I 'm not sure if they were the RM. IIRC reading somewhere that there was a "Marine Regiment" of the Royal Artillery. The Royal Marines are a branch of the Royal Navy. But the merchant and RN sailors called the DEMS gunners "pongoes" which is a slang term for anyone in the Army. (Wherever the Army goes the pong goes).
The Marine Regiment was formed initally to handle coastal gun emplacements back in the 1880's and evolved over the years to manning the 4in guns on the DEMS.
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