One of the first orders of business affecting the lifestyles of the Fourth Marines was to find housing for them. This was initiated after the Marines were allowed to disembark the Chaumont in March, 1927. At first, adequate quarters could not be obtained for the entire regiment. The Third Battalion was housed in sufficient buildings, but the First and Provisional Battalions were forced to reside in quarters which the regimental surgeon found unfit. By May, the First Battalion had found adequate quarters; however, the Provisional Battalion was forced to occupy its unsatisfactory accommodations until October, when the battalion was disestablished. The buildings which were eventually acquired to house the Fourth Marines ranged from private residences to a former Christian school for girls. (28)
Officers could elect to live in the bachelor officer quarters or to take up their own residence. Many married officers brought their wives and children to Shanghai and were able to establish comfortable households with full domestic staffs. Younger, single officers could pool their resources and share nicely furnished and fully staffed housing, as well. Robert H. Williams rented an apartment with two other junior officers where they "lived amicably and well" and were able to "display our taste in rugs and, we hoped, to create a favorable impression with the food and wine we served and the variety of liqueurs and old brandy we offered with coffee." (30)
During periods when crisis or conflict did not seem imminent, there was much more time off duty than on duty. Duty hours were normally from 8:00 AM until Noon with recreation and athletics held in the afternoon. Military training was structured, but not as extensive as one might expect or as the Fourth Marine leaders may have desired, mainly because there was no room within the International Settlement to conduct full scale drills with the entire regiment. Drill consisted of a weekly route march through the settlement held individually for each company, a regimental parade at the Shanghai race course each Thursday, and a settlement defense drill every other Friday. The Marines had plenty of time to maintain their equipment and uniforms and competition with their British counterparts led the Fourth Marines to achieve a high level of "spit and polish." (31)
The most visible of organized activities were the extensive sports programs established for the Marines to enjoy. There was regimental competition in a wide variety of sports, including basketball, boxing, wrestling, track, swimming, tennis, golf, bowling and baseball. The picture at right is of the Fourth Marines volleyball championship team of 1939. Teams were also organized to compete with teams from Shanghai, other International Settlement countries, as well as teams from Tientsin, Hong Kong and Japan. According to Ray Poppelman, "We played [basketball] in the Shanghai University tournamentÉ. We knew the Chinese liked us, but they never cheered for us, and we wondered why. We learned that we were winning too many games. It was a custom that spectators cheer only for losers." (32) The Marines had a very successful record in all sports and even took up the British sport of rugby with impressive results. Since the other countries did not have experience with American football, competition in that sport was limited to an annual Thanksgiving Day game. Visiting military outfits, including the Sixth Marines and US Navy ships, also provided intense competition for "smokers," or organized boxing matches. The Fourth Marines trained hard for all such competition and came away with a very successful record. Another sport in which Marines participated was polo, but that activity was mainly pursued by officers.
Many of the athletic events were held at the Navy YMCA. Although this was a place for athletics, the YMCA also provided a wide range of "wholesome activities" for the Marines. Some examples of activities at the "Y" included tours of cultural attractions, Sunday fellowship services, contract bridge, educational talks on China, lessons in eating with chopsticks and Chinese food preparation, educational movies, and lessons in conversational Chinese and Russian language. The "Y" also housed a restaurant, which provided full meals as well as "short orders" each evening.
Along the lines of wholesome activities, there was also a Marine Brigade Church, which was staffed with chaplains and provided weekly services. Singing and other activities were also provided by the Church and its staff. Marines could attend services at other churches and synagogues in the community if the Marine Church did not meet their denominational needs. There was an added benefit to attending church, because "we were often invited to Sunday dinners at homes of missionaries and civilians," according to Ray Poppelman. (33)
Life "on the town" must have been very interesting and exciting to the men of the Fourth Marines. Their money went a long way in the local economy and, thus, they were able to maintain a much higher standard of living than in the United States. The exchange rate varied, but was reported at five "Mex" to one U.S. dollar in 1932 (34) and six to one in 1939. (35) There was also a wide variety of goods on which to spend their money. There were many social and night clubs, as well as department stores, restaurants, dance schools and at least four movie theaters which showed current American pictures.
