of the United States) and in April he was assigned to command the 66th Infantry Division, which he led at Camp Blanding, Florida, Camp Robinson, Arkansas, Camp Rucker, Alabama, and in England. In December 1944, the 66th Division was en route to France aboard the transports SS Léopoldville and HMS Cheshire. The ships were five miles from Cherbourg when Léopoldville was torpedoed by a German U-boat; 56 crewmembers died, while the 66th Division sustained losses of 14 officers and 748 soldiers. After reorganizing in Cherbourg, the 66th Division relieved the 94th Infantry Division, which had been patrolling the coast in the Lorient and Saint-Nazaire sectors of Brittany and maintaining a defensive perimeter around the German submarine base pockets of resistance that remained after the Operation Overlord invasion. During this duty, the division patrolled a 112-mile front and carried out artillery attacks on the remaining German pockets, and was credited with disabling several German guns and sinking numerous re-supply boats. Because U.S. troops coordinated activities with French units in the area, Kramer simultaneously commanded all Allied forces in the region as head of the Twelfth Army Group Coastal Sector. After Germany's unconditional surrender on May 7, 1945, German and American officers met near Étel to arrange a truce so they could negotiate surrender terms for the German forces holding out in Lorient. On May 10, a ceremony took place near Caudan, during which Kramer accepted the surrender of General Wilhelm Fahrmbacher's 50,000 troops, along with weapons, vehicles, and other equipment. After Germany's surrender, the 66th Division moved to Koblenz for occupation duty and to guard German prisoner of war camps. In September 1945, Kramer was assigned to command the 97th Infantry Division, which had left Europe after Germany's surrender and departed the U.S. for the Pacific theater expecting to participate in the planned invasion of Japan. The Surrender of Japan on September 2 ended the need for an invasion, so after arriving in Japan in late September, the division was headquartered in Kumagaya while it performed occupation duty of six prefectures. During this duty, soldiers under Kramer's command uncovered plans for a "last stand" by Japanese troops who planned to operate from the mountains near Maebashi, and had amassed equipment including 250 remote controlled mini tanks. The 97th Division returned to the United States in February 1946 and was inactivated in March. After the 97th Division's inactivation, Kramer was assigned to