desert Shield.


1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade (United States), History
From 1956 to 1985 while at Kaneohe MCAS, (now known as Marine Corps Base Hawaii), the unit was designated as the 1st Marine Brigade. From 1985 until 1988, the brigade was designated as the 1st Marine Amphibious Brigade and was then redesignated as the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade.


1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade (United States), History
From 1971, in addition to the Brigade Headquarters Group as its Command Element (CE), the 1st Marine Brigade consisted of the 3rd Marine Regiment (from 1956 until 1965 the 4th Marine Regiment filled this role in the brigade) as its Ground Combat Element (GCE), Marine Aircraft Group 24 (MAG-24) as its Aviation Combat Element (ACE),   and a Brigade Service Support Group (BSSG) as it Logistics Combat Element (LCE).


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment
The 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (French: 1er Régiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine, 1er R.P.I.Ma) is one of three regiments (1er R.P.I.Ma, 13e Régiment de Dragons Parachutistes (13e R.D.P), 4e R.H.F.S) in the French Army Special Forces Command (COM FST).


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment
Heir to the traditions of the paratroopers of the Special Air Service of Free France and French Indochina, the regiment is the only French unit in mainland France to use the motto Qui ose gagne,  translated from the British Army SAS motto Who Dares Wins.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Origins
Quite unusually for the French Armed Forces, the affiliations of this unit are various, not directly related to each other, and numerous. The regiment is heir simultaneously to formations of the French Air Force, mainland infantry, Troupes coloniales and Troupes de marine.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, History, garrisons, campaigns and battles
Despite its name, the 1er RPIMa is part of the French Army, like other Marine units. The naval infantry background dates back to 1762, when units of the French Army were detached to the French Navy for ship-borne and overseas duties.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, History, garrisons, campaigns and battles
It is the heir to the first Colonial Parachute Commando Demi-Brigade, whose origins date back to World War II. Under the command of Captain Georges Bergé, the 1st Air Company was created in England on September 15, 1940 with parachute units of the Special Air Service (SAS). The 1e CCP/SAS was created in 1941 in Scotland. From 1942 to 1944, this company was engaged in Crete, Libya, Tunisia, Brittany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, History, garrisons, campaigns and battles
Afterwards, the company was dissolved and re-designated as an SAS Parachute Demi-Brigade from 1946 to 1949, then 1st Colonial Parachute Commando Demi-Brigade from 1949 to 1955 in Indochina. It was classified as B.P.C in Algeria from 1955 to 1958, the B.C.C.P dissolved and re-designated from 1959 to 1960 as G.I.B.P.OM then in 1960 B.P.C.I.Ma and renamed in 1962 1erR.P.I.Ma which retained the SAS emblem.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, History, garrisons, campaigns and battles, World War II
The 1er RPIMa inherited the traditions of the two Free French Special Air Service (SAS) Regiments that served with distinction alongside their British brothers-in-arms of the SAS Brigade during World War II. On September 15, 1940, General Charles de Gaulle signed the activation order of the 1ère Compagnie d'Infanterie de l'Air (1ère CIA) of the Free French Forces, or 1st Free French Airborne Infantry Company, under the command of Captain Bergé.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, History, garrisons, campaigns and battles, World War II
The 1ère CIA began operational missions, parachuting into occupied France in March 1941. The company was then split into two units, a covert action unit used for clandestine operations and a conventional and uniformed company sent to North Africa in September 1941 to fight the Axis Forces along with British Forces.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, History, garrisons, campaigns and battles, World War II
A very good relationship was quickly established between Captain Bergé and Major Stirling, the commander of the newly created Special Air Service (SAS); the French detachment was soon incorporated into the SAS and became the French Squadron. From 1942 to 1943, the French SAS roamed the region, ranging as far as Crete hunting down Axis forces and destroying their aircraft and supply dumps. In November 1943, the 3rd and 4th Air Infantry were created and incorporated into the SAS Brigade along with their British and Belgian counterparts, the 1st and 2nd SAS Regiments.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, History, garrisons, campaigns and battles, World War II
The Free French SAS took an important part in the liberation of Europe. In Brittany, a little after midnight on D-Day, June 6, 1944, Caporal Emile Bouétard (born in Brittany, 1915) was the first soldier killed in action in Plumelec, Morbihan. On August 1, 1944, the 3rd and 4th Air Infantry battalions were renamed the 2nd and 3rd Chasseur Parachute battalions. As a reward for their bravery, King George VI awarded the Free French SAS the right to wear the red beret of the British SAS, which replaced the black beret worn until then. As the war drew to a close, 52 French SAS "sticks" (705 men) were parachuted into the Netherlands on April 7, 1945, causing major havoc in the rear areas of German occupation forces and easing pressure on the forward thrust of the 2nd Canadian Army Corps.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, History, garrisons, campaigns and battles, World War II
The Free French SAS took a major part in the epic battles of the SAS in Africa, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, earning French and foreign awards (including many British DSOs, MCs and MMs). The regimental colours of the 1er RPIMa have also been decorated with the U.S. Bronze Star Medal, the Dutch Bronze Cross and the Belgian Croix de Guerre.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, History, garrisons, campaigns and battles, World War II
Today, this SAS heritage is still evident in its regimental motto "Qui Ose Gagne" ("Who Dares Wins") and in the awarding of the RAPAS Wings, reminiscent of the wartime SAS "Operational Wings" that can only be awarded to 1er RPIMa operators after they have successfully passed a series of strict selection requirements, including operational deployments.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, History, garrisons, campaigns and battles, 1945–1974
