This page covers his time from promotion to Royal Marine Lieutenant in March 1943 until the end of the war in 1945 and demobilisation in December 1945. I referred in a previous post to the anomaly of Lt. Cross skipping the rank of Warrant Officer (WO2 and WO1) in its entirety. It has been suggested and backs up my own view, that wartime promotions often occurred on a as-needs-be basis when circumstances so dictated. Being capable and experienced counted for much after 20 years in the Marines, including four years of war by 1943, having progressed through the ranks starting as a recruit.
HMS Dinosaur
Headquarters for tank landing craft training operations
HMS COPRA
Combined Operations Personnel Records and Accounts
The *COPRA* website defined its task as follows:-
"There were dozens of Combined Operations Training Establishments in WW2 which were primarily concerned with preparing Allied forces for the amphibious invasions of initially North Africa and later mainland Europe [Italy and France]. The crews of landing craft involved, the soldiers they carried and the RAF in support all required training singly and jointly as a unified force. It was an enormous undertaking involving hundreds of thousands of service personnel".
The shore-bound duties of Lt. Cross during his many and varied tasking's at COPRA, from soon after promotion to Lieutenant in March 1943, must be seen by keeping the above in mind. Some of the COPRA bases he served at were:-
HMS Westcliffe
HMS Excellent
HMS Turtle
HMS Robertson
All of the above had to do with training on LCG's (Landing Craft Gun) whilst the Allied forces prepared for assault landings in Sicily (July 1943), then mainland Italy and later the massive D-Day landings in Normandy (June 1944), France.
His Service Record does not show any direct combat involvement with any of these assault landings. It should be borne in mind that Lt Cross was by this time a decorated long serving member of the Royal Marines, wounded in combat at sea and almost 40 years of age.
He had the good fortune of spending Christmas 1944 at the Royal Marine base in Plymouth from where he sent this card to his wife Amelia.
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| Embossed on the front with the Royal Marine crest and a ribbon |
For 1945 until the war's end in May 1945 (Europe) and September 1945 (Japan) he was seconded to further duties with COPRA in Wales and Kent.
He reported back to his home unit 'Royal Marines Portsmouth Division' in October for release from service in December 1945. His commission in the Royal Marines (the rank of Lieutenant) was terminated in 1950 upon his acceptance of a commision in the TA (Territorial Army) with the rank of Captain.
The next few posts, starting with Post 5, will be named 'A Life Fully Lived' telling and showing - with photos, pictures and cards - about his life and experiences sailing the seas as a Marine with the Royal Navy.
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The next few posts, starting with Post 5, will be named 'A Life Fully Lived' telling and showing - with photos, pictures and cards - about his life and experiences sailing the seas as a Marine with the Royal Navy.
