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Ib J. Melchior
| Ib J. Melchior | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Ib Jørgen Melchior |
| Born | 17 September 1917 Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Died | 14 March 2015 West Hollywood, California |
| Nativity | Denmark |
| Awards | Bronze Star Medal |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| ASN | 32909534 |
| Rank | Technician Third Grade |
| Rank at Ritchie | Private |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 10 (23 July – 20 September 1943) |
| Section | 5C |
| Enlisted | New York City, New York |
| Team | MII 425-G |
|
| Bronze Star Medal |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Ib Jørgen Melchior (17 September 1917–14 March 2015) was a Danish-American screenwriter and Camp Ritchie Class 10 MII / CIC veteran (Team 425-G) awarded the Bronze Star.
Biography
Ib Jørgen Melchior was born on 17 September 1917 in Copenhagen, Denmark, the son of opera singer Lauritz Melchior. Before and during the war he worked as a stage manager (including at Radio City Music Hall) and as a news broadcaster in Europe. Research notes record OSS service from July 1942. He was drafted into the Army in New York City on 19 May 1943 (ASN 32909534), became a naturalized U.S. Citizen in Washington, D.C., on 21 January 1944, and trained at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, in Class 10.
In the field he served on MII Team 425-G (constituted 29 November 1944; attached to Twelfth Army Group / XII Corps, Third Army), working with CIC Detachment 212. Teammates included Felix P. Arnstein and Kurt Lowenstein. In a March 1948 Blue Book magazine article Melchior described Camp Ritchie IPW training and a 28 April 1945 CIC screening case at Weiden, Germany, in which Order of Battle knowledge from his IPW course helped expose a false deserter. Team reports under his name cover ammunition depots, underground factories, fortifications, and a V-2 site near Baumholder; a 19 May 1945 memo by Arnstein on Melchior’s Werewolf investigations supported his Bronze Star. Accounts also associate him with the liberation of Flossenbürg and the Merkers-Kieselbach treasure discovery.
After the war Melchior became a novelist, screenwriter, and director of low-budget science-fiction films. He died of natural causes on 14 March 2015 in West Hollywood, California, aged 97.
Research notes
- CIC 212
- OSS (OS) from 7/42
- ASTP
- Novelist,
- MII 425-G + CIC 212
- Bronze Star (Werewolf investigations memo 19 May 1945)
- campaigns Normandy–Central Europe (Gross NARA notes)
Gallery
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Technical record
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 98 |
| Nara ASN | 32909534 |
| Nara Name | MELCHIOR IB J |
| Nara State | 23 |
| Nara County | 61 |
| Nara POE | 2364 |
| Nara DOE | 190543 |
| 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 | M2 |
| Nara Year of Birth | 17 |
| Nara Race | J |
| Nara Race Description | White not yet a citizen |
| Nara Education | 8 |
| Nara Civilian Occupation | 2 |
| Nara Marital Status | 2 |
| Nara Height (inches) | 43 |
| Nara Weight (lbs) | 123 |
| Class_ASN | 32909534 |
| Class_Name | MELCHIOR, Ib J. |
| match_method | asn_exact_name_exact |
| row_source | both |
Timeline
- July 1942 — Became member of OSS.
- 19 May 1943 — Drafted into Army in NYC as Pvt (ASN: 32909534).
- 21 January 1944 — Became naturalized U.S. citizen in Washington, DC.
- 3 December 1944 — Assigned to MII Team 425-G attached to XII Corps.
- ? Promoted to T/3.
- ? Worked as cryptographer for OSS.
- Also assigned to OSS and CIC.
- Also attached to CIC Detachment 212 (XII Corps).
- Assigned to MII Team 425-G attached to XII Corps.
- Awarded Bronze Star Medal.
- Captured buried SS records in Regensburg.
Sources
- Ib Melchior, article in Blue Book magazine, vol. 86 no. 5 (March 1948) — first-person account of Camp Ritchie IPW training and CIC/OB case at Weiden, 28 April 1945 (RB Archive PDF)
- Dan Gross research archive (miscellaneous timeline-adjacent documents; not uploaded): IB MELCHIOR Reports.doc
- Wikipedia: Ib Melchior
- 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)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Ib J. Melchior for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 3 source documents reviewed)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Melchior, Ib J. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 3 source files: IB J. MELCHIOR (2020).doc, IB J. MELCHIOR.doc, IB J. MELCHIOR.docx)