Between 1945 and 1954 the unit that was later to become the 1er RPIMa after a series of name changes, took part in the war in Indochina, performing several of the more than 160 combat jumps carried out by French paratroopers during that conflict. After the war, the regiment underwent structural changes and became a training depot for the entire colonial airborne forces. As such, it did not take part in the Algerian conflict.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, History, garrisons, campaigns and battles, 1945–1974
In 1960 1er RPIMa was created. It continued in the training role until 1974, when the 1er RPIMa was transformed into a Special Forces unit, a role it still plays today.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, History, garrisons, campaigns and battles, 1974–2006
The unit's mission has been mostly to support France's interests in Africa. Between 1974 and 1981, the 1er RPIMa underwent another mission change to focus on long-range reconnaissance patrols for almost a decade, while it still used its training skills to training friendly forces abroad.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, History, garrisons, campaigns and battles, 1974–2006
In the 80s and 90s the regiment deployed dozens of times to various hotspots on the planet. While engaged in Operation Desert Storm, the 1er RPIMa lost two of its men in Iraq in 1991.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, History, garrisons, campaigns and battles, 1974–2006
A year later, the creation of the French Special Operations Command (Commandement des Opérations Spéciales, COS) led to a major shake-up of French special forces units to incorporate the lessons learned in the First Gulf War. As part of this process, in 1997, the nucleus of what was to become the army's BFST (Brigade des Forces Spéciales Terre) (Land Special Forces Brigade) was created and the 1er RPIMa became its core unit. All the while, the regiment participated in operations in the Balkans and in Africa; it was specifically involved in stalking war criminals in Bosnia, leading to several successful arrests of individuals indicted for war crimes.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Today
Part of the French Army Special Forces Command (COM FST), the 1er RPIMa is a modern, highly skilled and experienced Special Forces unit organized along company lines. The main strength of the regiment lies in its three RAPAS companies (RAPAS meaning Airborne Reconnaissance and Special Action) each specialised in a specific field such as HAHO/HALO, Counter-Terrorism, amphibious, jungle, mountain or motorized patrols operations and its RAPAS Signal company dedicated to the C3 (Command, Control and Communications) support of Special Operations.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Today
The 1er RPIMa also fields a Training and Operations company tasked with providing selection, basic and continuation training of the unit's manpower and a Logistics company which supports the regiment in its daily and operational missions. As the unit was inspired by the British Special Air Service, it has still much in common with them, including missions and capabilities.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Organisation and structure
Due to its long history with the British Special Air Service much of the 1er RPIMa core aspects are based upon the British SAS. Each company specialises in a particular area such as maritime, air and parachuting operations, mobility.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Organisation and structure
There is also one command and logistics company and a training and operations company which is in charge of providing the selection, initial and continuation training.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Organisation and structure
Each company is split in RAPAS sections. Each section includes 30 men.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Organisation and structure
The 1er RPIMa is based in Bayonne, which makes amphibious and mountain training possible. It is also ideal as it is very close to the Centre d'Entrainement Adaptee (CTA), Europe's largest and most modern Close Quarter Battle (CQB) facility and to the dedicated assets of the French army's Special Forces Aviation Detachment (DAOS) and airborne school (ETAP), two establishments that are essential to its training and operations.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Weapons and equipment
The main weapon used by the 1er RPIMa is the HK416 5.56x45mm assault rifle. Besides this, SIG 550, M4 and FN SCAR assault rifles are also used by French Army Special Forces. Sometimes M203 or HK69 grenade launchers are also used. For CQB the MP5 series and FN P90 are used as the main weapons, the 10.4 inches version of the HK416 is also sometimes used. The Glock 17 and H&K USP are the standard sidearm carried by the soldiers. The ARWEN 37 mm grenade launcher is used in CQB work to launch CS gas into buildings. The Benelli M4 shotgun is also used during CQB, to take down doors. FN Minimi is used as light machine gun, 5.56mm and 7.62mm, and snipers use the HK417 or Hecate II rifles. Sometimes MILAN missiles have been used in combat to provide fire support.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Weapons and equipment
They wear standard French camouflage and webbing, except when doing CT/HR/CQB work. CQB kit includes a black balaclava, black nomex coveralls, non-slip boots, special webbing and holsters, medical kit for teams medics, gas masks, and special communications equipment.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Weapons and equipment
VPS Panhard VPS (Véhicule Patrouille SAS), based on the Mercedes-Benz 270 CDI G-Class 4x4 light tactical vehicle, is the vehicle used by French Army Special Forces. It is a rapidly deployable vehicle capable of long-duration missions in extremes of climate. An armored floor provides anti-landmine protection to the crew and VPS is air transportable by C-160 Transall or C-130 Hercules. In the French Army the VPS is equipped with 360° ring-mount over the rear body which is armed with a Browning 12.7mm heavy machine gun or Gatling machine gun. One more 7.62mm machine is mounted on swivel station at the front of the crew compartment which is operated by the vehicle commander.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Skills
The 1er RPIMa is tasked with several jobs. These include: bodyguard for VIPs in conflict areas, direct action, reconnaissance, sabotage, unconventional warfare and hostage rescue. While their name states they are Marine Infantry, they are in fact Army.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Skills
The 1er RPIMa relies on a number of skills to successfully carry out its missions. Most skills are either regiment or brigade-specific and need constant honing to be kept at the desired level of proficiency. They can be divided into several generic fields:


