Operation Beleaguer

Operation Beleaguer
Part of the Chinese Civil War and the Cold War

Marines in Qingdao during Operation Beleaguer
Date1945–1949
Location
Hebei and Shandong provinces, China
Result United States withdrawal from China, subsequent PRC victory.
Belligerents
 United States
 Republic of China		 China Chinese Communist Party
Commanders and leaders
Albert C. Wedemeyer
Alvan C. Gillem, Jr.
Keller E. Rockey
Dewitt Peck
Samuel L. Howard
Omar T. Pfeiffer
Thomas C. Kinkaid		 Mao Zedong
Zhou Enlai
Units involved
III Amphibious Corps
Task Force 78
14th Air Force
33rd Special and 96th U.S. Naval Construction Battalions
UDT 9		 8th Route Army
Strength
50,000[1][2] Unknown
Casualties and losses
35 killed
43 wounded[3]		 47 killed
12 captured

Operation Beleaguer[4] was the codename for the United States Marine Corps' occupation of northeastern China's Hebei and Shandong provinces from 1945 until 1949. The Marines were tasked with overseeing the repatriation of more than 600,000 Japanese and Koreans that remained in China at the end of World War II. During the four-year occupation, American forces engaged in several skirmishes with the People's Liberation Army while successfully evacuating thousands of foreign nationals. The United States Government attempted to mediate a peace treaty between the opposing Nationalist and Communist factions but was unsuccessful. The Marines departed Northern China in June 1949 a few months before the communists won the Chinese Civil War and took control of mainland China.[1][5][6]

  1. ^ a b "The United States Marines in North China, 1945-1949". Archived from the original on March 22, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  2. ^ "When World War II really ended: The Antrim Review: Local News". Archived from the original on July 3, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  3. ^ "Casualties: U.S. Navy and Marine Corps". Archived from the original on June 5, 2007. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  4. ^ Millett, Allan R. (1991). Semper fidelis: the history of the United States Marine Corps. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 002921596X.
  5. ^ "Operation BELEAGUER: The Marine III Amphibious Corps in North China, 1945-1949: Marine Corps Gazette". Archived from the original on March 12, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  6. ^ "af.mil". Archived from the original on February 13, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2013.