Educator, veteran.
Born at Herbert, Saskatchewan on 20 April 1915, son of Jacob A. Schellenberg (?-1941) and Anna A. Siemens, he grew up in southern Manitoba and completed grades one through eight (1921-1929) at Kronsweide School, Altbergthal School, and Reinland School. His high school grades were completed via the Manitoba Correspondence College (1930-1932) and Winkler High School (1934-1935). He worked as a farm hand for T. W. Teague at Red Deer, Alberta (1933-1934), was a truck driver for J. J. Toews at Kane (May-November 1935), and was an Order Clerk for the Great West Saddlery Company at Winnipeg (July 1935 - July 1937), the latter from which he departed to begin teacher training (September 1937 - June 1938) at the Central Normal School at Winnipeg, after which he was Principal of Thames School (1938-1940).
He, as would five other of his brothers, paused his career for military duty during the Second World War. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Special Reserve (December 1940 - November 1941) and attained the rank of Sergeant. His training saw postings across all four of the Air Training Commands (including No. 2 Air Training Command), starting with the No. 2 Manning Depot (December 1940 - January 1941), No. 7 Equipment Depot (January-March 1941), No. 2 Initial Training School (March-April 1941) at Regina, Saskatchewan, and No. 4 Elementary Flying Training School at Windsor Mills, Quebec (April-May 1941) where tallied up 14 hours flying but washed out of the Pilot track during his solo check flight.
He was reassigned to the Observers track with subsequent postings to No. 3 Air Observer School (June-September 1941) at Regina and at Mossbank, Saskatchewan for No. 2 Bombing and Gunnery School (September-October 1941), followed with No. 1 Air Navigation School (October-November 1941). He earned his Air Observers Badge in October 1941, continued with Observer courses, and worked as a Navigation Instructor at No. 1 Air Navigation School (December 1941 - June 1942). Following his commission as a Flying Officer in November 1941, he was posted to No. 5 Air Observer School where he worked as an Instructor (February-October 1942), and from which he shipped out for the European Theatre in late October, arriving in the United Kingdom in November 1942. Initially attached to an Operational Training Unit (May-September 1943), he was posted to the RCAFs No. 418 City of Edmonton Squadron in September 1943. In his ten weeks with the squadron, he completed seven operational sorties.
He died on 21 November 1943 in night air operations during a test flight when his aircraft, piloted by Flying Officer T. Thomson, crashed in the vicinity their home aerodrome, some 300 yards northeast of Lyminster Church at Sussex, England. The event was assessed as an obscure accident, with wartime censorship witholding further information as to the cause. His body was buried at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, England. He is commemorated on Morden / RM of Stanley War Memorial, Altona and District War Memorial, and with the naming of Schellenberg Creek in Manitoba (1971).
Birth registrations [Herman Schellenberg], Saskatchewan Vital Statistics.
“One of six brothers in uniform killed,” Regina Post Leader, November 1943.
Canadian Virtual War Memorial [Flying Officer Herman Stephen Schellenberg], Veterans Affairs Canada.
Second World War Service Files [J9154 - Herman Stephen Schellenberg], Library and Archives of Canada.
Geographic Names of Manitoba prepared in part by Anthony Paul “Tony” Buchner, Manitoba Conservation, 2000.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 18 March 2026
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