Early life Devereux was born in Cabana,
Cuba, where his father, Dr. John Ryan Devereaux, a
U.S. Army surgeon, was stationed. In 1910, the family moved to
Chevy Chase, Maryland, on the north border of the
District of Columbia with
Washington, D.C. There, Devereux, one of ten children, rode to hounds in
Rock Creek Park and played polo. At age 10 he obtained a driver's license from the
District of Columbia, which had no age requirement at the time. Devereux also attended the Army and Navy Preparatory School in
Washington, D.C., then the
Tome School overlooking the
Susquehanna River at
Port Deposit, Maryland,
LaVilla in
Lausanne, Switzerland (when his parents lived in
Vienna, Austria), and later
Loyola College of
Baltimore, a
Jesuit Roman Catholic institution in Maryland.
Marine Corps career Devereux enlisted in the
United States Marine Corps in July 1923 at age 20, was commissioned a
second lieutenant in February 1925, and then was assigned to duty in
Norfolk, Virginia,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Marine barracks at
Quantico, Virginia, and at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In 1926, he was detailed to the mail guard detachment in
New York City and later was transferred to the force of Marines then serving in
Nicaragua as a company officer. Returning to the United States early in 1927, he was assigned to the
USS Utah and subsequently was sent ashore again to Nicaragua. Shortly thereafter he was ordered to
China where he was promoted to
first lieutenant. While in China he also commanded the Mounted Detachment of the U.S. Legation Guard at
Beiping. In 1933, following a year's tour of duty at
Quantico, he was assigned to the Coast Artillery School at
Fort Monroe, Virginia. Following his promotion to
captain in December 1935, he was ordered back to Quantico, where, until 1936, he instructed in the Base Defense Weapons School and aided in the preparation of a Marine Corps manual on Base Defense Weapons. In 1938, following a tour of duty with the Marine detachment on board the USS
Utah, Devereux was transferred to the Marine Corps Base at
San Diego.
Defense of Wake Island In January 1941, Devereux was ordered to
Pearl Harbor in the
Hawaiian Islands and later dispatched to Wake Island as the officer-in-charge of the
1st Defense Battalion's Detachment on
Wake Island, located in the northwest
Pacific Ocean. Devereux and the men of the 1st Defense Battalion arrived at Wake Island on October 15, 1941 aboard the
USS Regulus (AK-14). When they arrived there were already 1,146 civilian construction workers on the island who were busy improving the atoll's infrastructure. On the morning of Monday, December 8, 1941, he received the message that Pearl Harbor had been attacked by the Japanese a few hours earlier (Sunday, December 7, 1941). In the fight that followed, (the
Battle of Wake Island) then-
Major Devereux, and his Marines, supported by Marine Fighter Squadron 211, damaged two cruisers, sank two destroyers, one escort vessel, and destroyed or damaged a total of 72 aircraft, and probably sank one submarine. Two more destroyers were damaged the last day. However, later, after a second more intensive larger invasion force attacked, after days of bitter fighting, the 449 Marines surrendered to the Japanese on December 23, 1941.
Prisoner of war After his capture, he remained on Wake Island until January 12, 1942, when he was sent away with his men on the
Nita Maru. He stopped at
Yokohama, where some American officers debarked, but later arrived at
Wusong, located downriver from
Shanghai, on January, 24. He remained there until December 9, 1942, when he was transferred to
Jiangwan, where he spent 29 months imprisoned. For five weeks, he stayed at
Fengtai, near Beiping, and then was transferred to camps in central
Hokkaidō,
Japan. Devereux was released from the Hokkaidō Island prison camp on September 15, 1945.
After World War II After a brief rehabilitation leave, he was assigned as a student in the Senior Course at the Amphibious Warfare School at Quantico from September 1946 to May 1947. Upon completion of his studies, he received orders to the
First Marine Division at
Camp Pendleton,
Oceanside, California. He served as the commanding officer of the Division's
Headquarters Battalion until retiring on July 31, 1948. In 1947, his book,
Story of Wake Island, was published. Devereux was advanced to the rank of
brigadier general upon retirement in accordance with law, having been specially commended for the performance of duty in actual combat. For his leadership in defending the tiny American outpost for 15 days against overwhelming odds, Devereux was awarded the
Navy Cross. His citation reads:
Awards and decorations BGen Devereux's awards include: Devereux became eligible for the Prisoner of War Service Medal when it was authorized on November 8, 1985.
Post-military career – farming, Congress, public safety Devereux took up horse farming, Devereaux did not sign the 1956
Southern Manifesto and voted in favor of the
Civil Rights Act of 1957. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1958, but was an unsuccessful candidate for election as
Governor of Maryland against Democrat
J. Millard Tawes from
Crisfield on
Maryland's lower Eastern Shore of the
Chesapeake Bay. In 1960, he was named Republican Party chairman in his congressional district. He later served as director of public safety for
Baltimore County, Maryland, from December 1962 to 1966, supervising the police and fire departments. He was a member of the
Sons of the American Revolution. He was resident of
Ruxton, Maryland, until his death.
Family Devereux is the grandson of
Joseph F. Sinnott, a prominent Irish businessman in
Philadelphia who made a fortune as a co-owner of
Gibson's Rye Whisky. Devereux's mother, Annie Sinnott Devereux, died on October 27, 1944, while he was interred in a Japanese Prison Camp. While stationed in Peiping, China, Devereux met Mary Brush Welch, the daughter of Colonel John P. Welch, a U.S. Army officer. They were married in 1932. They had one son, James Patrick, and one daughter who died at birth (1934). Mrs. Devereux died of complications from diabetes in 1942, shortly after his capture by the Japanese on Wake Island. She was buried in
Arlington National Cemetery. In 1946, he married Rachel Clarke Cooke and they had two sons. The second Mrs. Devereux died in 1977. He is interred in
Arlington National Cemetery in northern
Virginia overlooking the
Potomac River.
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