Formation on the Solomon Islands The 6th Marine Division was activated on
Guadalcanal in the southern
Solomon Islands on September 7, 1944. The 6th Division was formed from three infantry regiments (the 4th, 22nd, and 29th Marines) and other units such as engineer, medical, pioneer, motor transport, tank, headquarters, and service battalions. The core cadre around which the division was formed was the former
1st Provisional Marine Brigade which included the 4th and 22nd Marine Regiments, plus their supporting artillery battalions; these artillery battalions were later consolidated into the 15th Marine Regiment. with half the men in the three marine regiments being combat veterans, The 2nd and 3rd Battalions, 29th Marines, disembarked from the United States on 1 August 1944, and landed on Guadalcanal on 7 September 1944 to further augment the division. Despite a Japanese battalion in their zone the division met only light resistance. By the third day, the division was approaching
Iskhikawa, twelve days ahead of schedule. By 14 April, the division had swept all through the northern Ishikawa Isthmus, 55 miles from the original landings. The division's rapid advance continued until eventually they encountered prepared and dug-in defenders at
Yae-Take, where the majority of the
Udo Force was entrenched. The
Udo Force, or Kunigami Detachment, under Colonel Takehiko Udo was built around the 2nd Infantry Unit of the 44th Independent Mixed Brigade—reinforced by having absorbed both former sea-raiding suicide squadrons and remnants of the Battalion earlier destroyed by the 6th—was responsible for defense of the
Motobu Peninsula and
Ie Shima. The 6th Division's drive captured most of northern Okinawa and the Division won praise for its fast campaign – Brigadier General
Oliver P. Smith wrote: "The campaign in the north should dispel the belief held by some that Marines are beach-bound and are not capable of rapid movement." The Marines that had assaulted the line were attacked by heavy Japanese mortar and artillery fire, which made it more difficult to secure the line. (defended by
Admiral Ōta's forces), and partook in mop-up operations in the south. The battle on Okinawa ended on 21 June 1945. The Sixth division was credited with over 23,839 enemy soldiers killed or captured, and with helping to capture of the island, but at the cost of heavy casualties, including 576 casualties on one day (May 16) alone, a day described as the "bitterest" fighting of the Okinawa campaign where "the regiments had attacked with all the effort at their command and had been unsuccessful". For its actions at Okinawa, the 6th Marine Division (and reinforcing units) earned a
Presidential Unit Citation. The citation reads: During the war, the 6th Marine Division had two Seabee Battalions posted to it. The 53rd Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) was a component of the
1st Provisional Marine Brigade. Later the 58th NCB replaced them for the invasion of Okinawa. (see:
Seabees)
Guam and China In July 1945, the 6th division was withdrawn from Okinawa to the island of
Guam to prepare for
Operation Coronet, the planned invasion of
Honshū, Japan that was supposed to occur in March 1946 but the
Japanese surrendered in August 1945. While the 4th Marines were sent for brief occupation duty in Japan, the rest of the 6th spent September in Guam preparing for duty in China. The division arrived in
Tsingtao,
China on 11 October 1945 being replaced by the
3d Marine Brigade. In its time at Tsingtao the division not only accepted the surrender of local Japanese forces (on October 25 restored and maintained order, and came to be seen as the protector of minority groups in the former German concession. ==Command structure==