William Curtis Chase | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Major General William C. Chase, U.S. Army, observes "Operation Portrex" D-Day maneuvers on Vieques, Puerto Rico, 8 March 1950. | |
| Born | (1895-03-09)March 9, 1895 Providence, Rhode Island, United States |
| Died | August 21, 1986(1986-08-21) (aged 91) |
| Buried | Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery,Texas, United States |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1916–1955 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Service number | 0-4739 |
| Unit | Cavalry Branch |
| Commands | 113th Cavalry Regiment 1st Brigade,1st Cavalry Division 1st Cavalry Division 38th Infantry Division |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Cross Army Distinguished Service Medal (2) Legion of Merit Bronze Star (4) Commendation Ribbon Purple Heart |
Major GeneralWilliam Curtis Chase (March 9, 1895 – August 21, 1986) was an American soldier andgeneral in the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his service in theSouth West Pacific Area duringWorld War II and in theOccupation of Japan.
A graduate ofBrown University, Chase enlisted in theRhode Island National Guard in 1913 and served on the Mexican Border. Commissioned as asecond lieutenant in thecavalry in January 1917, he served on theWestern Front inWorld War I and in theOccupation of the Rhineland. Between the wars, he attended theCommand and General Staff College atFort Leavenworth, later returning as an instructor.
Chase was promoted tobrigadier general in March 1943 on assuming command of the 1st Brigade,1st Cavalry Division. He was chosen to lead theassault on the Admiralty Islands in February 1944. He resisted the temptation to swiftly overrun the island, and thereby overextend his forces, and formed a defensive perimeter that made good use of the terrain. From this position, he was able to defeat a series of counterattacks by the numerically superior Japanese garrison.
In February 1945, Chase's columns pushed into the northern outskirts of Manila, liberating some 3,700 internees at theUniversity of Santo Tomas which had been turned into aninternment camp. He took over command of the38th Infantry Division, which was confronted by enemy fortifications at Zig-Zag Pass on theBataan Peninsula that took a week of hard fighting to reduce. Chase assumed command of the 1st Cavalry Division on August 1, 1945. He remained with it in theOccupation of Japan until he returned to the United States in January 1949. Later, he was chief of staff of theThird Army atFort McPherson and head of theMilitary Assistance Advisory Group in Taiwan. Retiring from the Army, he earned a Master of Arts degree in history fromTrinity University and taughtpolitical science at theUniversity of Houston.
William Curtis Chase was born inProvidence, Rhode Island, on March 9, 1896,[1] the son of William Beecher Chase and his wife, Doris Evelyn née Curtis. He attendedBrown University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with aPhi Beta Kappa Society key in 1916. While at Brown, Chase enlisted in Battery A, 1st Rhode Island Volunteer Artillery of theRhode Island National Guard (later Battery A,103rd Field Artillery Regiment) in 1913.[2]
On the afternoon of his graduation from Brown in 1916, Chase, now asergeant, joined Battery A atQuonset Point, Rhode Island, where it was mobilised for duty on the Mexican Border. The unit remained in theEl Paso, Texas, area for a time, but saw no action. While there, Chase passed an examination for commissions inRegular Army. Chase was posted toFort Leavenworth in January 1917 for a three-month course for newly commissioned officers before being commissioned as asecond lieutenant in thecavalry.[3]
Chase was assigned to the3rd Cavalry, then based atFort Sam Houston. Shortly after the United States declared war on Germany, he was promoted tofirst lieutenant and posted to the6th Cavalry on the Mexican frontier.[4]
Chase attended a machine gun course atFort Sill, after which he was posted to the 11th Machine Gun Battalion, part of the4th Division, in April 1918.[5] He served on theWestern Front with the 4th Division, participating in theBattle of Saint-Mihiel, but came down withjaundice and missed all but the last days of theMeuse-Argonne Offensive.[6] He participated in theOccupation of the Rhineland before the 4th Division returned to the United States in July 1919.[7]
