During the past 250 years, the United States Marine Corps has admirably defended the liberty of our nation from myriad enemies around the globe—from the “Halls of Montezuma” to the “Shores of Tripoli” and in such well-known campaigns as Belleau Wood, Guadalcanal, Inchon, Khe Sanh and Kabul, just to name a few. However, in the 1920s, the Marines were deployed in a little-known role a lot closer to home.
In 1920 and 1921, there was a rash of violent robberies of the U.S. Mail that resulted in the deaths and wounding of some postal employees and the theft of large sums of money. The situation had reached a point that the postmaster general requested some guns from the War Dept. to arm “all outside postal employees.” Most of the guns provided by the War Dept. were World War I-era Model 1917 .45-cal. revolvers. These efforts seemed to temporarily reduce the number of mail thefts. However, revolvers were hardly sufficient to stem the rash of robberies for long, and they soon resumed with a vengeance. As stated by the postmaster general, “In this effort postal employees were injured and killed and some robbers slain, but there followed a series of robberies and depredations at points which the Post Office Department had not as yet been able to equip fully and with which it was unable to cope.” Clearly, the postal employees lacked the training, experience and adequate armament to counter the crime wave. Help was sorely needed. Local newspapers carried numerous accounts of many of the mail robberies, with lurid details about the deaths and injuries of postal employees and bystanders.
In November 1921, President Warren G. Harding wrote the following to Edwin Denby, Secretary of the Navy:
“You will detail as guards for the United States Mails a sufficient number of officers and men of the United States Marine Corps to protect the mails from depredations by robbers and bandits.”
The Marines were detailed to ride on mail trucks and trains and to guard post offices and other facilities as directed. The mail guard contingent consisted of approximately 53 officers and 2,200 enlisted men. Of course, it was not possible for the Marines to guard every mail delivery, so priority was given to shipments of substantial value such as cash or negotiable securities.
The Marines took their mail guard duties very seriously. Secretary of the Navy Denby, a Marine Corps veteran, gave the following no-nonsense instructions to the Marines tasked with guarding the mail:
“You must, when on guard duty, keep your weapon in hand, if attacked, shoot, and shoot to kill. There is no compromise in this battle with bandits. If two Marines guarding a mail car, for example, are suddenly covered by a robber, neither must hold up his hands, but both must begin shooting at once. One may be killed, but the other will get the robbers and save the mail. When our Marine Corps men go as guards over the mail, that mail must be delivered or there must be a dead Marine at the post of duty.”
It didn’t take long for such strong measures to achieve the desired results. In the short span of just three months, the serious rash of robberies and the killing and wounding of postal employees was quashed. By March 1922, the Marines were withdrawn from mail guard duty, and a grateful nation heaved a sigh of relief.
Unfortunately, four years later, for some inexplicable reasons, another series of mail robberies occurred, sometimes even more violent than those that had previously plagued the nation. On Oct. 14, 1926, a particularly vicious attack by a gang of thugs, some reportedly armed with submachine guns, occurred at a postal facility in Elizabeth, N.J. Civilian guards and local policemen were wounded, and a mail truck driver was brutally killed.
In an attempt to prevent the violence from getting worse, President Calvin Coolidge ordered 2,500 Marines be dispatched again to guard the U.S. Mail. Marine legend Gen. Smedley D. Butler, a distinguished combat veteran of the First World War and recipient of two Medals of Honor, commanded the contingent.
A prompt and decisive show of force by Gen. Butler’s Marines quickly dampened the enthusiasm of subsequent mail robbers. It was stated that: “General Butler’s fully armed Marines soon became sobering influences throughout the Post Offices, mail trains and mail trucks … . While Marines carried out their mail guard assignments, only one attempted robbery was recorded.”
Clearly, the Marines carried out their mail guard duties in 1921, 1922 and 1926 in the exemplary manner as is typical of the Corps. Although the story of the “Marine Mail Guards” and their exploits isn’t well-known today, the guns they utilized are all iconic American military arms of the early 20th century.
A Rundown Of The Mail Guard Guns
While the resourcefulness, bravery and training of the Marines were vital to the successes of their mail guard duties, the arms they employed were obviously a key part of the deterrence. With one exception, the small arms used by the Marines were the same types issued during the First World War.
Model 1917 Revolver
The primary military revolver used by our armed forces in World War I was the Model 1917 chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. Smith & Wesson and Colt made versions of the Model 1917 revolver. Sheet-metal “half-moon” clips were designed that enabled the rimless cartridges to be easily loaded and ejected.
