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Latest revision as of 01:09, 23 September 2026

Ritchie Boys Wiki is an open roster of soldiers linked to Camp Ritchie military intelligence training in World War II. Start with a name or Army serial number (ASN), then add biography, photographs, and sourced corrections. Anyone can edit text without an account.

Introduction to Camp Ritchie

Secret Heroes: Camp Ritchie and the Making of The Ritchie Boys

Dan Gross’s overview of who the Ritchie Boys were, why the Military Intelligence Training Center mattered, and how immigrants and refugees fluent in the enemy’s languages became a decisive intelligence force — history, demographics, and the case for calling them secret heroes.

At Camp Ritchie, the Army trained those soldiers for interrogation, document work, and related military intelligence in World War II. This wiki is their open roster and memorial.

Learn the story or find a relative · About the camp · By The Numbers

Find a soldier

Open search and type a surname or ASN (for example Guy Stern or 37413105). Article titles look like Surname, First (ASN).

Browse by class or letter on Contents. No match? Try alternate spellings — or see If the name is not found, or Contact Us.

Contribute · Contact Us · Browse soldiers · Directory · Notables · About the data

How to help[edit | edit source]

Looking for a relative? Use Start here. To improve any page:

Search for a soldier, or open one from Contents
Use Edit soldier facts for roster fields, or Edit for biography and sources
Log in only if you need to upload a photograph
Watch Special:RecentChanges if you help patrol edits

Featured Ritchie Boys[edit | edit source]

Soldier profiles with fuller biographies — portraits rotate each week from a curated pool (more in Notables and The Stories):

George Jellinek

Philip Johnson

William Warfield

Featured Books[edit | edit source]

Memoirs by Ritchie Boys, narrative histories of Camp Ritchie and related schools (including Camp Sharpe and Fort Hunt), and fiction grounded in family stories — one cover and synopsis rotate each week on the same schedule as the portraits above (full list on Books):

Nazis on the Potomac: The Top-Secret Intelligence Operation That Helped Win World War II by Robert K. Sutton

Nazis on the Potomac: The Top-Secret Intelligence Operation That Helped Win World War II — Robert K. Sutton

Sutton examines the secret intelligence effort centered on Camp Ritchie and related sites near Washington. The book places the Ritchie Boys within the Army’s broader wartime intelligence system.

Reading[edit | edit source]

More topic pages on Contents and under Site pages in the sidebar:

About the data[edit | edit source]

This wiki combines class-roster fields, research notes, biographies, photographs, and open edits from many sources. Treat pages as a starting point—not finished fact—until you check the Sources on a soldier page. How the material was compiled, what can go wrong, and credit for the Classes 1–31 roster digitization are on About the data.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 <div class="home-lead">
 '''Ritchie Boys Wiki''' is an open roster of soldiers linked to Camp Ritchie military intelligence training in World War II. Start with a name or Army serial number (ASN), then add biography, photographs, and sourced corrections. Anyone can edit text without an account.
-''[[Introduction|Secret Heroes: Camp Ritchie and the Making of The Ritchie Boys]]'' — their unique history and demographics.
 </div>
 <div class="home-premise">
-<div class="home-premise-title">Start here</div>
+<div class="home-premise-kicker">Introduction to Camp Ritchie</div>
-<p>At [[Camp Ritchie]], the Army trained soldiers — many of them immigrants and refugees fluent in the enemy’s languages — for military intelligence in World War II. This wiki is their open roster and memorial.</p>
+<div class="home-premise-title">[[Introduction|Secret Heroes: Camp Ritchie and the Making of The Ritchie Boys]]</div>
-<p class="home-premise-links">[[Start here|Learn the story or find a relative]] · [[Introduction|Full overview]] · [[By The Numbers]]</p>
+<p>Dan Gross’s overview of who the Ritchie Boys were, why the Military Intelligence Training Center mattered, and how immigrants and refugees fluent in the enemy’s languages became a decisive intelligence force — history, demographics, and the case for calling them secret heroes.</p>
+<p>At [[Camp Ritchie]], the Army trained those soldiers for interrogation, document work, and related military intelligence in World War II. This wiki is their open roster and memorial.</p>
+<p class="home-premise-links">[[Start here|Learn the story or find a relative]] · [[Camp Ritchie|About the camp]] · [[By The Numbers]]</p>
 </div>
@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 <div class="home-find-title">Find a soldier</div>
 <p class="home-find-fallback">[[Special:Search|Open search]] and type a surname or ASN (for example <code>Guy Stern</code> or <code>37413105</code>). Article titles look like <code>Surname, First (ASN)</code>.</p>
-<p class="home-find-hint">Browse by class or letter on [[Contents]]. No match? Try alternate spellings or ASN zeros — see [[Start here#If_the_name_is_not_found|If the name is not found]], or [[Contact Us]].</p>
+<p class="home-find-hint">Browse by class or letter on [[Contents]]. No match? Try alternate spellings — or see [[Start here#If_the_name_is_not_found|If the name is not found]], or [[Contact Us]].</p>
 <p class="home-find-more">[[Contribute]] · [[Contact Us]] · [[Browse soldiers]] · [[Contents|Directory]] · [[Notable Ritchie Boys|Notables]] · [[About the data]]</p>
 </div>
@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 == Featured Books ==
-A book by or about the Ritchie Boys — cover and brief synopsis rotate each week on the same schedule as the portraits above (full list on [[Books]]):
+Memoirs by Ritchie Boys, narrative histories of Camp Ritchie and related schools (including Camp Sharpe and Fort Hunt), and fiction grounded in family stories — one cover and synopsis rotate each week on the same schedule as the portraits above (full list on [[Books]]):
 {{Featured books}}