Ritchie Boys Wiki

Hauser, Frank Karl (32417389): Difference between revisions

← Older edit
VisualWikitext
Add audited Dan Gross timeline enrichment
Expanded full name in Biography first mention
 
(13 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 4: Line 4:
|surname=Hauser
|surname=Hauser
|first=Frank
|first=Frank
|middle=C.
|middle=Karl
|class_section=5C
|class_section=5C
|class_rank=Pfc
|class_rank=Private First Class
|birth_year=1911
|birth_year=1911
|death_year=1993
|death_year=1993
Line 23: Line 23:
|class_display=20
|class_display=20
|photo=1814080651947181.jpg
|photo=1814080651947181.jpg
|birth_place=Austria
|birth_place=Vienna, Austria
|birth_date=4 October 1911
|birth_date=4 October 1911
|rank_final=Staff Sergeant
|rank_final=Staff Sergeant
Line 31: Line 31:
|awards_ribbons=Ribbon_Bronze_Star_Medal_ribbon.png
|awards_ribbons=Ribbon_Bronze_Star_Medal_ribbon.png
|awards_ribbon_rows=Ribbon_Bronze_Star_Medal_ribbon.png
|awards_ribbon_rows=Ribbon_Bronze_Star_Medal_ribbon.png
|alias=Franz Karl Hauser
}}
}}


<div class="soldier-lead">
<div class="soldier-lead">
'''[[Hauser, Frank C. (32417389)|Frank C. Hauser]]''' (1911–1993) was a Ritchie Boy (from Austria; Jewish) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 20 and served with IPW Team 140.
'''Frank Karl Hauser''' (born Franz Karl Hauser; 4 October 1911 &ndash; 1993) was a Vienna-born Ritchie Boy (Jewish) who trained at [[Camp Ritchie]] in [[:Category:Class 20|Class 20]] and served with [[Team IPW 140|IPW Team 140]] in the Rhineland and Ardennes campaigns, earning the Bronze Star.
</div>
</div>


== Biography ==
== Biography ==
[[Hauser, Frank C. (32417389)|Frank C. Hauser]] (1911–1993), born Franz Karl Hauser in Austria, emigrated to the United States from Liverpool aboard the SS ''Georgic'' on 27 March 1940. His naturalization petition records that he enlisted at Fort Jay, Governors Island, New York, on 31 July 1942, and identifies his earlier residence and civilian work as a leather belt maker.
Frank Karl Hauser was born Franz Karl Hauser in Vienna on 4 October 1911 into a Jewish family. He completed four years of commercial school in Austria and, probably after the Anschluss of 1938, left the country. He sailed from Liverpool on the SS ''Georgic'' and arrived in the United States on 27 March 1940; in October 1940 he was living in New York City and working as a leather belt maker.


Hauser served with the 61st Signal Radio Intercept Company as a radio operator before transferring to the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie. He completed class 20 in the German section and qualified as a German document examiner. His languages were German, French, Italian, and Hungarian. The service records show his promotion to staff sergeant and his later assignment to IPW Team 140.
Hauser enlisted at Fort Jay (Governors Island), New York, on 31 July 1942 as a private (ASN 32417389) and went through the Reception Center at Fort Dix, New Jersey, to basic training at the Infantry Replacement Training Center at Camp Croft, South Carolina, which he completed on 6 November 1942, becoming a naturalized citizen at Spartanburg. By October 1943 he was an Army Specialized Training Program student with Company A of the 4767th Army Specialized Training Unit at the University of Denver, Colorado. In March 1944 he was briefly assigned as a message center clerk to the 44th Infantry Division, and in April he joined the 61st Radio Intelligence Company of the Signal Corps at Camp Polk, Louisiana, as message center chief, working as a radio operator. In June 1944 he was transferred through the 14th Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, Special Troops, Fourth Army, to the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, where he trained as a German-language prisoner-of-war interrogator in [[:Category:Class 20|Class 20]] (section 5C, IPW German; certificate 8005) and graduated on 16 August 1944 as a German document examiner.