The nightclubs seem to have been in intense competition to attract the Marines. Claims of the best drinks and the friendliest girls were common in advertising for the clubs. Interestingly, the "girls" who worked in the clubs were not all local Chinese women -- many were White Russian women whose families had relocated to Shanghai in the wake of the Russian Revolution. To dance with the women in the clubs, it was usually necessary to but tickets in advance. Marines could also open "club books," which allowed them to charge their purchases at the clubs and settle up with the proprietors on payday. According to Robert H. Williams, "One seldom paid cash for anything on the China Coast. Chits were totaled and billed at the end of the month, sometimes even longer intervals." (36) In addition to the night clubs, there were also many social clubs which the Marines could join in Shanghai. For Marine officers, there were the American Club, the Columbia Country Club and The Shanghai Club, to name just a few. (37) At least one Marine, William Metzler, also joined the Shanghai Homing Pigeon Club. He explained that "they made me an honorary member and [I] attended all their posh functions. The club was made up of affluent citizens of ShanghaiÉ. They accepted me because I knew pigeons. . . . Lots of betting money was at stake." (38)
Eventually, the Marines set up their own club, known simply as the Fourth Marines Club, and it included many amenities which were a good diversion for enlisted Marines. After being located in various places throughout the settlement, a permanent club was established in 1938. The new club was very posh, with bars, a bowling alley, a library and a soda fountain among the attractions.
Judging from advertisements, many products available in the United States were also available in Shanghai. Everything from familiar brands of liquor to Kodak motion picture cameras seemed to be available. One of the first sights seen by the Marines upon entering Shanghai aboard the Chaumont in 1927 was a large billboard advertising an American chewing gum. (39)
In addition, the Marines were able to purchase tailor-made civilian clothes and uniforms for a fraction of their cost at home. Ray Poppelman said that "Chinese tailors made clothes from the finest chino khaki. Shirts, ties, camel-hair bathrobes (with dragon designs) and suits were all tailor-made specifically for the purchaser. Even silk underwear!" (40) Once again, the exchange rate and low cost of local goods made Shanghai a very favorable place for the leathernecked consumers.
The Marines were also granted regular leave while in Shanghai. Many used their leave to visit such attractions as the Great Wall or to take excursions up the Yangtze River. After hostilities broke out between China and Japan, there were even tours advertised that would take sightseers to the "war torn" areas. Others chose to hoard their leave for extended cruises on their way back to the United States when their tour was completed.
To chronicle the activities of the Fourth Marines, a weekly news magazine, called the Walla Walla, was established in 1928. It was written by enlisted Marines and tended to relate mainly to the lives and interests of the enlisted men. It was a very professionally produced periodical and usually featured a color cover with impressive artwork. Stories focused on athletics, professional topics and events in the war between China and Japan. There was even a farcical advice column written by "Cissy Wu" for those Marines with romantic troubles. The Walla Walla was one of the best military publications of its day and its circulation reached around the world, especially to former members of the Fourth Marines.
Another first rate publication put out by the Fourth Marines was its Annual, which was first published in 1931-32. The Annual was a yearbook style publication and included photos of all the officers and men, as well as photos and descriptions of the key events each year. Also included in the Annual was a history of the Fourth Marines and a chronology of the past year's events.
While engaged in their off-duty pursuits, it could never be forgotten by the Marines that they were ambassadors in a land where any wrong move could become an embarrassment to both the Marine Corps and the United States. Ray Poppelman succinctly stated that "In a city known for gambling, beggars, prostitutes and sleazy nightclubs, Marines had to be careful." (41) There was a great need for self-control, especially as tension between China and Japan turned into full scale open conflict. Aggressive Japanese acts such as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the sinking of the USS Panay, and the bombing of the USS Augusta, tested the patience and neutrality of all Americans, from President Franklin Roosevelt down to the lowest ranking private in the Fourth Marines. As the world braced for war and, one by one, the other countries departed the International Settlement, the members of the Fourth Marines became painfully aware that their time of leisure and "police duty" would soon come to an unwelcome end.