On return, Chase was posted to the16th Cavalry, then in theRio Grande Valley, although it soon returned to Fort Sam Houston. In 1921 he was posted toMichigan State College for duty with theReserve Officers' Training Corps. There he met Dorothea Marie Wetherbee. They were married in 1921. They never had children.[8]
Chase attended theUnited States Army Cavalry School andUnited States Army Infantry School, followed by duty with the14th Cavalry atFort Sheridan, Illinois, from 1927 to 1929. He then attended theCommand and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. From 1931 to 1934 he served overseas with the26th Cavalry (Philippine Scouts) atFort Stotsenburg in thePhilippines. Returning to the United States, he was posted as an instructor in Tactics, first at the Cavalry School atFort Riley and then, from 1938 to 1940, at the Command and General Staff College.[9]
In 1941 Chase, now alieutenant colonel, was posted toVIII Corps, then commanded byMajor GeneralWalter Krueger. As such, he participated in theLouisiana Maneuvers. In December 1941, he was posted to theAmphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet, then under the command of Major GeneralHolland Smith. Based atMarine Corps Base Quantico, the Amphibious Force practicedAmphibious warfare tactics onChesapeake Bay.[10]
In 1942, Chase assumed command of the113th Cavalry, anIowa National Guard unit. Initially a horse-mechanized unit, the 113th Cavalry soon became fully mechanized. It moved from its original station at Fort Clark, Texas, toCamp Bowie and then toFort Hood, where it provided school troops for the Tank Destroyer Center.[11]
Chase was promoted tobrigadier general in March 1943 on assuming command of the 1st Brigade,1st Cavalry Division.[1] The division was then stationed atFort Bliss but was already preparing to move to theSouth West Pacific. The 1st Cavalry Division had therefore been dismounted, but the division and brigade commanders and their staffs were still on horseback. The 1st Cavalry Division staged atCamp Stoneman. Chase departed from San Francisco on July 3 on the transportUSAT George Washington.[12]
The 1st Cavalry Division arrived in Australia and continued its training atStrathpine, Queensland. Training there was more vigorous than at Fort Bliss, and Chase broke hisheel bone in a training accident.[13] In December 1943, the 1st Cavalry Division sailed forOro Bay, where it staged for its next operation, theAdmiralty Islands campaign.[14] Chase was chosen to lead the assault. Here, his tactical expertise came to the fore. He resisted the temptation to overrun the island ofLos Negros, and thereby overextend his forces, and instead formed a defensive perimeter that made good use of the terrain. From this position, he was able to defeat a series of counterattacks by the numerically superior Japanese garrison.[15] The crisis passed, Chase's force was reinforced by the rest of the division, and the 1st Cavalry Division was then able to overrun the islands. Chase was awarded theBronze Star for his role in the campaign.[16]
The 1st Cavalry Division remained in the Admiralty Islands until October, when it boarded ships there for theinvasion of Leyte, which it assaulted on October 20, 1944. Chase's 1st Brigade's initial mission was to reconnoiter the hills on the west side of theTacloban Valley and establish observation posts from which it could command the entrances to the valley.[17] In November, he was ordered to cover the flank ofX Corps' advance up the Leyte Valley, and later into the Ormoc Valley. Chase had to move his brigade across mountainous, roadless, uncharted jungle in frequently appalling wet weather. The advance made slow progress against Japanese troops that fought tenaciously all the way.[18]
The 1st Cavalry Division was down to half strength when it was withdrawn from the front line on Leyte for a brief rest in January 1945, but few reinforcements arrived before it was ordered to move toLuzon,[19] where it disembarked over the beaches atSan Fabian on January 27, 1945.[20]General of the ArmyDouglas MacArthur ordered the 1st Cavalry Division's commander,Major GeneralVerne D. Mudge, to conduct a rapid advance onManila. For this, Mudge formed threeflying columns.[21] Initially, Chase's 1st Brigade's mission was to follow one of the columns but on February 1 he was relieved of responsibility for the main body of the 1st Brigade and placed in command of all three flying columns.[22]
