PISA BASED QUESTIONS -BATTLE OF BELLEAU WOOD DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR PREPARED BY VINITA RIKHI

1. MY EXPERIENCE IN THE BATTLE OF
BELLEAU WOOD DURING THE FIRST
WORLD WAR
June 1 and June 26, 1918 ,the German Aisne offensiveBattle
BELLEAUWOOD
PISA BASEDQUESTIONS
VINITA RIKHI
FIRST WORLD WAR

2. MYEXPERIENCE-n June of 1918, a fierce battle was waged at Belleau
Wood, an ancient hunting-reserve of old-growth oaks, surrounded by
wheat fields, located about 60 miles outside of Paris. The Germans
were launching their spring offensive in an attempt to overwhelm
the Allies before they were fortified by fresh American troops who
were arriving at a rate of about 250,000 per month. The Battle of
Belleau Wood has since achieved near mythic status in U.S. military

3. MYRECRUITMENT–I was recruited in the American Expeditionary Forces
called "The Doughboys." Pvt.Albert McArdle of EastBoston . early onethird
of the recruits obtained by the Marine Corpssince the United States
entered the war were under twenty-one years of age." Thearticle goeson
to quote Secretary of the Navy JosephusDaniels: "The policy of the Marine
Corpsin admitting boys of eighteen years and over into the ranksis more
than justified…by the heroic fighting by the Marines at Chateau-Thierry and
Belleau Wood."

4. MY TRAINING
- I received ‘13 months good soundtraining’.[1] In contrast, Herbert Sulzbach,who
joined the German army in August 1914, found himself in the front line just four
weeks later, after only the most rudimentary training. Still, somecommon themes
emerge, andthis article will concentrate on those who joined from 1916on, after
the initial ‘rush to the colours’had died down andthe training system hadsettled
into agroove. New recruits in all armies were first put through three months of
basictraining. Theaim of this course was: to build up physical fitness and
confidence; instil discipline andobedience; and teach the fundamental military
skills necessaryto function in the army. Atypical daystarted withReveille (a bugle
or trumpet call to wake the soldiers and call them to duty) at 5.30 a.m.After
tidying up and cleaning their quarters and having abrew, at 6.30 recruits would
parade for anhour and ahalf to work on their fitness.After breakfast at 8, the
morning was spent drilling on the parade square, learning, for instance, to march,
form fours and about turn . Between 12.15 and 2 p.m. the men took lunch before
returning for more drill in the afternoon until 4.15. Theunlucky might be detailed
off for fatigues or work parties thereafter, but otherwise recruits were off duty,
although they might have to spendtime cleaning kit and shining boots.

5. ENTRYOFAMERICAIN THEWAR
TheFirstDivisionlanded at the portsof the Frenchtown of St.Nazaireinlate
June1917. Thesightof the freshAmericansoldiershadanamazingeffect on
Frenchmorale.Theallied commandersarrangedfor agrandreceptionfor the
Americansonthe Fourthof Julyin Paris.TheSecondBattalionof the First
Division’s16th Infantry, headedbyGeneralJohnJ.Pershing,marched through
the streetsof ParisonJuly4, 1917. JubilantParisiansassembledat the tomb
of the MarquisdeLafayette, whohadfamouslyfought in the American
Revolution. Thearrival of the restof the AmericanExpeditionary Force
startedsoonafter. TheSecondDivisionbeganarriving insmall numbersin
lateAugust1917 andwere stillarriving in the spring of
1918.Americans played asmallpart in the Battle of Cambraiin 1917but the
majority ofAmerican Battles inWW1 were fought in 1918.
FIRST WORLD
WAR AND
AMERICA

6. BELLEAU WOOD FRONT- .
Thefirst large-scalebattle fought byAmerican soldiersin World War
I beginsin BelleauWood, northwestof the Paris-to-Metz road.In late May
1918, the third Germanoffensive of the year penetrated the WesternFront
to within 45 milesof Paris.U.S.forcesunder GeneralJohnJ.
Pershinghelped halt the Germanadvance,andonJune6 Pershingordered
acounteroffensive to drive the Germansout of BelleauWood. U.S.Marines
under GeneralJamesHarbord ledthe attack againstthe four German
divisionspositioned inthe woodsandbythe endof the first daysuffered
morethan1,000casualties