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Selection and training
Officers and NCOs joining the regiment have to attend the same selection and training as enlisted personnel.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Selection and training
Enlisted soldiers in the French Army can try to join super RPIMA, between their first and third years of active duty.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Selection and training
First step is a profile selection: Candidates will be selected regarding unit requirements and personal file (e.g. if the regiment needs some mountain specialists, they will ask for more mountain troopers to come for the selection). Candidates selected must attend the two weeks basic airborne training prior the SF training, for those who are not already enlisted in an airborne regiment.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Selection and training
Second step of selection is "adaptation training" and "stage commando" lasting twelve weeks. Candidates must be above average to continue the training. Most cases of failure and RTU occur during this phase.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Selection and training
The last step of selection is the "stage CTE RAPAS" lasting six months. After completion of this "stage", candidates are fully assigned to the regiment as special force soldier. They will attend additional training to become specialists (bodyguards, pathfinders, etc.)


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Traditions, Anniversary of the Troupes de Marine
The anniversary is celebrated of fighting in Bazeilles, a village which was taken and abandoned four consecutive times under orders, on August 31 and September 1, 1870.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Traditions, Anniversary of the Troupes de Marine
In the Name of God, long live the colonial !


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Traditions, Anniversary of the Troupes de Marine
The Marsouins and the Bigors have for Saint, God. This war calling concludes intimate ceremonies which part life in the regiments. Often also at origin as an act of grace to Charles de Foucauld.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Traditions, Patron Saint
Saint-Michael: As a paratrooper regiment, the 1er R.P.I.Ma celebrates each year on September 29, the Patron-Saint of Paratroopers. This celebration gives rise to various events with veterans.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Traditions, Motto
« Who dares wins » is the general motto of the British SAS, translated in French to « Qui ose gagne ».


