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Fort Ritchie
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Fort Ritchie
Fort Ritchie in Cascade, Maryland was a military installation southwest of Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania and southeast of Waynesboro in the area of South Mountain. Following the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, it closed in 1998.
About 1889, the Buena Vista Ice Company of Philadelphia purchased 400 acres of the land on which most of Fort Ritchie now stands. The company planned to cut natural ice from a manmade lake and ship it to Baltimore, Washington, and southern markets via the Western Maryland Railroad's Baltimore-Hagerstown line. The first lake was created in approximately 1901 and named Lake Royer (the "Lower Lake").
A railroad spur off the Western Maryland line was built alongside the southeastern shore of Lake Royer. Unfortunately, the locomotives' exhaust laid soot on the ice in the lake, so a second lake (the "Upper Lake") was constructed far enough away from the track so that the ice would remain clean for cutting. Lake Royer also served as a recreational spot during the summer tourist season. Demand for natural ice declined over the years, and the Buena Vista Ice Company discontinued operations at the site.
In 1926, the Maryland National Guard investigated several locations in searching for a new summer training camp. A decision in favor of the ice company property was primarily based upon its proximity to the Western Maryland Railroad and the telegraph line. The property also was attractive to Adjutant General Milton Reckord because its altitude and position in the Blue Ridge Mountains could ward off hot Summer temperatures and mosquitoes, unlike other areas of the state. The Camp was named after popular Maryland Governor Albert Ritchie. The site was controlled by the Maryland National Guard from 1926 to 1942 and then again from 1946 to 1951.
Camp Ritchie was the site of prisoner of war (POW) camps during 1942–1947, housing mostly German Africa Korps officers and Italians captured during Operation Torch.[citation needed]
The US Army activated the Military Intelligence Training Center (MITC) on June 19, 1942, and trained 19,600 intelligence troops, including the Ritchie Boys, approximately 15,200 servicemen, most with high fluency in multiple European languages, for frontlines interrogation, battle-field intelligence, investigation, counter-intelligence, and related work. Approximately 14%, or 2,200, of them were Jewish refugees born in Germany and Austria, alongside American Jewish servicemen, among others. The 'Ritchie Boys' were later involved in the Nuremberg trials as prosecutors and translators.
Nisei women joined the Military Intelligence Service as translators and interrogators and attended a rigorous six-month study course designed to educate women on the Japanese military language. Upon graduation, most of the women were assigned to the Pacific Military Intelligence Research Section at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, and worked with Japanese documents to uncover military plans.[citation needed] Japanese-Americans also served as translators at this site. One, a male Buddhist Japanese-American from Hawaii, Yoshiaki Fujitani, served in military intelligence in Camp Ritchie during the war.
Naval Unit, Air Technical Document Research Unit, Camp Ritchie, Maryland was a United States Navy shore activity during World War II. 3rd Mobile Radio Broadcast Company activated December 29, 1943, at Camp Ritchie.
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Fort Ritchie
Fort Ritchie in Cascade, Maryland was a military installation southwest of Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania and southeast of Waynesboro in the area of South Mountain. Following the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, it closed in 1998.
About 1889, the Buena Vista Ice Company of Philadelphia purchased 400 acres of the land on which most of Fort Ritchie now stands. The company planned to cut natural ice from a manmade lake and ship it to Baltimore, Washington, and southern markets via the Western Maryland Railroad's Baltimore-Hagerstown line. The first lake was created in approximately 1901 and named Lake Royer (the "Lower Lake").
A railroad spur off the Western Maryland line was built alongside the southeastern shore of Lake Royer. Unfortunately, the locomotives' exhaust laid soot on the ice in the lake, so a second lake (the "Upper Lake") was constructed far enough away from the track so that the ice would remain clean for cutting. Lake Royer also served as a recreational spot during the summer tourist season. Demand for natural ice declined over the years, and the Buena Vista Ice Company discontinued operations at the site.
In 1926, the Maryland National Guard investigated several locations in searching for a new summer training camp. A decision in favor of the ice company property was primarily based upon its proximity to the Western Maryland Railroad and the telegraph line. The property also was attractive to Adjutant General Milton Reckord because its altitude and position in the Blue Ridge Mountains could ward off hot Summer temperatures and mosquitoes, unlike other areas of the state. The Camp was named after popular Maryland Governor Albert Ritchie. The site was controlled by the Maryland National Guard from 1926 to 1942 and then again from 1946 to 1951.
Camp Ritchie was the site of prisoner of war (POW) camps during 1942–1947, housing mostly German Africa Korps officers and Italians captured during Operation Torch.[citation needed]
The US Army activated the Military Intelligence Training Center (MITC) on June 19, 1942, and trained 19,600 intelligence troops, including the Ritchie Boys, approximately 15,200 servicemen, most with high fluency in multiple European languages, for frontlines interrogation, battle-field intelligence, investigation, counter-intelligence, and related work. Approximately 14%, or 2,200, of them were Jewish refugees born in Germany and Austria, alongside American Jewish servicemen, among others. The 'Ritchie Boys' were later involved in the Nuremberg trials as prosecutors and translators.
Nisei women joined the Military Intelligence Service as translators and interrogators and attended a rigorous six-month study course designed to educate women on the Japanese military language. Upon graduation, most of the women were assigned to the Pacific Military Intelligence Research Section at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, and worked with Japanese documents to uncover military plans.[citation needed] Japanese-Americans also served as translators at this site. One, a male Buddhist Japanese-American from Hawaii, Yoshiaki Fujitani, served in military intelligence in Camp Ritchie during the war.
Naval Unit, Air Technical Document Research Unit, Camp Ritchie, Maryland was a United States Navy shore activity during World War II. 3rd Mobile Radio Broadcast Company activated December 29, 1943, at Camp Ritchie.
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