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Angress, Werner T. (33043440): Difference between revisions

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|class_number=11
|class_number=11
|class_section=5A
|class_section=5A
|class_rank=Sgt
|class_rank=Sergeant
|birth_year=1920
|birth_year=1920
|death_year=2010
|death_year=2010
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|marital=Single without dependents
|marital=Single without dependents
|certificate=3743
|certificate=3743
|photo=Angress, Werner (33043440).jpg
|photo=Angress, Werner (33043440) press TANGRAM.jpg
|confidence=high
|confidence=high
|class_display=11
|class_display=11
|overseas=Y
|overseas=Y
|birth_place=Berlin son of Henry
|birth_place=Berlin, Germany
|rank_final=Colonel
|rank_final=Colonel
|awards=Purple Heart
|awards=Purple Heart
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|awards_ribbon_rows=Ribbon_Purple_Heart_ribbon.png
|awards_ribbon_rows=Ribbon_Purple_Heart_ribbon.png
|birth_date=27 June 1920
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== Biography ==
== Biography ==
RB Angress parachuted into France on D-Day with the 82nd Airborne Division (where over 50% of his Parachute Regiment was wounded), was captured and served as a prisoner of war, parachuted into Holland as part of Operation Market Garden, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and helped liberate Camp Wobbelin, a sub-camp of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp.
Werner Angress was born in Berlin in 1920. In 1937 his family fled to the Netherlands, and about two years later he emigrated to the United States with a group of friends. He joined the U.S. Army in 1941. After infantry service he was sent to Camp Ritchie in 1943—where trainees joked that MITC stood for “Military Institute of Total Confusion”—then to England with an airborne assignment.


In Ritchie Boy Werner Angress' book, he describes the most important class he took at Camp Ritchie - The German Order of Battle.
On D-Day night he parachuted into France with the 82nd Airborne Division despite never having jumped before; after a misdrop he evaded capture for nine days before he and other lost GIs were betrayed and taken prisoner. He concealed his identity and was liberated about two weeks later. He later parachuted into Holland in Operation Market Garden, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and helped liberate Camp Wöbbelin, a subcamp of Neuengamme.


One interesting anecdote he mentions is the involvement by Reichswehr General Gerd von Rundstedt in enforcing an emergency measure in 1932 following the Coup of Prussia. On 16 December 1944, he unit moved to the Ardennes. On the top of my list, however, is a new book to be released on May 5, Invisible Ink, by Ritchie Boy Guy Stern, probably the best known Ritchie Boy because of his being featured in Bruce Henderson's book, Sons and Soldiers, and his feature role in the 2004 documentary, The Ritchie Boys.
On Mother’s Day in 1945 he was reunited in Amsterdam with his mother and two younger brothers, who had survived in hiding; his father, arrested in 1941, had been killed in Auschwitz. In fall 1945 he returned to the United States, studied at university, and later became a professor of history at Berkeley and then at Stony Brook. He later published the memoir ''Invisible Ink''.
 
He wrote mainly to Curt Bondy in Richmond. Coincidentally, just this week we learned that another Ritchie Boy, Joseph Haas, was involved in the interrogation of Wehrmacht Field Marshall Gerd von Rundstedt! "The officer who introduced us to this extensive subject matter was Captain Cohn....We had to know who the commanders of the various German divisions were, which regiments belonged to which divisions....
 
Not only the Wehrmacht but also the Waffen SS....In this course, my head was stuffed with dates, names, military formations, rank insignia, and so on." Members of Ritchie Boy Werner Angress' IPW team included RB's Fred Guttman, Siggi Koesterich, Leo Brodsky, and Ernest Greenwald.


== Research notes ==
== Research notes ==
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* Historian, SUNY Professor
* Historian, SUNY Professor
* Author, "Between Fear and Hope"
* Author, "Between Fear and Hope"
* Portrait and summary from Notable Ritchie Boys slides ( )


== Gallery ==
== Gallery ==
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Angress, Werner (33043440).jpg|Earlier profile photograph (retained after press-photo update)
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* Born 27 June 1920 in Berlin son of Henry and Henny Angress (Jewish).
* Born 27 June 1920 in Berlin son of Henry and Henny Angress (Jewish).
* 1937 — Family fled to the Netherlands.
* c. 1939 — Emigrated to the United States.
* 1941 — Joined the U.S. Army; father arrested (later killed in Auschwitz).
* 15 December 1943 — Promoted to S/Sgt.
* 15 December 1943 — Promoted to S/Sgt.
* 23 October 1943 — Graduated Class 11 (German Document Examiner).
* 23 October 1943 — Graduated Class 11 (German Document Examiner).
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* 28 June 1944 — Started to interrogate POWs while with 1st Battalion, 508th PIR.
* 28 June 1944 — Started to interrogate POWs while with 1st Battalion, 508th PIR.
* 9 September 1944 — Assigned to IPW Team 40 (thru 13 December 1944).
* 9 September 1944 — Assigned to IPW Team 40 (thru 13 December 1944).
* Fall 1945 — Returned to the United States.
* March 1945 — IPW Team 47 assigned to 82nd Airborne (1st Army).
* March 1945 — IPW Team 47 assigned to 82nd Airborne (1st Army).
* Mother’s Day 1945 — Reunited with mother and brothers in Amsterdam.
* Assigned to IPW Team 45 attached to 82nd Airborne Division consisting of.
* Assigned to IPW Team 45 attached to 82nd Airborne Division consisting of.
* Awards: Purple Heart; Bronze Star; Combat Infantryman Badge.
* Awards: Purple Heart; Bronze Star; Combat Infantryman Badge.
* Division).
* Division).
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* Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Werner T. Angress for Camp Ritchie'' (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
* Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Werner T. Angress for Camp Ritchie'' (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
* Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Angress, Werner T. for Camp Ritchie'' (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc)
* Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Angress, Werner T. for Camp Ritchie'' (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc)
* [https://ritchieboys.com/EN/boys_angress.html The Ritchie Boys: Werner Angress]
* [https://ritchieboys.com/EN/camp_life.html The Ritchie Boys film site — Life in Camp Ritchie (Werner Angress MITC quote)]
* [[The Stories/Life in Camp Ritchie]] (Bauer film excerpts)
* [https://ritchieboys.com/EN/press_photos.html The Ritchie Boys film site — press photos] (© TANGRAM; high-res https://ritchieboys.com/DL/photos-highq/boys/angress.jpg)
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