The 4th Marine Brigade earned the title "Devil Dogs" for their heroic action at Belleau Wood.
Although similar to the Army uniform, there were subtle differences around the shoulders and cuffs of the USMC uniform. This marine wears an overseas cap. When the US Army and US Marines made it overseas and into the front the campaign hat had to be stored somewhere in order to wear the newly issued steel helmet. The hat was too big to be stored in the pack and space was at a premium in the rear. Eventually the overseas cap was adopted and many campaign hats were taken to be cut up and used as felt slippers for the wounded.
He is holding the French issued Chauchat light machine gun. The Marines said it could be fired from the hip as accurately as from the shoulder. The Marines called this, "spray and pray". However the Chauchat suffered major design flaws. The gun was fed from an open magazine, the ammunition was exposed to dirt and mud therefore jammed easily. Secondly, parts would often not interchange even with identical models. The Chauchat was eventually replaced by the highly successful M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR). |
