You are using an out of date browser. Royal Marines Shop. 1 Commando was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. 3, No. [13], On 1 May 1980, the Comacchio Company Royal Marines was formed - taking its name from the battle honour "Comacchio, Italy 1945", where Hunter posthumously received the Victoria Cross for his actions. After the events leading to the British Expeditionary Force's (BEF) evacuation from Dunkirk, after the disastrous Battle of France, Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, called for a force to be assembled and equipped to inflict casualties on the Germans and bolster British morale. [64] About 600 of the 800 commandos that had been sent to Crete were listed as killed, missing, or wounded; only 179 commandos managed to get off the island. [87] No.