HERBERT C. SCHULTZ:

Herbert Carl Schultz was born October 8, 1903. In 1942 his family consisted of his father, his sister [?] Luella, sisters Flora and Mildred, and his brother [?] Ed.

He registered for the military draft at Virginia, Minnesota on February 15, 1942, where he had evidently been working for the Minnesota Highway Department as a "district clerk." In March 1942 he transferred from the Highway Department's Virginia office to its St. Cloud (Minn.) office, where he also served as "district clerk."

Schultz was inducted into the army at Fort Snelling (Minn.) on October 16, 1942, and went through basic training at Camp Crowder, Missouri (Nov. 1942-Feb. 1943). He went through additional training at Stinson Field, Texas (Feb.-July 1943), and was then sent to England on the R.M.S. Queen Mary (which had been converted into a troop ship). In October 1944 his unit was sent to France. Schultz served initially with the 909th Signal Company - Depot Aviation, and was assigned to the "Message Center." The 909th was stationed at Stansted Air Field (England) and supplied all the radio and radar equipment for planes based there and for the bombardment groups within its designated area; supplied spare parts and other communication equipment and supplies; and base telephone communication installations. He and some other members of the 909th were transferred into the new 919th Signal Company - Depot Aviation in August 1944. He and his unit apparently did not see combat duty.

Schultz was discharged from the Army in September 1945. He subsequently made his home in St. Paul, where until his retirement (ca.1973) he worked as an accountant for the Minnesota Highway Department. Schultz apparently never married, but lived with his sister Mildred (1902-1996) on Roblyn (later Concordia) Avenue in St. Paul. In 1984 he made a trip to Europe where he visited many of the places he had seen during the war. Schultz died at age 82 on August 22, 1986, and was buried at Elmhurst Cemetery in St. Paul.

Mildred worked for many years as a clerk for the Great Northern Railway Company. She died June 27, 1996.

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The photograph albums contain black-and-white and some color snapshot photographs taken by Schultz while serving in the United States Army Signal Corps in England and France during World War II. A few picture post cards depict places he visited as a soldier. There are also some color snapshots taken by Schultz on a visit to the R.M.S. Queen Mary, then permanently docked at Long Beach, California (1975), and on a return visit to Europe in 1984 to visit his wartime haunts. Other materials in the collection include Schultz's Civil Air Patrol identification card, his Selective Service registration card, and his Enlisted Man's Identification Card; some newspaper clippings and magazine articles pertaining to World War II; and a few letters. The first two albums chronologically follow Schultz' military service. The third album contains photographs of one or more wartime furloughs to London.

The three albums were disassembled for preservation reasons and their contents placed into bond folders within archival file folders. The original (chronological) order of the materials was preserved. The folder titles correspond to the individual subsections established by Schultz when compiling the albums. Each of these subsections begins with typewritten narrative (reminiscence) placing the photographs that follow into context.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Herbert C. Schultz World War II Photograph Albums. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 15,671

Processing Information:

Processed by: David B. Peterson, September 2002

Catalog ID number: 990017376750104294

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Soldiers' writings, American.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Photography.

Places:

Cambrai (France).

England -- Description and travel.

Fort Snelling (Minn.).

France -- Description and travel.

London (England).

Organizations:

Queen Mary (Steamship).

United States. Army -- Leaves and furloughs.

United States. Army -- Military life.

United States. Army. Signal Company, 909th.

United States. Army. Signal Company, 919th.

Types of Documents:

Photograph albums.

Occupations:

Soldiers.

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