Part time war work in Motown (burp gun as bonus)
Three WWII U.S. Coast Guard Temporary Reservists pose with their H&R Reising submachine guns. All three are draft-exempt due to being in vital war industries but volunteered for service with the USCG in the Detroit area, likely as TRs assigned to dock and harbor patrol for (at least) two six-hour shifts per week.
Original caption: “A well-trained TR is a master at firing small arms as well as handling small boats. These three are handling the light Coast Guard Reising sub-machine gun. Standing, L to R: Edward L. Baker, S2/c, 803 W. Boston Blvd. (Ternstedt X-Ray lab), Percy D. Coolman, S2/c 15096 Regina, Allen Park (Ternstedt Plant Layout), Kneeling: Alfred Schultz, 3453 Hurlbut, Detroit (Cadillac motor parts).”
USCG Photo. National Archives Identifier 205590159, Local Identifier 26-g-89-096
During the war, approximately 125,000 Coast Guard TRs served as a vital “home guard” providing crucial port security and “Hooligan Navy” coastal patrol services, often on an unpaid, part-time basis.
U.S. Coast Guard Temporary Reservists were authorized on 19 Feb 1941, roughly 85 years ago
The Reising, which proved troublesome in front-line service with the 1st Marines on Guadalcanal, was a favorite of the TR’s port security patrols, where stateside conditions proved more forgiving than the jungles of the South Pacific.
Afterall, it could be a more suit-and-tie kind of affair…
Original caption: Small area training is a must. USCG TR Fred Nunally, 1757 Chestnut, Wyandotte, Michigan, fires a Reising machine gun. National Archives Identifier 205590153 Local Identifier 26-g-89-094
