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William F. Ross
| William F. Ross | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Nativity | Germany |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Arm / service | Field Artillery |
| ASN | 01172253 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Rank at Ritchie | Second Lieutenant |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 3 (2 November – 23 December 1942) |
| Section | D |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
William F. Ross was a Germanics scholar and Field Artillery officer who trained as a POW interrogator at Camp Ritchie (Class 3), served in Pentagon G-2 and as assistant military attaché in Turkey, and later wrote official Army history.
Biography[edit | edit source]
William F. Ross graduated from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, and did graduate work in Germanics at the University of Berlin and at Harvard. Commissioned in the Field Artillery in 1942, he trained as a prisoner-of-war interrogator at Camp Ritchie, Maryland (Class 3), and served in the G-2 Division in the Pentagon.
From 1943 to 1946 he was an assistant military attaché in Turkey. He then spent a year at the National Archives surveying wartime federal records and co-authored Federal Records of World War II: The Military Agencies (Washington, 1950). Returning to active duty in late 1947, he worked nearly four years in the Office of the Chief of Military History—editing Military Affairs and helping produce the German Reports Series—then transferred in 1951 to the Historical Division, U.S. Army, Europe, where he edited the Guide to Foreign Military Studies, 1945–54 (Darmstadt, 1955).
As a civilian in 1957–61 he wrote The Quartermaster Corps: Operations in the War Against Germany for the Historical Branch, Office of the Quartermaster General, and later served as Assistant Historian, Defense Supply Agency.
Research notes[edit | edit source]
- 1910-1989?
Gallery[edit | edit source]
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Author sketch of William F. Ross from Quartermaster Corps ETO history (RB Archive)
Technical record[edit | edit source]
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Class_ASN | 172253 |
| Class_Name | ROSS, William F. |
| match_method | asn_partial_name_exact |
| row_source | both |
Timeline[edit | edit source]
- — Graduated Hamilton College; graduate Germanics study in Berlin and at Harvard.
- 1942 — Commissioned Field Artillery; Camp Ritchie interrogator training (Class 3).
- 1943–1946 — Assistant military attaché, Turkey; earlier Pentagon G-2 duty.
- Late 1947 — Returned to active duty, Office of the Chief of Military History.
- 1951 — Historical Division, U.S. Army, Europe.
- 1957–1961 — Wrote Quartermaster Corps ETO operations volume.
Sources[edit | edit source]
- Author sketch of William F. Ross from Quartermaster Corps ETO history (RB Archive)
- RB Archive author sketch from The Quartermaster Corps: Operations in the War Against Germany (William F. Ross)
- Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
- Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
- 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 2022-12-22 (1 post)