7. WAR FRONT-
In early1918,the Germangovernment,freed from fightingatwo-front war by
the Treatyof Brest-Litovsk,choseto launchamassiveoffensive onthe Western
Front. Thisdecisionwaslargelymotivated byadesireto endthe war beforethe
full strengthof the UnitedStatescouldbebroughtinto the conflict. Beginning
onMarch21, the Germansattackedthe BritishThirdandFifthArmieswith the
goalof splittingthe BritishandFrenchanddrivingthe former into the sea .
After drivingthe Britishbackafter makingsomeinitial gains,the advance
stalledandwasultimately halted at Villers-Bretonneux.Asaresult of the crisis
causedbythe Germanattack, MarshalFerdinandFochwasappointedSupreme
Commanderof the AlliedArmiesandtaskedwith coordinatingall operations in
France.Anassaultto the northaroundLys,dubbedOperation Georgette, met a
similarfate inApril. Toaidtheseoffensivesathird attack, Operation Blücher–
Yorck,wasplannedfor late May inAisnebetweenSoissonsandRheim

8. n June1, the Major General OmarBundy's 2nd Division took up positions
south of Belleau Wood near Lucy-le-Bocage with its line extending south
opposite Vaux.Acomposite division, the 2nd consisted of Brigadier General
Edward M. Lewis' 3rd Infantry Brigade(9th & 23rd Infantry Regiments) and
Brigadier GeneralJamesHarbord's 4th Marine Brigade(5th & 6th Marine
Regiments).In addition to their infantryregiments, eachbrigade possesseda
machine gun battalion. While Harbord's Marines assumedaposition near
Belleau Wood, Lewis' men held aline to the south below the Paris-Metz
Road.
Asthe Marines dug in, aFrench officer suggestedthat they withdrawal.To
this Captain Lloyd Williams of the 5th Marines famously replied, "Retreat?
Hell, we just got here." Two dayslater elements of the German 347th
Division from Army Group Crown Prince occupied theforest.
WARFRONT

10. Theadversaries clashed in bitter hand-to-hand combat with knives, rifle
butts, bayonets, and trench shovels.AsMarine officers and NCOsfell dead
or wounded, junior officers and enlisted men took their places.Themost
determined counterattack on June13 camewhen elements of three
Germans divisions attempted to reclaim theirold positions. Then, the
FrenchArmy’s artillery finally unleashed a14-hour long heavy
bombardment that allowed marines in 2/5, 3/5, and 3/6 to dislodge the
remaining Germans from the northern end ofBelleau Wood on June26.

12. AFTERMATH-In the fighting around Belleau Wood, American forces
suffered 1,811 killed and 7,966 wounded and missing. German casualties are
unknown though 1,600 were captured. The Battle of Belleau Wood and the
Battle of Chateau-Thierry showed the United States' allies that it was fully
committed fighting the war and was willing to do whatever was required to
achieve victory but the Marines fighting ability and classified them as elite
"storm troopers."

13. LEGACY-
TheBattle of BoisdeBelleau,
or BelleauWood. Thiswasa
battle that exemplifiedthe
Marine Corps'corevaluesof
honor,courage,and
commitment. It wasabattle
that catapultedthe Marine
Corpsto worldwide
prominence.Andit wasa
battle that helpedturn the
tide of "TheGreatWar" (as
WWI wasthen known)in
favor of theAllies.
TheBattle of BelleauWood
wasalandmark event in
Marine Corpshistory. Prior
to the battle, the United
StatesMarine Corpswasa
little known,unproven
commodity. After three
weeksof displayingthe
courage,determination, and
win-at-all-costsattitude that
hasbecomesynonymous
with the Marine Corpsin the
yearssince,that all changed,
andthe Marineshavesince
been knownas--arguably--
the mostformidable fighting
force inthe world.