On February 3, Chase's columns pushed into the northern outskirts of Manila and seized a vital bridge over the Tuliahan River, which separated them from the city proper. Chase, controlling his columns by radio, suffered slight burns to his hands when a Japanese truck exploded. A squadron of the8th Cavalry, guided by two Filipinoguerrillas reached the sprawling campus of theUniversity of Santo Tomas which had been turned into aninternment camp, liberating some 3,700 internees.[23]
A Japanese raiding party destroyed the bridge over Tuliahan River; Chase's security was not good enough. This prevented the main body of the 1st Cavalry Division from linking up with Chase's force in Manila. Supplies were dispatched through the37th Infantry Division's zone until engineers could build a new bridge.[24] For his advance on Manila, Chase was awarded theDistinguished Service Cross. He was also awarded thePurple Heart for the burns to his hands.[25]
On February 7, 1945, Chase took over command of the38th Infantry Division, which was then confronted by enemy fortifications at Zig-Zag Pass on theBataan Peninsula. It took Chase a week of hard fighting to reduce this position.[26] A battalion of the 151st Infantry under Chase's personal command landed atMariveles on the southern tip of Bataan on February 14.[27] The 38th Infantry Division participated in the final actions onCorregidor.[28] Units of the 38th Infantry Division assaulted and capturedCaballo Island on March 27,Fort Drum on El Fraile Island on April 13, andCarabao Island on April 16.[29] Meanwhile, other elements of the 38th Infantry Division engaged enemy forces in the mountainousFort Stotsenburg area.[30] In the midst of these operations, Chase was promoted tomajor general in March.[1]
In late April 1945, the 38th Infantry Division moved to the area east of Manila where it relieved the6th Infantry Division. On May 1, it began a series of probing attacks prior to an attack on May 4 aimed at capturing the Wawa Dam, an important part of Manila's water supply. Chase had to reduce a series of strongly held Japanese positions. By the end of the month, the dam was secure and the JapaneseKobayashi Force was broken.[31]
Chase assumed command of the 1st Cavalry Division on August 1, 1945. At this time, the division was in theLucena City area but slated forOperation Downfall, in which it would assaultAriake, Kagoshima.[32] The end of the war precluded this. Instead, the 1st Cavalry Division participated in theOccupation of Japan. It embarked fromBatangas on August 25 and disembarked inTokyo Bay on September 2. From the assembly area in Hara-Machida, Chase lead the convoy through the ruins of the country side, and at the city border stepped out of the jeep and crossed the demarcation line making him the first US officer setting foot in Tokyo, and giving the distinction to the 1st Cavalry Division as "First in Tokyo"[33][34]
Chase remained with the 1st Cavalry Division on occupation duties until December 1948, when he temporarily assumed command ofIX Corps. He finally returned to the United States in January 1949,[35] and became chief of staff of theThird Army atFort McPherson in April 1949.[36] From 1951 to 1955 he headed theMilitary Assistance Advisory Group Taiwan. He retired from the Army on July 31, 1955.[37]
Chase earned a Master of Arts degree in history fromTrinity University. From 1957 to 1965, he taughtpolitical science at theUniversity of Houston. His wife Dorothea died in 1957. In 1961 he married Mrs Hallie Barlow Olcott. Chase retired in 1965, having reached the state ofTexas' mandatory retirement age.[38] In 1974, Chase joined a party of retired generals associated with General MacArthur on a visit to Australia as guests ofLieutenant General SirEdmund Herring and DameMary Herring. In addition to Chase,Leif J. Sverdrup,Hugh John Casey, and LeGrande A. Diller and their wives also made the trip.[39] Chase published his memoirs, entitledFront Line General: The Commands of Maj. Gen. Wm. C. Chase, in 1975.[40] He died on August 21, 1986, and was buried atFort Sam Houston National Cemetery.[41]
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| Preceded by | Commanding General 38th Infantry Division February–July 1945 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commanding General 1st Cavalry Division 1945–1949 | Succeeded by |
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