Paul Emerson Cramer, a Corporal in the US Marine Corps

A friend who was a volunteer with the RN Museum asked me to do some lookups.

He found a certificate for Paul Emerson Cramer who was a Corporal in the US Marine Corps and in September 1942 was made an Honorary Sergeant in the Royal Marines.

He was born in Orville, Ohio in 1919 and joined the military in 1939.

He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant In the US Marine Corps after completing officer training with the Royal Marines in 1943, this was reported in newspapers. Another US Marine, Walter D. Pickerell, graduated on the same course. Both had been made Honorary Sergeants in the RM early in their training course. In October 1943 both were transferred as cadets to RM Officer Training School.

"Quite why and how this set of postings for USMC personnel took place is not clear to me. Nor is it known why these two men were chosen."

Anyone able to help him?

MB

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 15/12/2022 19:57:04

Deleted and reposted below.

Midland Counties Tribune 19 February 1943

A few US Marine Corps personnel did attend courses at the Commando Depot ( Commando Basic Training Centre) at Achnacarry as can be seen on the Course Intakes document below, the first course commencing 31 March 1942. It is interesting to see that their course, which lasted less than 2 weeks, was actually the second of the new courses to take place at Achnacarry since commando training was centralised there.

https://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/Commando+Training/courses/

This date is also the the date when the first RM Commando unit, formed in February 1942, reached full strength, so perhaps a connection there. Army Commando units had been in existence since 1940.

https://www.commandoveterans.org/40RMCommando

As not all Royal Marines were commandos in WW2 you could also try the RM Historical Society if not already done. I have also attached a newspaper report as you mentioned one.

Hope this is of some use.

Pete

Yes I was speaking to someone a few days ago about the Commandos not being all RM. Here just seemed a good place to start asking.