Cramer enlisted in the
Prussian Army on 10 August 1914 and served in
World War I; he was retained in the
Reichsheer. In September 1939 he took part in the
invasion of Poland as commander of a detachment. In March 1941 he was appointed commander of tank regiment in the
15th Panzer Division, which became part of the German
Africa Korps. In 1942 Cramer was appointed as Chief of Staff to the Chief of Armoured Troops, Mechanized Troops and Cavalry at the
OKH, and then to the post itself. During late 1942 to January 1943 he temporarily commanded the
XXXVIII Panzer Corps and the
XI Army Corps. In February 1943 he returned to Africa as commander of the Afrika Korps. On 12 May 1943, with the capitulation of the German forces in North Africa, he was taken prisoner by the British. From 16 May on he was held in the special prison for captured German generals and staff officers at
Trent Park. He was exchanged in May 1944 and returned to Germany, reportedly because of his problems with asthma. During his repatriation journey, he was allowed to see
Montgomery's 21st Army Group preparing for the invasion of Europe, but was told he was in Kent, where
Patton's mythical
1st U.S. Army Group was preparing for its invasion. This was part of the broader Allied deception campaign,
Operation Fortitude, prior to
D-Day. Cramer was appointed to
Panzer Group West in France as a supernumerary. As a former prisoner of war he fell under suspicion of complicity after the
20 July plot. He was placed under arrest on 26 July, and held in the
Gestapo prison on the
Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse in Berlin and then in a satellite camp of the
Ravensbrück concentration camp until 5 August 1944. In September 1944 he was dismissed from the
Wehrmacht. After crossing of Allied forces into German territories he was appointed as
Commander-in-chief of all German
prisoners of war in
Holstein area. Cramer died in 1968. ==Awards==