Introducing the US Paramarines

The US Paramarines (a.k.a. Marine Paratroopers) were a unit within the US Marine Corps that existed between 1940 and 1944. The idea, as with other airborne troops, was to use them for raids behind enemy lines. Three battalions were formed, and while they did see combat, none of them was ever used for an airborne operation. Nonetheless, they were still an elite unit, in the sense that it was a volunteer-only force, made up exclusively of single (unmarred) men, which was granted extra pay, and the training was hard enough that only 60% of them completed it. Initially each of the 3 battalions were attached to separate Marine Divisions, and they participated as regular amphibious/ground troops in the campaigns of Guadalcanal and Bougainville in 1942 and 1943 respectively. Eventually they were combined into the 1st Marine Parachute Regiment. Unfortunately, the lack of sufficient air transport made airborne operations within the Marine Corps a challenge and by February of 1944, the unit was disbanded. The remaining Paramarines who were in training were incorporated into the 5th Marine Division which fought at Iwo Jima, and several of the former Paramarines participated in the raising of the flag on top of Mount Suribachi. Four former Paramarines went on to earn a Medal of Honor for their actions at Iwo Jima. The number and role of the Paramarines was so minor that this was a subject that not been covered in the Plastic Toy Soldier hobby. However it was recently addressed by Plastic Platoon. Let's take a look. 

Plastic Platoon US Paramarines

These guys are a nice complement to the first set of Marines. Initially I thought that other than the fact that there's a 7th man with them who clearly is a pilot -maybe he crashed or had to bail out on the same mission that dropped the Paramarines- there wasn't much to indicate that these guys were paratroopers, but then it hit me that they are clearly wearing jump boots. I wonder if after the jump that was still a good type of footwear for tropical islands. Maybe it was better at keeping the sand out, but if it did get in, I would have hated having to undo the shoe laces every so often to empty the sand. Anyhow, great poses as usual -love the guy firing the MG off the hip-, with good variety of weaponry. The machete guy is a nice touch. And in terms of detail, look at the ding on the helmet of the second guy from the left. Looks like he literally dodged a bullet! The pilot is one guy that I probably won't have a lot of use for. I might have preferred another Paramarine, but I won't complain. Another great set by Plastic Platoon.

Click here to take a look at WWII Toy Soldiers by Country

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Click here to check out other US Troops

Click here if you want to see a really cool post of the Marines in action.

Click here to see a description of Japanese Infantry figures.