Soft launch: Soldier biographies and research notes vary in completeness. Prefer class-roster, NARA, newspapers, and other cited sources for contested facts — treat Research notes as leads, not settled history. Anyone can correct a page; contact us with questions.
Herbert Ferdinand Necker
| Herbert Ferdinand Necker | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 January 1922 Vienna, Austria |
| Died | 8 June 1996 Westwood, New Jersey |
| Nativity | Austria |
| Religion | Catholic |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| ASN | 32962743 |
| Rank | Master Sergeant |
| Rank at Ritchie | Private First Class |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 18 (13 April – 10 June 1944) |
| Section | 5A |
| Enlisted | New York City, New York |
| Teams | IPW 101, IPW 169 |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Herbert Ferdinand Necker (28 January 1922 – 8 June 1996) was a Vienna-born Ritchie Boy who trained at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, in Class 18 as a document examiner and served in Europe with IPW Team 169 and IPW Team 101 alongside the 95th Infantry Division, including the battle for Metz. Herbert enlisted at New York City, New York.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Herbert Ferdinand Necker was born in Vienna on 28 January 1922 into a Catholic family. He attended elementary school in Austria until 1936, when he moved to Britain; there he completed upper secondary school and, according to Army records, a three-year officer training course. In March 1941 he emigrated to the United States by way of Melbourne, Australia, registered as an Austrian, and lived in New York City, where he studied at the Columbia School of Architecture until he entered the Army there on 29 May 1943.
Necker went through the Reception Center at Fort Dix, New Jersey, to basic training with Company D, 31st Infantry Training Battalion, at the Infantry Replacement Training Center at Camp Croft, South Carolina, where he became a United States citizen in August 1943. In October 1943 he was sent as an Army Specialized Training Program student to the 3414th Specialized Training Assignment and Reclassification Unit at Georgia Teachers College in Collegeboro, Georgia, and in January 1944 to the 3305th Army Specialized Training Unit at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, probably for a language and engineering course. In March 1944 he was transferred to the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, where he trained as a German-language prisoner-of-war interrogator and documents examiner in Class 18 (section 5A; certificate 7141).
As a member of provisional IPW Team 169, Necker sailed for Europe in June 1944, and in July he was assigned to the Military Intelligence Service and temporarily to the Field Interrogation Detachment at Broadway, England. In August he joined IPW Team 101, which was split into two sub-teams and detached to the Ninth (later the Third) U.S. Army for service with the 95th Infantry Division. In October 1944 near Chambley and from November in the fighting for Metz, he interrogated prisoners with the 377th Infantry Regiment alongside Peter H. Skala, and his team later served at the Westwall and, in the spring of 1945, on the Rhine and in the Ruhr Pocket. He was discharged in April 1946; his last known rank was master sergeant. He died in Westwood, New Jersey, on 8 June 1996.
Gallery[edit | edit source]
After you are autoconfirmed, upload a photo and add [[File:Example.jpg|thumb|caption]] here, or set |photo=Example.jpg in the infobox.
Timeline[edit | edit source]
- 28 January 1922 — Born in Vienna, Austria.
- 1936 — Moved to Britain.
- March 1941 — Emigrated to the United States by way of Melbourne, Australia.
- 29 May 1943 — Entered the Army at New York City (ASN 32962743); basic training at Camp Croft, South Carolina.
- August 1943 — Naturalized.
- October 1943 – January 1944 — ASTP, Georgia Teachers College and University of Pennsylvania.
- March 1944 — Transferred to Camp Ritchie; Class 18 (section 5A). Certificate # 7141.
- June 1944 — Sailed for Europe with IPW Team 169.
- August 1944 — IPW Team 101, 95th Infantry Division.
- Spring 1945 — Rhine and Ruhr Pocket.
- April 1946 — Discharged; last known rank M/Sgt.
- 8 June 1996 — Died in Westwood, New Jersey.
- October–November 1944 — Chambley and the battle for Metz with the 377th Infantry Regiment.
Technical record[edit | edit source]
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 74 |
| Nara ASN | 32962743 |
| Nara Name | NECKER HERBERT F |
| Nara State | 23 |
| Nara County | 61 |
| Nara POE | 2364 |
| Nara DOE | 290543 |
| 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 | N2 |
| Nara Year of Birth | 22 |
| Nara Race | J |
| Nara Race Description | White not yet a citizen |
| Nara Education | 5 |
| Nara Civilian Occupation | 992 |
| Nara Marital Status | 6 |
| Nara Height (inches) | 66 |
| Nara Weight (lbs) | 489 |
| Class_ASN | 32962743 |
| Class_Name | NECKER, Herbert F. |
| match_method | asn_exact_name_exact |
| row_source | both |
Research notes[edit | edit source]
- ASTP
- Class conflict: the Austriansoldiers biography places him in the 20th MITC class; the roster lists Class 18 (certificate 7141), which is kept per the class-identity rule. His team shipped in June 1944, before Class 20 graduated.
Sources[edit | edit source]
- 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)
- Austriansoldiers biography: Herbert F. Necker, Austriansoldiers / Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on Consequences of War (in German; accessed 25 September 2026)