Emma Nevada, Gabrielle Kraus and Etelka Gerster. She published various works on the technique of singing, and in 1897 a volume of reminiscences, Marchesi and Music. She died in London Nov. 17 1913.
Her daughter, Blache Marchesi (b. 1863), also a famous singer and teacher, made her début as a singer very young. She first appeared in opera at Prague in 1900, and subsequently sang at Covent Garden in 1902 and 1903.
MARCONI, GUGLIELMO (1874-), Italian electrical engineer and inventor of the Marconi system of wireless telegraphy, was born at Bologna April 25 1874. He was educated at Leghorn and at Bologna University, and it was in the town of his birth that he made the first wireless tests. In England his earliest wireless messages were sent between Penarth and Weston-super-Mare and on Salisbury Plain (1807). In 1899 he transmitted messages across the English Channel, and in 1902 from England to Canada and the United States. In 1904 he inaugurated the first ocean daily newspaper, the Cunard Daily Bulletin, on the R.M.S. “Campania.” He was created hon. G.C.V.O. in 1914, was made an Italian senator, and was the recipient of many foreign decorations and honours.
MARGUERITTE, PAUL (1860-1918), French novelist (see 17.706), died at Hossegor, Landes, Dec. 30 1918. His later work, written not in collaboration with his brother Victor, included La Maison brûle (1913) and Jouir (1918).
MARINES (see 17.719).—The employment of marine forces in the World War was considerable, and, in the main, characteristic. In some instances they constituted the whole or the main part of forces told off for coastal descents, e.g. the British expedition to Ostend in 1914 and the Zeebrugge enterprise of 1918. In others they were called upon to undertake emergency land operations for which no other military force was available, e.g. in the case of the Royal Marine Bde. at Antwerp 1914; or again, as in the case of the U.S. Marine Bde. in France 1917-8, and the British 63rd (R.N.) Div., which included marine units, in the composition of a land army in continuous operations. In several instances the marines proper formed a soldier nucleus for formations of which the principal part was made up of sailors,—this was the case not only with the British R.N. Div. but also, and even more so, with the German Marine Corps. France, having long ago converted all her marines into colonial troops, used improvised battalions and brigades of sailors (Fusiliers-Marins) in the same way, and a brigade of these under Rear-Adml. Ronarc'h won undying glory by its defence of Dixmude during the first Ypres-Yser battle.
The German Marine Corps, as constituted in the war, had a peculiar organization. It was composed originally as a division partly of marines and partly of sailors, who—as usual in countries where recruiting is based on conscription—were numerically far in excess of naval requirements. As such it took part in the siege of Antwerp and the advance through Flanders. When stabilization came the division was raised to the strength of a corps, and the corps commander (Adml. Schröder) was made responsible not only for the Yser front but also for coast defence between Nieuport and the Dutch frontier. Further, he became responsible for purely naval operations based on the Belgian coast, having both submarines, surface craft, and aircraft under his command for the purpose. Finally, the German corps formed a third mobile division which was sent to any point on the western front where reënforcements were needed. This organization was probably unique in modern military history, and is interesting as a real attempt to weld military and naval effort at the point of junction.
The British Royal Marines, 1914-8.—Just before the outbreak of the World War the total strength (all ranks) of the British Corps of Royal Marines was 18,000. During the war, however, the strength of the corps increased steadily, until at the end its numbers had been more than trebled. The expansion was due to the formation of new units within the corps. Thus when in 1914 the Royal Naval Div. was formed, various divisional units of Royal Marines were raised for service with it: such as engineers (transferred to the Royal Engineers in 1917), medical units and transport. In 1915 another unit the Royal Marine Submarine Miners for the mining defence of unprotected ports in Great Britain and in France was raised. The Royal Marine Labour Corps for loading and unloading duties at French ports and the Home Service Labour Corps were each raised in 1917. The Royal Marine Engineers a unit 8,000 strong, for special Admiralty constructional work in England, France and Belgium was formed in 1918. The following special units for service during the war were also provided separately, by the Royal Marine Artillery and the Royal Marine Light Infantry: a howitzer brigade R.M.A. (1915), an anti-aircraft brigade (1915, disbanded 1916) and four battalions (Chatham, Portsmouth, Plymouth and Deal) of infantry (R. M.L.I.)—raised in 1914 and absorbed into the 1st and 2nd Royal Marine Batts. in 1915 and into the 1st Royal Marine Batt. in 1918. In addition, the following special units were furnished compositely by the Royal Marine Artillery and the Royal Marine Light Infantry:—A special service battalion for Ireland (1916); the 3rd Royal Marine Batt.—for service in the eastern Mediterranean raised in 1916 and not disbanded until 1921; the 4th Royal Marine Batt. for service at Zeebrugge (1918); the 5th Royal Marine Batt. for special anti-submarine and anti-aircraft work in connexion with submarine barrages—raised in 1918; the 6th Royal Marine Batt. for service in northern Russia (1919)—the 8th Royal Marine Batt. for service in Ireland (1920-1); 4-in. and 12-pounder batteries for service in East Africa (1916 to 1918); and four siege batteries, R.G.A. (1918-9), containing a proportion of R.M.A. or R.M.L.I.
During the war the services of the Royal Marines were shown in widely different parts of the world. In all naval actions, of course, and in naval patrol duties, the Royal Marine personnel took a part. In the early days of the war personnel of the corps were also employed with the armoured cars operating from Dunkirk. A Royal Marine Bde. was landed at Ostend in 1914 and four battalions of the brigade took part in the defence of Antwerp. Details from two R. M.L.I, battalions were involved in the landing at Kum Kale and Sedd el Bahr (March 4 1915), and Marine Artillery siege guns were used at Dunkirk. The corps sent a battery to Egypt in 1916 for coast-defence duties. Detachments of Royal Marines served also in Cameroon, in the Persian Gulf, and with Adml. Troubridge in Serbia; and personnel of the corps formed the nucleus of the heavy batteries which were raised for service with Gen. Botha in South-West Africa and with Gen. Smuts in East Africa. The corps also furnished gun-crews for armed merchantmen, and garrisons for such defended naval bases as Scapa, Cromarty and St. Helena, and the improvised coast defences at the North Foreland, in the West Indies, and elsewhere.
- (E.S.H.*)
United States Marine Corps
In 1911 and again in 1912 unsettled conditions in the West Indies and Mexico made it necessary to assemble a brigade of marines at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. On Oct. 10 of the former year the revolution which overthrew the Manchu dynasty necessitated the reenforcing of the marine legation guard at Peking and an expeditionary force of marines was dispatched to China. In Nicaragua revolutionary conditions required a large expedition to be sent to that country in 1912; there were engagements in Coyotepe, Leon, Chichigalpa and Masaya. In 1913 conditions in the West Indies required that two expeditions of marines be sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to act as a pacifying influence. In Jan. 1914 marines from the battleships landed in Haiti, in conjunction with forces of Great Britain, France and Germany. In April, marines and blue-jackets occupied Vera Cruz, Mexico, and the marines served as a part of the army in Vera Cruz and vicinity until December. An expedition of marines also served on the west coast of Mexico during these same troubles. The last half of this year found the 5th Regiment of Marines on board the U.S.S. "Hancock" in Haitian and Dominican waters to stabilize conditions in these two republics. In July 1915 marines landed in Haiti, and in May 1916 in the Dominican Republic, and served continuously in these republics