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Traditions, Insignia
Insignia of the 2e R.C.P, 1e B.C.C.P S.A.S, 1e B.P.C


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Traditions, Regimental Colors
The unit is the only parachute regiments of the Marines to wear purple berets as opposed to the standard red beret of other units.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Traditions, Honors, Battle honours
The list of operations shows a world-wide commitment since it ranges from Afghanistan to Africa and the Balkans.


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Traditions, Decorations
The most decorated French and allied unit of the Second World War


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Traditions, Decorations
The officers and members of this regiment wear one of four Fourragères:


1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Traditions, Decorations
Fourragère bearing colors of the Croix de guerre des T.O.E


1st Marine Infantry Regiment
The 1st Marine Infantry Regiment (French: 1er Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine, 1er RIMa) is a French regiment heir of the colonial infantry. The regiment is one of the « quatre vieux » regiments of the Troupes de Marine, with the 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment 2e RIMa, the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment 3e RIMa, as well the 4th Marine Infantry Regiment 4e RIMa (dissolved in 1998). Along with the 1st Marine Artillery Regiment 1e RAMa and the 2nd Marine Artillery Regiment 2e RAMa, the 1st Marine formed the Blue Division. The 1e RIMa is a light armoured unit, since 1986, alike with the régiment d'infanterie-chars de marine RICM.


1st Marine Infantry Regiment, Creating and different nominations
Heir to the Compagnie Ordinaire de la Mer created in 1622 by Richelieu, the 1e RIMa was created by a Royal Decree in 1822 at the corps of the French Naval Ministry (French: Ministère de la Marine). This regiment was part of the « Quatre Grands » of the marine infantry which held garrison in the military ports ready to embark : the « Grand Un », le « Grand Deux », the « Grand Trois » and the « Grand Quatre ».


1st Marine Infantry Regiment, Creating and different nominations
Designated as the 1st Colonial Infantry Regiment 1e RIC in 1900 at the creation of the colonial infantry at the corps of the Ministry of War (French: Ministère de la guerre), the regiment was redesignated as RIMa in 1958, when the colonial infantry was redesignated as marine infantry.


1st Marine Infantry Regiment, Creating and different nominations
The regiment is heir to the 1st Free French Division and the battalion of the Pacific which combat engaged at Bir Hakeim. The Marine Infantry and Pacific Battalion (French: bataillon d'infanterie de marine et du Pacifique) was issued from the merger, on July 1942, of the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion (French: 1er Bataillon d'Infanterie de Marine) and the Pacific Battalion (French: Bataillon du Pacifique).


1st Marine Infantry Regiment, History, 1815 to 1848
In 1846, elements of the 1er RIMa were at Tahiti. The regiment was present in the battle of Fatahua (inscribed on the regimental colors of the 2e RIMa) of December 17, 1846 (3rd Company, Captain Masset).


1st Marine Infantry Regiment, History, Second Empire
On August 17, 1870, the 1st Marching Marine Infantry Regiment was part of the Armée de Châlons (1870) (French: Armée de Châlons (1870)) of Marshal de MacMahon.


1st Marine Infantry Regiment, History, 1870 to 1914
During the Paris Commune in 1871, the regiment participated with the Armée Versaillaise.


1st Marine Infantry Regiment, History, World War I, Attachments
In 1914, at the eve of the great war: the 2e, 3e, 7e and 1e RIC, were part of the 1st brigade under the orders of général Montignault, the 3rd colonial infantry division under the orders of général Raffanel.


1st Marine Infantry Regiment, History, World War I, Attachments
The 3e DIC : Generals Raffanel, Leblond, Goulet (1914), Gadel (1915), Puypéroux (1916–1918). Engaged in the same sectors as the 2nd Colonial Infantry Division 2e DIC (4e, 8e, 24e R.I.C), to the first battle of Champagne (Ville-sur-Tourbe) and the second battle of Champaign (Ville-sur-Tourbe and Massiges). In 1916, in the first Battle of the Somme: Becquincourt, Dompierre, Assevilliers, Flaucourt, Belloy-en-Santerre (juillet), Villers-Carbonnel, Barlaux (end of July).