Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Name: August Richard Schultz
Service Number: 3902
Place of Birth: Keyneton
Date of Birth: 21 February 1888
Place of Enlistment: Adelaide
Date of Enlistment: 9 August 1915
Age at Enlistment: 27 years 5 months
Next of Kin: Father – Johann Schultz / Kapunda
Occupation: Farmer
Religion: Congregational
Rank: Private
The son of Johann and Louise Schultz {nee Kruger}, August
embarked RMS Malwa bound for Suez on 2 December 1915. He
arrived in Alexandria on 29 March 1916, then disembarked with the
10th Battalion “B”Company at Marsailles on 4 April. From April to
August 1916, August was in Etaples.
August was reported missing on 23 August 1916, but it was later
officially confirmed that he was a prisoner-of-war, having been
captured on 22 August at Pozieres. He was detained at Dulman, on
16 September. On 18 May 1918 August sent the following letter:
“The parcel of books is much appreciated – not only by me but
others interested in the same subject. Some of my most pleasant
hours are passed here reading such works as Shakespeare and
Cowper. We are all in the best of health....” (Australian Red Cross
Society Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau files, 1914-18 War
1DRL / 0428).
August’s experience as a prisoner of war are outlined in Peter
Donovan’s Storm: An Australian country town and World War 1.
Donovan states “he was interned in a camp in Dulman after being
admitted from Cambrai on 16 September 1916.” Donovan cites an
“undoubtedly censored - account by Dick Schultz of camp conditions
when he wrote to assure his parents that he was alive and
unharmed: I am now settled down to the uninteresting daily routine
of life in a prisoner of war camp. Here one feels utterly cut off from
the outer world, and one knows but little of what is going on...our
quarters here are very comfortable and all we could wish for. They
are wooden buildings, well ventilated, and lit by electric light, and
each has a nice coke stove for heating purposes. Each man has three
blankets and a hammock type stretcher bed ... we get a nice hot
bath at intervals, and all our clothes are sterilized, so there is no
chance of vermin. On the 21st inst. We got a pleasant surprise on
receipt of a gift parcel from the Church Army Prisoners Comfort
Fund, England.... Some of our boys get parcels from the Australian
Red Cross Society.”1
After returning home Schultz gave a more detailed account of his
ordeal. “On August 19, 1916, he was operating with his battalion
(the famous 10th) on the Somme near Pozieres, and on the 21st
orders were given that the attack was to be made...Owing to only
two companies participating instead of four, those who went out
were cut off, and although they fought until their ammunition ran
out, eventually had to capitulate. The soldiers were taken to the
German trenches, and practically everything was taken from them,
to be preserved as souvenirs by their captors. The prisoners were
interrogated by German officers with a view of obtaining
information, but as Pte. Schultz put it, “there was nothing doing”....
While marching along one day a car containing German staff officers
stopped, and the officers deliberately spat in the soldiers’
faces....On arrival at Westphalia the residents, who had been
informed that prisoners were coming, turned out in large numbers,
the streets being lined with people. As the prisoners marched along
the streets they were subjected to much hissing and booing, and
stones were thrown at them....Westphalia is a large mining centre,
and the prisoners were marched down to the mines and drafted
into shifts...The prisoners of war were really sold by the German
Imperial Government to the coal mining companies, who paid six
marks per day for each prisoner... Pte. Schultz... was given work on
the surface of the mines. The work consisted of unloading wood
brought from Russia, and as this was covered with ice his hands
became frost bitten, and he was sent into hospital again...it was
about this time that Pte. Schultz began to receive parcels of food
from the Red Cross Society in England, and he was quite emphatic in
saying that without those parcels thousands of prisoners would
have died.... They usually received three 10-lb parcels from the Red
Cross Society a fortnight. They also received clothes every six
months from the same source, and a mantle once a year”. 2
“Dick Schultz remained at Stiepel in Germany until 22 November
1918. He was taken to Rotterdam in Holland and from there
embarked for England aboard the Willscra on 30 November
1918...Schultz left England bound for Australia aboard the Ulysses
on 30 January 1919.3
August’s belongings were sent to his father per Euripides on 18 July
1917. Upon being repatriated, he arrived in England on 3 December
1918 and was granted leave until 19 December. August
disembarked Ulysses on 9 March 1919.
August went on to marry Dorothy Warner and they had four
children – Peter, Pamela, Stuart and David. After the war August
changed his name to Richard Douglas Spencer and became part –
owner of the Spencer Bros. chaff mill in Kapunda. The Kapunda
Herald of Thursday 17 July 1947, stated, “It is with regret we record
that Mr. and Mrs. R.D. Spencer and their family will be leaving
Kapunda on Monday next to reside in Adelaide...Mr. Spencer was a
member of the firm of Spencer Brothers, chaff merchants and
farmers, and owing to indifferent health he has had to relinquish his
interests in the firm for lighter work. Mrs. Spencer (formerly Miss
Dorothy Warner) has rendered excellent service to the town, and
her work as president of the Hospital Women’s Auxiliary over a long
period is well known. Mr. and Mrs. Spencer and their family have
been actively associated with Christ Church, and they will be greatly
missed.” Base records correspondence shows his address on 1
August 1969 as 18 Cooper Place, Beaumont, South Australia
Richard Douglas Spencer died on 3 November 1979.
Source: NAA; B2455: SchultzAR; Barcode 8075695
Interview with Wendy Rochow [ nee Schultz ] 12 November 2016.

1 & 2
P. Donovan. Storm: An Australian country town and World War
1 pg 83 – 86.
3
Ibid pg 162