Albert Endicott

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We know that Frank  participated in some of the Marine Corps’ toughest fighting in World War I, the legendary battle of Belleau Wood, because his served in the 6th Marine Regiment which was at Belleau Wood and muster rolls show him present in France at the time of Belleau Wood.   Then, a couple of weeks later, his name appears on a list of Marines seriously wounded in action reported on July 12, 1918.  It is not known whether he returned to combat after his wounds healed. 

 

Frank was actually born in England, not the USA.  His father’s name was also Frank and Frank, Sr. was born in Devonshire, England.   Frank, Jr. was born in London, then emigrated to America in 1907 and became a naturalized citizen in Duluth, Minnesota in 1916.  

 

Frank enlisted in the Marine Corps on June 2, 1917 – at the ripe old age of 29 -- and was initially a Private in Company A, Marine Barracks, Parris Island, South Carolina for basic training.  In August he was assigned to the 84th Company, 3rd Battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment.  In December he was a Corporal in the same unit.  In March, 1918, he was part of Company L of the 6th Regiment.  

 

In May, 1918, muster rolls show him in France, with the 96th Company, of the 6th Regiment.  And in June 1918, muster rolls find him again stationed in France with the Marine Training Battalion at Chatillion-sur-Cher.  The battle of Belleau Wood was June 1-26, 1918, when Frank was in France, so it seems very likely that he was in that battle.  Then, as mentioned above, his name appears on a list of Marines seriously wounded that was reported on July 12, 1918, but there is no indication when his wounding occurred.  By February, 1919, however, we know he was back in the United States, as a Private with Marine Barracks, in Norfolk, Virginia.   We don’t know why there was a demotion in rank.

 

After the war Frank lived in Chicago where he was a bookkeeper.   He was also married then.   On January 22, 1925 he applied for a U.S. Passport in order to go back to England to visit relatives and it was granted.  You can see from his signature that he was left-handed.  He was only 47 when he died. 

 

6th Marine Regiment

 

The 6th Marine Regiment was one the most famous Marine Regiments in WWI because of the battle of Belleau Wood.  The battle came towards the end of the German Spring Offensive of 1918.  Not only did the Marines check the Germans at Belleau Wood, they went on the offensive and after 26 days of fierce forest fighting cleared it of German forces.  The main German attack was repulsed on June 4 and U.S forces began their offensive on June 6.  In order make their frontal assault on the Germans, the Marines had to cross a wheat field under heavy German machine gun fire. With his men pinned down, two-time Medal of Honor recipient Gunnery Sergeant Dan Daly yelled "Come on ya sons-of-bitches, ya want to live forever?" Finally, after repelling German counter attacks and launching more of their own, the Marines took Belleau Wood, but with 1,811 men killed, and 7,966 wounded or missing.  

 

Besides burnishing the Marine Corps’ reputation as fierce fighters, Belleau Wood also burnished their penchant for getting good publicity, usually at the expense of the Army.  Although individual U.S. units were not supposed to be singled out for press attention,  a sympathetic newspaper reporter reported the battle of Belleau Wood as though the Marine Corps had just won the entire war, with the Army only standing around watching.  This, understandably let to friction between the Marines and the Army. 

 

The 6th Regiment was first organized on July 11, 1917 under the command of Medal of Honor holder Colonel Albertus W. Catlin. The regiment included three battalions: the 1st (74th, 75th, 76th, and 95th Companies), the 2nd (78th, 79th, 80th, and 96th Companies), and the 3rd (82nd, 83rd, 84th, and 97th Companies). 

 

Virtually all of the senior officers and staff non-commissioned officers of the 6th Regiment were long-service professionals, while most junior officers and all privates were new joinees.  Although the new men were short on experience, they were long on education: Colonel Catlin estimated that 60% of them were college men.

         

Regimental increments arrived in France during late 1917 and early 1918. Upon arrival, the 6th Marine Regiment joined the 5th Marine Regiment and 6th Machine Gun Battalion to form the 4th Brigade, U.S. 2nd Division (Regular), American Expeditionary Force.  The early spring was devoted to training under French tutelage. 

 

 Then, the "Marine" Brigade entered the trenches of the Toulon Sector near Verdun in March 1918, where it suffered its first combat casualties.  The regiment had 33 men killed while in the trenches, most lost when the 74th Company billeting area was gassed on April 13,1918.

