Hubert E. Roch

Hubert Ernest Roch was born on May 27th, 1893 in New York City to John Marc-William Roch and Ida Roch (nee` Cooper).  Hubert’s father died when he was young, yet he still had his sisters Adele and Dorothy and his mother. The family of four lived at 332 W. 18th St. Manhattan, New York.

On October 24th, 1917, at the age of 24, Hubert married Catherine Helen Deckert. The couple moved near the Hudson, to 89 Laight Street, New York City shortly after.  Hubert registered for the draft on December 7th 1917 in Manhattan and was assigned to D Company, 1st Battalion, 308 Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division. He trained at Camp Upton, Suffolk County, NY. The Division sailed from Long Island City, NY, on April 6th of 1918, on the Cretic, Lapland, and Justicia; and arrived the morning of April 19th in Liverpool, England.

Their stay in England was short, and on April 21st, the Division had made it across the English Channel to Calais. Upon reaching mainland Europe, the division was assigned to British command to train until early June. They stayed in the town of Badonviller until early September when they were moved to the Argonne Forest to join the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The Regiment was immediately faced with harsh enemy fire. That didn’t stop Hubert, who by then was already a Sergeant. On September 27th, Hubert led his platoon into engagement with enemy machine gun fire in order to help aid in the advance of his Battalion.

 At 6 am October 1st, Sgt. Roch’s company advanced through the Argonne forest via the narrow ravine east of the aptly titled slope of 'L’Homme Mort’. By the time the day had come to an end, there were no officers left and only 106 men alive. Sgt. Hubert Roch was interred in Meuse-Argonne American cemetery, Romagne, France.

Catherine moved back in with her parents in Teaneck upon receiving the news of the death of her husband. His daughter Dorothy Gertrude Roch was born around the summer of 1918. Hubert never met her.

Ancestry.com

1. Hubert Ernest Roch - Overview
2. New York, State Census, 1905
3. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
4. New York, New York, Marriage Index 1866-1937
5. 1920 United States Federal Census (wife, Catherine H. Roch)
6. New York, Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917-1919
7. WWI, WWII, and Korean War Casualty Listings

American Battle Monuments Commission

1. Hubert E. Roch

History of the 308th Infantry by L. Wardlaw Miles, 1927

1. Honor roll of the 308th Infantry (page 6)
2. Citations of the 308th Infantry (page 2)
3. Chapter 6: The Argonne

Find A Grave Website

1. SGT Hubert E. Roch
2. Newspaper Clipping on Sgt. Herbert E. Roch - Transcript: Sgt. Herbert E. Roch, No. 1,708,408, Co. D. 308th Inf., who on September 27, in the Argonne Forest, southeast of Binarville, led his platoon against two machine gun nests at great risk of his own life, thereby reducing their fire and aiding in the advance of his battallon. He was killed in action during the advance.