As mentioned above, the Model 1917 revolvers were the primary guns provided to Post Office employees in 1920 and 1921 before the Marines arrived on the scene. The majority of the revolvers used during this time were manufactured by Colt, but some Smith & Wesson guns were also utilized. Period photos show these revolvers being carried by Post Office employees and some Marine mail guards.
Model 1911 Pistol
While some of the Marine mail guards carried Model 1917 revolvers, most were armed with the standard Model 1911 semi-automatic pistol, chambered in .45 ACP, that had proven to be an excellent combat sidearm during World War I in the hands of the Marines and Army Doughboys. A Dec. 13, 1921, “Circular Letter” from the Marine Corps commandant instructed that:
“Pistols may be carried loaded, cocked and locked. The holster should be fastened to the leg and the flap tucked or tied back so as not to interfere with drawing. The Marine (if not carrying other arms) should carry his hand on the pistol butt.”
Contemporary photos reveal that many of the Marine mail guards complied with the above directive and kept their holster flaps tucked out of the way.
Model 1903 Rifle
Despite the close-quarters fighting that was the norm for postal robberies, some Marines dispatched for mail guard duty carried the famed Model 1903 Springfield bolt-action rifle. Used with notable effectiveness by the Marine contingent in France during the First World War, the ’03 fired the powerful and accurate .30 Springfield (.30-’06 Sprg.) cartridge. Any postal bandit wearing body armor or attempting to flee in an automobile would be vulnerable to the ’03.
Model 1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR)
Without question, the most potent, and feared, firearm used by the Marines during this period was the famed Model 1918 Browning Automatic Rifle. Although not fielded until the closing weeks of World War I, the BAR was the best automatic rifle of the era, and variants remained the standard U.S. military squad automatic weapon well into the 1950s. Chambered for the same powerful .30-’06 Sprg. cartridge as the Model 1903 rifle, the BAR fed from a 20-round detachable box magazine and could be fired in either semi-automatic or full-automatic modes at a cyclical rate of approximately 550 rounds per minute. The reliable BAR provided impressive firepower, and even the most foolish robber would be intimidated by the formidable arm.
Model 1897 & Model 10 “Trench” Shotguns
Some of the more ubiquitous arms utilized by the Marine mail guards were two models of 12-ga. slide-action shotguns developed for use in the First World War and unofficially dubbed “trench guns.” These short-barrel “riot type” shotguns were fitted with protective barrel handguards and adapter assemblies for the Model 1917 bayonet. At the time, there was no deadlier close-quarters firearm available to the Marines than a repeating 12-ga. shotgun loaded with 00 buckshot. Most of the trench guns were Winchester Model 1897s, but a number of Remington Model 10 trench guns were issued as well. The most apparent difference between the two was that the Winchester had an all-metal, one-piece bayonet adapter/handguard assembly while the Remington had a wooden handguard and separate bayonet lug.
Certainly, no sane criminal would have relished going up against a determined and experienced Marine armed with a 12-ga., buckshot-spewing shotgun. The trench guns were extremely popular with the Marines, and, along with the handguns, were the most widely used firearms during the mail guard campaigns.
Model 1921A Thompson Submachine Gun
With one notable exception, the arms used by the Marines during the “second mail guard deployment” in 1926 were the same as those employed in 1921 and 1922. However, the previously mentioned violent attack in 1926 by heavily armed criminals, some with submachine guns, caused so much mayhem that the postmaster general decided to “fight fire with fire.” He ordered 200 Model 1921A Thompson submachine guns from the Auto-Ordnance Corp. Chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge, the Thompson had just been introduced in 1921 when the first rash of mail robberies occurred, and few of the guns were obtainable at the time. However, by 1926, there were ample numbers of Thompsons available for purchase. The 200 Thompsons were distributed among the Marine mail guards, who soon became enamored with the fast-firing guns.
Again, the Marines’ impressive show of force, undoubtedly aided by the Thompsons, quickly got the robberies under control, and they were relieved of mail guard duty in February 1927. Even though their Thompsons had been provided by the Post Office Dept., the Marines were in no hurry to give them back. Plans were underway to deploy Marines to Nicaragua and China due to American interests being threatened at the time, and the Leathernecks decided to take the Thompsons along with them. The former Post Office Thompsons served the Marines well in Nicaragua and China and marked the beginning of a decades-long fondness for the Thompson by the Marine Corps. Even though these guns were bought and paid for by the Post Office, the “donation” to the Marines was a small price to pay for the tremendous job the Corps did in 1921, 1922 and again in 1926 to protect the postal employees and secure the U.S. mail.
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