page_title: 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines / History / World War II
caption_attribution_description: "Thanksgiving Cake-Lt. Colonel W.W. Stickney, the commanding officer, cuts a Thanksgiving cake with a Japanese officer's sword at Guadalcanal, as hungry Leathernecks look on." From the Photograph Collection (COLL/3948), Marine Corps Archives &amp; Special Collections OFFICIAL USMC PHOTOGRAPH
context_page_description: 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Horno on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Nicknamed "The Professionals," the battalion consists of approximately 1,200 Marines and sailors. Normally they fall under the command of the 1st Marine Regiment and the 1st Marine Division.
context_section_description: The battalion was reactivated March 1, 1941, at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines and was assigned to the 1st Marine Division of the Fleet Marine Force. The force was active for only a brief period of time, during which it was deployed to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. The unit was again deactivated on June 14, 1941.
  Shortly after the United States entered into World War II, the unit was reactivated February 11, 1942, at New River, North Carolina. It was again assigned to the 1st Marine Division, which deployed in July 1942 to Wellington, New Zealand. The battalion participated in numerous campaigns in the Pacific Theater of WWII, and was a part of the American advance into Japanese territory in the Pacific. The first of these was the Guadalcanal Campaign, during which the battalion defended Henderson Field, an airfield on Guadalcanal, and withstood Japanese bombings of the strategic location. They later participated in Operation Cartwheel, specifically the Battle of Cape Gloucester, during which they withstood several Japanese Banzai charges. Later, during the Battle of Peleliu, the unit suffered heavy casualties during their defense of the Umurbrogal Pocket. In their last engagement in the Pacific, the unit participated in the decisive Battle of Okinawa, taking part in the capture of Shuri during poor weather conditions.
  At the close of World War II, in September 1945, the unit was redeployed to Tiensin, China, where they were a part of the occupation of northern China until October 1947, when the unit was deactivated.
caption: Lt. Colonel William W. Stickney cuts a Thanksgiving cake with a Japanese officer's sword at Guadalcanal, as marines of 2nd Battalion look on.
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