 

In late May, 1918, the 4th Brigade was ordered to shore up crumbling French lines near Château-Thierry.  The 6th Regiment took up positions southwest of Belleau Wood, and then it was ordered to seize the town of Bouresches and to clear the southern half of Belleau Wood itself on June 6, 1918. 

 

These attacks were the beginning of a month-long struggle that eventually became one of the Marine Corps’s landmark battles.  Colonel Catlin was severely wounded not long after the first waves went over the top; his replacement was Lieutenant Colonel Harry Lee, who would command the regiment for the rest of the war. 

 

Regimental losses in this sector were 2,143 over 40 days.

 In recognition of the "brilliant courage, vigor, spirit, and tenacity of the Marines", the French government awarded Marine units at Belleau Wood the Croix de Guerre with Palm and renamed Belleau Wood "Bois de la Brigade de Marine."

 

Subsequently, the U.S. 2nd Division was attached to the French XX Corps to conduct a counterattack near Soissons in mid-July. The 6th Regiment was held in reserve when the initial assault waves went over the top on July 18. 

 

The next day, the 6th Marine Regiment stepped off, advancing alone from Vierzy toward Tigny, but was stopped short of its objective by intense artillery and machinegun fire.   Casualties were extremely heavy, estimated at 50 -70% in most units. 

 

First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates (a future commandant of the Marine Corps) reported only about two dozen of more than 400 men survived and added "... There is no one on my left, and only a few on my right. I will hold."

 

Regimental losses during the Aisne-Marne Offensive numbered 1,431;  July 19, 1918 is the single costliest day of fighting in the history of the 6th Marine Regiment. 

 

After a month-long rest, the Marines were assigned to the U.S. First Army to participate in the first "all-American" push, a double envelopment to eliminate the St. Mihiel salient.  The 6th Regiment was in support of the 3rd Brigade's attack from Limey to Thiaucourt. 

 

 The push began early on September 12,  1918 and the initial attack carried virtually all of the division's objectives before noon that day since the American attack unknowingly coincided with a German withdrawal.

 

Although some historians have called this mission "a piece of cake,” the 6th Regiment lost more than a hundred killed and about five hundred wounded at St. Mihiel.

 

The 2nd Division and the U.S. 36th Division were then loaned to the French Fourth Army for its assault on German forces that became the Battle of Blanc Mont Ridge.  Here the Marines successfully captured their objectives after bloody fighting, and with support from the 36th Division fought off German counterattacks until the flanking French units were able to catch up to the American advance.  The 2nd and 36th Divisions then advanced and captured a German strongpoint at St. Etienne, after which the 2nd was withdrawn from the line to regroup and returned to American command.

 

For its actions at Belleau Wood, Soissons, and Blanc Mont, the 6th Marine Regiment was awarded the French Croix de Guerre three times.  As a result, the regiment is authorized to wear the fourragère of the Croix de Guerre, one of only two units in the Marine Corps so honored (the other being the 5th Marine Regiment). The fourragère thereafter became part of the uniform of the unit, and all members of the modern 6th Marines are authorized to wear the fourragère while serving with the regiment.

 

When the armistice on November 11, 1918 ended active hostilities, the 6th Regiment was assigned to the U.S. Third Army to spearhead the Allied march from France through Belgium and Luxembourg to Coblenz, Germany. 

 

There, the regiment settled into uneventful occupation duty from December 1918 to May 1919.  At that time, the regiment once again deployed for hostilities when the German representatives balked at the unexpected terms of surrender. This threat persuaded the Germans to accept the terms, and the treaties formally ending the war were signed in June 1919.  Their mission accomplished, the Marines sailed for home the following month.

 

The 6th Marine Regiment was deactivated at Quantico on August 13, 1919 after victoriously parading through the streets of New York City and Washington, D.C.  The most notable literary work covering the activities of the 6th Marine Regiment during the First World War is Thomas Boyd's novel “Through The Wheat.”

 

The Marine Corps entered WWI with 511 officers and 13,214 enlisted personnel and, by November 11,1918, had reached a strength of 2,400 officers and 70,000 enlisted. The war cost the Marines 2,461 dead and 9,520 wounded, the majority of them at Belleau Wood.