Booklet: SOUVENIR OF THE SHANGHAI DEFENCE FORCES VOLUME 1 - Printed and Published by the North-China Daily News and Herald, Limited, Shanghai. Measures 14.5" x 10.5" and in very good condition with fraying around the edges of the covers. This sis a SCARCE SCARCE SCARCE item!!!!!!!! This was owned by and stamped W. T. H. GALLIFORD, Chaplain, USMC. Total of 24 pages most with multiple photos and captioons of the different units that took part in this endeavor. Indian and British Troops, 2nd Punjab Regiment, Jhansi Brigade, Gloucesters and Durhams, 9th Indian Infantry, 2nd Battalion Suffolf Regiment, Coldstream Guards, British Navy in the Defence of Shanghai, U. S. Naval Forces, 4th & 6th Regiment of United States Marines, Japan's Naval Units, Spanish and French Naval Units, Shanghai Volunteer Corps, Aeroplanes, Tanks, Armoured Cars and Caterpillars, British Aerodrome on the Racecourse Race Course, British Air Force, Shainghai's International Defence Forces, Defending the Settlement, Chinese Mobs and Soldiers, and much more.
The Shanghai Defence Force was a tri-service military formation established by the British Government to protect European nationals and their property in Shanghai from Chinese nationalist forces during a period of tension in 1927.
History
Following the Xinhai Revolution in China in 1912 the country was divided between warlords. In January 1927 the British Concession in Hankou was invaded by nationalist forces undertaking their Northern Expedition which sought to unify China. Following a request from the Commander-in-Chief, China Station the Shanghai Defence Force was established under the leadership of Major-General John Duncan later that month amidst concerns that British lives and properties were at risk during the unrest in China at the time.[1] King's College was requisitioned to be the quarters and hospital for the Shanghai Defence Force from February to December 1927.[2] Royal Air Force China Command at Hong Kong was established to administer Royal Air Force units in the region.[1] Tension finally eased in August of that year[1] and troops were withdrawn towards the end of the year.[3]
Formations
13th Infantry Brigade
1st Battalion, Middlesex Regiment
1st Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
1st Battalion, Border Regiment
1st Battalion, Green Howards
14th Infantry Brigade
2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards
1st Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment
2nd Battalion, Border Regiment
1st Battalion, Devonshire Regiment
20th Indian Infantry Brigade
2nd Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
2nd Battalion, Durham Light Infantry
4th Battalion, 1st Punjab Regiment
3rd Battalion, 14th Punjab Regiment[4]
The term China Marines, originally referred to the United States Marines of the 4th Marine Regiment, who were stationed in Shanghai, China from 1927 to 1941 to protect American citizens and their property in the Shanghai International Settlement, during the Chinese Revolution and the Second Sino-Japanese War. Those Marines stationed at the embassy in Peking and the consulate in Tientsin referred to themselves as North China Marines.[1]
Due to the cheap labor available, China Marines lived a relatively comfortable lifestyle, with each squad able to hire Chinese men to do their cleaning and run their errands. This, plus the inexpensive goods available on the local market, made an assignment to the China Marines highly coveted.
Most of the China Marines were withdrawn in November 1941, but the North China Marines in Peking and Tientsin were scheduled to be withdrawn on December 10. (All weapons and ammunition except rifles and pistols had been crated and shipped by rail to the embarkation port.) However, Imperial Japan attacked the United States on December 7, and the Marine Embassy guards, plus a fourteen-man Naval medical detachment, a total of 203 men, were captured and held as slave labor until the war's end in August 1945. A 204th man, a retired officer who had been living in Peking and recalled to duty, was immediately released. He continued living in Peking until he was included in the roundup of civilians and sent to the Weihsien civilian internment camp in March 1943. He was returned to the U.S. on the exchange ship Teia Maru in September 1943. The last commander of the China Marines was Colonel William W. Ashurst.[2]
With the rapid expansion of the Marine Corps during World War II and the capture of the rest of the 4th Marine Regiment at Corregidor, the surviving China Marines were few in number and highly regarded.
After Japan's surrender, the 1st and 6th Marine Divisions, also known as China Marines, were sent to occupy northern China from 1945 to 1948.
On January 31, 1996, Marines from the 2nd Battalion 5th Marines, as part of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (31st MEU), Special Operations Capable (SOC), made their first visit to Shanghai, China, since World War II. The 31st MEU-SOC visited China again on November 22, 2006, during a port visit to Zhanjiang.[3][full citation needed]
American Legion China Post One
American marines holding up a Japanese patrol trying to enter the Shanghai International Settlement, 1930s
American Legion China Post One, formed in 1919, one year after World War I and chartered by the American Legion on April 20, 1920, was originally named the General Frederick Townsend Ward Post No. 1, China.[4] It is the only post nominally headquartered in a communist country, and has been operating in exile since 1948 — presently in Henderson, Nevada.[5]
In popular culture
Author W. E. B. Griffin often writes of China Marines in his book series The Corps. Book 1 of the series in particular highlights the pre-World War II lives of China Marines. In his Presidential Agent series, he several times makes reference to American Legion China Post No. 1 in Exile as a post comprised in the main of retired military special operators who can be hired for assorted purposes.
Neal Stephenson's book Cryptonomicon contains descriptions of the exploits of the China Marines in World War II. The book begins with the evacuation of Shanghai in 1941.