MELBOURNE, Australia -- Under the Southern Cross star map, Marines endured a six-month land, air and sea battle causing massive casualties to the U.S., their allies and the Japanese.
"It was the first moment that untested Marines met Japanese troops in the skies, on the beaches, and deep in the jungle — and prevailed," said Retired Gen. James Amos. "Men on both sides struggled in the most challenging of human environments and fought for their beliefs, their nations, and their brothers.”
The battle began in 1942, when allied reconnaissance aircraft discovered the Japanese constructing an airfield on Guadalcanal. The location was strategically important to the U.S. for communication with Australia so the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff ordered allied forces in the Pacific to mount an offensive.
“We got in a few hundred yards in from the beach and then the Japanese opened fire on us,” said Al "Duke" Dellaera, an 18-year-old Marine with 1st Marine Division at the time, recalling an attack in the early days of the invasion. “We were ambushed, really surprised. All I saw was debris falling all over the place.”
1st Marine Division was the main effort. This marked the first time the Marine Corps has fielded an entire Marine division, but they were aided by Marines of 2nd Division, Marine Raider Battalion, and air and naval forces from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
After several engagements around the Solomon Islands, the Marines of 1st Marine Division were either dead, injured or sick, and were ordered to move to Australia to rest and refit.
The Marines stayed in Melbourne, Australia, which was the original headquarters for the allied military effort in the South-West Pacific and host to more than 30,000 U.S. Army soldiers.
Upon arrival, word spread that the Marines might have to wear U.S. Army uniforms because there were not Marine uniforms available to replace all that had been torn in battle. This meant the Marines would lose their identity.
Lt. Col. Merrill B. Twining, 1st Division’s operation officer at the time, came up with the idea of creating a patch to wear in order to identify themselves.
According to the 1st Marine Division home page, Twinning began drawing a diamond in his notebook and in the middle of it drew a “1” representing the division. Then, he drew the Southern Cross star constellation because the whole operation had been under it. This came to be the 1st Marine Division patch after he brought it to Maj. Gen. Alexander A. Vandegrift, the division commander at the time, for approval.
The 1st Marine Division patch remains the same since then and the U.S. Marine Corps has continued to maintain a positive relationship with their Australian allies. They have introduced a yearly rotation of Marines to Australia.
In November 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the deployment of U.S. Marines to Darwin, Australia, for approximately six months at a time, to conduct exercises and training on a rotational basis with the Australian Defence Force. This six-month deployment of Marines is now known as Marine Rotational Force – Darwin.
“The U.S. and Australian militaries have fought alongside each other in every major conflict in the past 100 years,” said Lt. Col. Steven M. Sutey, MRF-D Commanding Officer. “It is imperative that we train together and improve interoperability during times of peace in order to deter conflict and prepare to respond quickly and effectively in times of crisis that threaten the shared interest of our nations.”
MRF-D has participated in 11 major exercises during their 2016. According to Sutey, the most significant were:
• Exercise Hamel – the Australian Defence Force’s premier readiness exercise.
• Exercise Koolendong – the largest multilateral combined arms live fire in the remote Australian Outback.
• Exercise Kowari – a small unit survival skills training course with the ADF and People’s Republic of China.
• Exercise Koa Moana – an afloat theater security cooperation exercise
The Marines not only participated in training exercises during the rotation, they also volunteered 3,246 total man hours throughout 104 community relations events and experienced Australian culture during Marine Corps Community Services trips.
"Being forward deployed as part of (MRF-D) is an incredible opportunity for Marines and sailors of all ranks,” said Sutey. “Over the course of six months, (MRF-D) has provided credible training to U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific, improved readiness and effectiveness, and strengthened relationships with allied military in Australia and throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific.”
Now, in 2016, and in years to come, U.S. and Australian military can look up at the Southern Cross as a constant reminder of the long history the two allies have working alongside each other.