Security· U.S. Occupation of North China
Tsingtao Landing
While the 1st Marine Division secured Hopeh, the 6th Marine Division under Major General Lemuel C.
Shepherd Jr. landed at the port of Tsingtao in Shantung Province. The landing was unopposed, and the division moved quickly to take control of the city, its harbor, and the surrounding airfields, establishing its headquarters in the former Japanese naval headquarters building. The Marines' first duties were disarming and repatriating the Japanese garrison and securing the port, which became a principal point of evacuation for surrendered enemy personnel. The formal surrender of the roughly ten-thousand-man Japanese garrison was accepted by General Shepherd at a ceremony attended by the whole division. Tsingtao would remain the longest-held Marine position in China, the anchor of the Shantung commitment and later the base of the Fleet Marine Force, Western Pacific.
Record no. 601