He shipped overseas aboard the RMS ''Queen Mary'' and served in the European Theater. He received the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievement in ground operations against the enemy during the Rhineland Campaign.
Hauser was promoted to staff sergeant on 4 September 1944 and assigned as assistant interrogator to provisional IPW Team 337. Released from Camp Ritchie on 18 September 1944, he traveled to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, sailed on the RMS ''Queen Mary'', and arrived in Scotland on 25 September 1944. In October he was stationed with the 321st Replacement Company, 49th Replacement Battalion, 10th Replacement Depot, near Lichfield, England. In November the Field Interrogation Detachment at Headquarters, Military Intelligence Service (Forward and Main), at Le Vésinet, France, assigned him to [[Team IPW 140|IPW Team 140]] and sent him to the Ninth U.S. Army; his teammates included Norman Wagner, Sigurd Swenson, and William Thatcher. In December 1944 he worked as a translator in the 29th Infantry Division's sector near Herzogenrath, Germany, and that same month he was detached to the 75th Infantry Division at 's Herenelderen, Belgium, interrogating prisoners near the Westwall during the German Ardennes offensive. He was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious achievement in ground operations against Nazi Germany during the Rhineland Campaign. He was discharged in October 1945 as a staff sergeant and died in 1993.


<!-- Dan Gross timeline enrichment -->
== Gallery ==
The timeline research also records ___ Worked in belt factory. 11/6/1942 Naturalized as U.
<div class="soldier-gallery">
<gallery mode="packed" heights="140px">
Hauser_Frank_C_32417389_portrait_1943-44.jpg|Frank C. Hauser, 1943 or 1944 (photo: Sharon Delaney)
</gallery>
</div>


== Research notes ==
== Timeline ==
* Four service and personal-history cards are now reflected in the biography and infobox.
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed soldier-timeline">
* A separate Bronze Star certificate documents the decoration and Rhineland Campaign service.
<div class="soldier-timeline-body">
* 4 October 1911 — Born Franz Karl Hauser in Vienna, Austria.
* 27 March 1940 — Arrived in the United States from Liverpool on the SS ''Georgic''.
* October 1940 — Leather belt maker in New York City.
* 31 July 1942 — Enlisted at Fort Jay, New York, as Pvt (ASN: 32417389).
* 6 November 1942 — Completed basic training at Camp Croft, South Carolina; naturalized at Spartanburg.
* October 1943 — ASTP, 4767th ASTU, University of Denver, Colorado.
* April 1944 — 61st Radio Intelligence Company, Signal Corps, Camp Polk, Louisiana.
* June 1944 — Transferred to Camp Ritchie; Class 20 (German).
* 16 August 1944 — Graduated Class 20. Classified as Documents Examiner.
* 4 September 1944 — Promoted to S/Sgt.
* 18 September 1944 — Released from Camp Ritchie; sailed on the RMS ''Queen Mary''.
* 25 September 1944 — Arrived in Scotland.
* November 1944 — Assigned to [[Team IPW 140|IPW Team 140]], attached to Ninth Army.
* December 1944 — Herzogenrath, Germany, and 's Herenelderen, Belgium (Ardennes offensive).
* October 1945 — Discharged as S/Sgt.
* 1993 — Died.
</div>
</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>


== Technical record ==
== Technical record ==
Line 115: Line 138:
|}
|}


== Timeline ==
== Research notes ==
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed soldier-timeline">
* Four service and personal-history cards are now reflected in the biography and infobox.
<div class="soldier-timeline-body">
* A separate Bronze Star certificate documents the decoration and Rhineland Campaign service.
* 10/4/1911 Born in Austria. Religion: Jewish.
* The Austriansoldiers biography dates his naturalization at Spartanburg to November 1944; the service documents give 6 November 1942, which is kept.
* 9/4/1944 Promoted to S/Sgt.
* 7/1943 ASTP Trainee in Denver as Pfc.
* Assigned to IPW Team 140 attached to 9th Army.
* Entered Class 20 (German).
* ___ Drafted into Army as Pvt (ASN: 32417389).
</div>
</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>


== Sources ==
== Sources ==
Line 143: Line 159:
* Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Frank C. Hauser for Camp Ritchie'' (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
* Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Frank C. Hauser for Camp Ritchie'' (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
* Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Hauser, Frank C. for Camp Ritchie'' (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: FRANK C. HAUSER.doc)
* Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Hauser, Frank C. for Camp Ritchie'' (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: FRANK C. HAUSER.doc)
* [https://austriansoldiers.lbg.ac.at/bio/frank-c-hauser/ Austriansoldiers biography: Frank C. Hauser], Austriansoldiers / Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on Consequences of War (in German; accessed 25 September 2026)
Retrieved from "https://ritchieboys.org/wiki/Hauser,_Frank_Karl_(32417389)"