Fourth Marine Band: The Last China Band

Marine Musicians in WWII Shanghai

Jul 24, 2009 Eric Niderost

The last China Marine band played in China before Pearl Harbor. They last performed when their regiment left Shanghai, November 28,1941.

In the late 1930s the U.S. Marine Corps numbered only some 20,000 men. It was a small organization, but one in which “pride” and “tradition” were no recruiting slogans, but day-to-day reality. This is particularly true when it came to military music. There were few military field bands just prior to World War II, but in 1941 the Fourth Marine Band in Shanghai had nearly fifty members. They played at parades and reviews, as would be expected, but they also gave public concerts that were extremely popular with all segments of the city, even Chinese.

The Fourth Marine Band and the Peking Legation Band

There were actually two separate categories of marine musician: the band and the field musicians. The latter were the men who played bugles or beat drums, and were attached to the infantry battalions. Originally Shanghai’s Fourth Marine band had 25 members, but in 1941 they were joined by the band from the Peking (Beijing) Legation Marine Band. Now 48 strong, they were led by bandmaster Master Technical Sergeant Lewis E. Griffith

Sunday Concerts in Shanghai’s Grand Theater

Every Sunday the band participated in divine services, then followed up with a public concert. In 1940 the Sunday events were held in the Grand Theater, one of the many Art Deco buildings that were common in Shanghai at the time. The Grand Theater was a large venue, modern, and with great acoustics. Private Donald Versaw, who played the French horn, recalled that the theater had an excellent lounge just off the foyer. In his memoir Last China Band Versaw says that “I found a touch of Scotch and Soda did lubricate the valves of my French horn. At least, I thought it did.”

The Fourth Marines Leave Shanghai for the Philippines

As tensions grew between the United States and Japan, it was plain that the Fourth Marines would have to be withdrawn. In late 1941 Admiral Thomas Hart. Commander of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet, urged that the marines leave at once. In his view, if war broke out they would be quickly contained or destroyed. The U.S. State Department finally came around to Hart’s views.

The Fourth Marines left Shanghai on November 27-28, 1941. The Second Battalion left November 27, a cold and rainy day, and boarded the liner President Madison for the Philippines. But the next day, clouds gave way to at least some sunshine. With the rain gone, the last of the regiment could march out in a grand farewell to the city it had known since 1927.

The CO at the time, Colonel Samuel L. Howard, led the way with a group of officers. They marched on foot. A newsreel camera car followed, recording the departure on celluloid. The band marched proudly down Nanking (now Nanjing) Road, just ahead of the rifle companies of the First Battalion in heavy marching order. The musicians played a selection of tunes, including Semper Fidelis and The Marine’s Hymn.

Thousands of Chinese thronged the streets, some waving American flags. Chinese and Russian girlfriends looked on tearfully, and it was said that some merchants waved unpaid chits (bills) the leathernecks were leaving behind. When the parade reached the docks it was greeted by the Municipal Council, the diplomatic corps, and military representatives. Even the Japanese military was represented.

The Last China Marine Band on Corregidor

The Fourth Regiment arrived safely in the Philippines aboard the liner President Harrison. Once war broke out they were transferred to Corregidor. The Last China Marine band never played as a group again. After enduring three and a half years of Japanese captivity, most returned home. The Band was gone, but the musicians had great memories.

Sources:

George B. Clark, Treading Softly: U.S. Marines in China, 1819-1949 (Praeger, 2001)

Donald L Versaw, The Last China Band (Marrs Publishing, 1990)

The copyright of the article Fourth Marine Band: The Last China Band in Military History is owned by Eric Niderost. Permission to republish Fourth Marine Band: The Last China Band in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.