However, there is much evidence to indicate that life in China grew tedious, especially since garrison duty was not an established mission of the Marine Corps. Because American leaders did not want to provoke the Chinese or the Japanese, the Marines had their hands tied. They were forced to stand by as atrocities were committed and could only intervene in the fighting to protect American lives and property or in self defense. Those Marines who were frustrated with their role in Shanghai could take solace in the fact that the rotation schedule was approximately two years.
Ray Poppelman told of witnessing "wholesale executions" in 1927. He remembered seeing "two trucks loaded with executionersÉ. Communists were marched to the river's edge, shot in the head while kneeling and then kicked in the riverÉ. It was reported that 3,000 Communist soldiers were executed that day." (42) Marines would witness executions, torture and rape throughout their tenure in Shanghai and would be able to do little to prevent any of those acts.
The prevalence of executions and torture is evidenced by the scrapbooks brought back from China by the Marines. There are photographs of firing squads, beheadings, disembowelments, rape and such torture as "the death of a thousand cuts." Apparently these photographs were commercially available, because there are exact duplicates in many scrapbooks with the name of a commercial studio stamped on the backs of the photographs. Although morbid, these photographs are chilling testaments to the atrocities that were carried out by both the Chinese and Japanese in Shanghai between 1927 and 1941.
The Marines' views of the Chinese citizens encompassed a wide spectrum and seem contradictory. Some treated the Chinese with the utmost respect, while others seem to have regarded them as sub-human. While editorials in the Walla Walla urged Marines to get to know the local culture and try to appreciate it, the paper also carried poems and cartoons which perpetuated the worst stereotypes of the Chinese people. While Marines sought out the company of Chinese women, they were discouraged from marrying them. It seems that the frustrations of being stationed in a strange land with an unclear mission were manifested in the perpetuation of racial stereotypes and scapegoating for many Marines.
Garrison duty also led to biting sarcasm. One reflection of that sarcasm was shown in the issuance
of the "Soochow Creek Medal." The Marines took it upon themselves to create this farcical medal when they were called upon to guard the borders of the International Settlement in 1932 and 1937. The medals were designed and produced locally and were available for sale to all Marines who participated in the defense of the settlement. They were authorized for wear at all times "except when in uniform." The most frustrating aspect of the defense of the settlement was that the Marines were sometimes sitting in the cross-fire of the Japanese and Chinese troops and could do nothing but watch and hope that they were not hit by stray rounds.
Sarcasm and humor in general found their way into the pages of the Walla Walla, as well. There were numerous cartoons and stories lampooning the plight of the leathernecks in Shanghai. There were also sections of the paper dedicated to gossip, which provided a safety valve through which to relieve stress and boredom. Routine humor in the paper revolved around women, alcohol, black eyes, curfews and civilian clothes on liberty.
The limited space which prevented large scale drills on a regular basis and the lures of the city made it difficult to keep many Marines in fighting condition. These problems were addressed by Colonel Henry Davis, an early commander of the Fourth Marines in Shanghai, who longed to take the Marines to the Philippines where he could follow a schedule "of an intensive nature and get the booze and deviltry boiled out of these men by keeping them hard at field work in the hot weather and over the wide terrain which is available in Olongapo." (43)
Although the Marines seemingly had their hands tied, were constantly tempted by the vices available
in Shanghai and found it difficult to conduct large-scale exercises, they were still recognized as one of the most efficient units in the Marine Corps. They were routinely praised for their appearance in uniform by inspecting officers and were regularly one of the best units in Asia in the area of marksmanship. There also seems to have been a great deal of esprit de corps, whether demonstrated under battle conditions, on playing fields or on liberty. Nobody who did not experience life in Shanghai during the era of the "China Marines" can capture the essence of it or explain what made it special. Perhaps the best way to assess the impact of the Fourth Marines on life in Shanghai is to recall their sendoff, on November 28, 1941, under the cloud of an impending war with Japan and an uncertain fate.