14. PoemonBelleauWood Battle
Ohthe snowflakes fell in silence Q-Keepingin mindthe rhythmicbeauty
of the poem,draw inferenceof the
Belleauwoodbattle
OverBelleauWood that night
Fora Christmas truce had beendeclared
Byboth sidesof the fight
Aswe laid there in ourtrenches
Thesilence broke in two
Bya German soldier singing
Asongthat we all knew
ThoughI did not know thelanguage
ThesongwasSilent Night
ThenI heard my buddywhisper
"All is calm, all isbright"
Thenthe fear and doubt surroundedme
CauseI'd die if I waswrong
But I stood up in mytrench
AndI beganto singalong
Thenacrossthe frozen battlefield
Another's voicejoined in
Until oneby one eachmanbecame
Asinger of the hymn
ThenI thought that I wasdreaming
Forright there in mysight
Stoodthe German soldier
Neath the falling flakes ofwhite
Andheraised his hand and smiled at me
Asif heseemedto say
Here's hoping we both live tosee
Usfind a better way

15. PISA BASED QUESTIONS
1. With reference to the text describe how The Battle of Belleau Wood was a majorbattle
during WWI?
2. ‘ The use of the US marines changed the tide of the war for the allies’.Draw inference
from the lines based on this line
3. The Allied forces in this battle were the Americans, French, and the British Empire,
against the Germans. Is the statement applicable to the fact? Justify giving evidence
from the source.
4. Some of the technology used the the battle were tanks, machine guns, and artilery
cannons. The historical context of the battle is the US used the marines
which canged the tides of the war
a) TICKTHEAPPROPRIATE
i. Who amongst the following fought the battle of Belleau Wood?
A. Austria
B. America
C. England
D. India
ii. When was this battle fought?
A. 1948
B. 1914
C. 1918
D. 1910
iii. Battle of Belleau was the part of

16. A. First world war
B. Second world war
C. Cold war
D. Proxy war
b) Complete the following
A. The Battle of Belleau Wood was fought between
……………………………
B. The main German attack was repulsed on June 4 and
……….forces began offensive operations on June 6
C. It was fought against …………………..near Château Thierry.
D. With …………..support to offset the heavy automatic fire they
were taking, the team continued to advance in small group.
5. MEMORY GAME
A. Name the countries who were the part of battle of Belleau Wood
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17. B. How thiswar moved?
C.NAMETHETWOOPPOSINGCOUNTRIES.
D. Name the two alliancesthat participatedin thefirst worldwar and
write the nameof their alliesalso.
.......
......
......
..............
.............

18. i.
E. GLOSSARY
WORLD WAR
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
ii.
iii.
Trenches
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Marines
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
iv. Alliances
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
F.Onthe outline mapof the Europemark the BelleauWood
• ................
• ......................
• ....................
• ............................

19. G.Identify the BelleauWoodonthe mapofFrance

21. H. PREPARETHETIMELINEOFFIRSTWORLDWARWITHSPECIAL
REFERENCETOTHEBALLEAUWOOD

22. I. CREATETHISIN ASTORYFORM
MY CREATIVITY

23. IMAGINEYOURSELFASONEOFTHESOLDIERANDWRITEYOUREXPERIENCES
INTERPRETSUMMARYOFTHETEXTIN 30 WORDS
TheBattle of Belleau wood took place on JuneI 1918 and lasted for twenty-six
days.It the Marine Corps' bloodiest battle to that date, fought against the
Germansnear ChâteauThierry, France.Assigned to clear a woodland and take the
town of Boursches,a team of Marines beganthe battle by advancing. With poor
artillery support to offset the heavy automatic fire they were taking, the team
continued to advance in small groups, engaging in hand-to-hand combat, and
continued to presson until the woods had beencleared and the Germanshad
beendefeated. TheMarines suffered 5,200 casualties, more than half their
strength.