Jacobs, Harry A (33743685)

Harry A Jacobs
Personal details
Birth name	Jakob Helmut
Born	1924 Mannheim, Germany
Died	2018
Nativity	Germany
Religion	Jewish
Awards	Bronze Star Medal
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	33743685
Rank	Master Sergeant
Rank at Ritchie	Private
Camp Ritchie	Class 12 (27 September – 25 November 1943)
Section	5B
Enlisted	Ft Myer, Virginia
Specialty	Interrogation of Prisoners of War (IPW); Order of Battle (OB)
Unit / division	4th Armored Division (OB Team 24)

Awards and honors

Bronze Star Medal

• French Croix de Guerre
• Bronze Star Medal with V-device
• French Legion of Honor

Research notes on this page are compiled from the source file and later edits. They may be unverified, incomplete, or incorrect, and should not be treated as established fact. Please correct the article or add sources on the talk page. For class-roster terms, see About the data.

Sources & confidence: Treat Research notes as leads, not settled fact. Prefer NARA, the class roster, newspapers, Find a Grave, or published histories for contested claims. Mark unsourced claims with {{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.

Harry A. Jacobs (1924–2018) was a Ritchie Boy who trained at Camp Ritchie in Class 12 and Class 10 and served in military intelligence with the 4th Armored Division.

Biography

Harry A. Jacobs, born Helmut Jakob, was born in Mannheim, Germany, and emigrated to the United States during the Nazi period. He enlisted at Fort Myer, Virginia, on June 23, 1943, as a private (ASN 33743685). He trained at Camp Ritchie in IPW-Ge Class 12 and completed OB Class 10, qualifying as an Order of Battle analyst. He was promoted to master sergeant in March 1944 and assigned to SHAEF military intelligence in London.

Jacobs served with OB Team 24 of the 4th Armored Division and entered combat in July 1944. The timeline places his wartime service in the Ardennes, the Battle of the Bulge, Bastogne, Germany, and Czechoslovakia. He was later attached to CIC Detachment 504 and returned to the United States in late 1945. His documented honors include the Bronze Star Medal, the French Croix de Guerre, a Bronze Star Medal with V-device, and the French Legion of Honor. Jacobs also wrote military-intelligence novels, including The Pentagon Brank and The Raid Toward Prague: May 1945.

Gallery

• 
  In the photo to the left, Bruce Henderson (left) is with Ritchie Boy Gideon Kantor (right). In the photo on the right, Dan Gross, Camp Ritchie's (Unofficial) Historian (left) is with Ritchie Boy Harry Jacobs (right).
• 
  In the photo to the left, Bruce Henderson (left) is with Ritchie Boy Gideon Kantor (right). In the photo on the right, Dan Gross, Camp Ritchie's (Unofficial) Historian (left) is with Ritchie Boy Harry Jacobs (right).
• 
• 
  Pictured below, they are (left to right): Harry Jacobs, Gideon Kantor, and Alfred Shehab
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Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	94
Nara ASN	33743685
Nara Name	JACOBS HARRY A
Nara State	34
Nara County	1
Nara POE	3347
Nara DOE	230643
Nara Grade Alpha	PVT
Nara Grade Code	8
Nara Branch Alpha	NO
Nara Branch Code	2
Branch	No branch assignment
Nara Term or Enlistment	5
Term of enlistment	Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Defer. Date	0
Nara Source	0
Nara Nativity	N1
Nara Year of Birth	24
Nara Race	J
Nara Race Description	White not yet a citizen
Nara Education	5
Nara Civilian Occupation	101
Nara Marital Status	6
Nara Height (inches)	4
Nara Weight (lbs)	0
Class_ASN	33743685
Class_Name	JACOB, Helmut Albert; JAKOB, Helmut A.
match_method	pass2_asn_last
row_source	both

Research notes

• Also Class 10 GerOB
• Camp Sharpe
• OB 24

Timeline

• 23 June 1943 — Enlisted at Fort Myer, Virginia, as a private (ASN 33743685).
• 1943–1944 — Trained in IPW-Ge Class 12 and completed OB Class 10 as an Order of Battle analyst.
• March 1944 — Promoted to master sergeant and prepared for overseas deployment.
• 17 April 1944 — Reported to SHAEF military intelligence in London.
• 1944–1945 — Served with OB Team 24, attached to the 4th Armored Division, and saw combat in France, the Ardennes, the Battle of the Bulge, Germany, and Czechoslovakia.
• June 1945 — Attached to CIC Detachment 504.
• 1945 — Returned to the United States after duty in Europe.
• 30 October 1945 — Awarded the French Croix de Guerre.
• 26 August 1996 — Awarded the Bronze Star Medal with V-device by the Department of the Army.
• 4 March 2015 — Awarded the French Legion of Honor at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Sources

• Camp Ritchie class roster (classes 1–31), merged research file
• NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
• 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2018-01-26 (2 posts)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2018-02-02 (1 post)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2018-04-16 (1 post)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2018-10-05 (1 post)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2018-11-26 (1 post)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2021-08-06 (1 post)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Harry A Jacobs for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 2 source documents reviewed)