Finding Aid for the Claude Z. Watt Second World War correspondence and other materials 2019.033.w.r
Andrew Harman
Center for American War Letters Archives
4/24/2019
Leatherby Libraries
Chapman University
Orange, CA 92866
speccoll@chapman.edu
Contributing Institution:
Center for American War Letters Archives
Title: Claude Z. Watt Second World War correspondence and other materials
source:
Willis, Jean
Creator:
Watt, Claude Zeverts, Corporal, 1919-1986
Identifier/Call Number: 2019.033.w.r
Physical Description:
0.3 Linear Feet
(2 folders, 1 flat box)
Date (inclusive): 1918 - 1949
Date (bulk): 1942 March 14 - 1949 November 3
Abstract: This collection contains correspondence and other materials relating to the service of Cpl. Claude Z. Watt, USA during the
Second World War. Included are photographs, clippings, Nazi medals, and various books and pamphlets.
Language of Material:
English
.
Container: WWII 115
Container: 8-12
Container: 1-5
Container: Oversize 3
Container: 6-7
Container: Specimen box 2
Container: 4
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of the family of Claude Watt, via Jean Willis.
This collection is arranged by material type:
- Series 1, Correspondence from Claude Watt
- Series 2, Correspondence from other authors
- Series 3, Service documents
- Series 4, Photographs
- Series 5, Clippings
- Series 6, Realia
- Series 7, Books and pamphlets
Corporal Claude Zeverts Watt, United States Army (12/29/1919 - 2/15/1986) was born in Ray, Minnesota to Carl and Irtie Watt.
He worked with his father as a carpenter and registered for the draft on July 1, 1941, entering into active service on March
13, 1942 at Fort Snelling. He attended boot camp at Camp Cooke in California and was assigned to the 58th Field Artillery
Battalion.
Cpl. Watt was among the first to arrive on Omaha Beach during the invasion of Normandy. He was shot while evacuating his tank,
an M7 Priest, in the ocean. He laid wounded on the beach for four hours before being retrieved by medics and taken to a relatively
safe zone. He was shot a second time while in Germany, which earned him the oak leaf cluster for his Purple Heart. He spent
some time in the hospital in England where he made some English friends, and made a friend in Belgium named Catherine Soullier.
According to the donor, his daughter, Watt was never a religious man after the war and ceased attending church due to his
experiences. He married Joan Florence Savard in 1950 and they moved to Orange, California where they had a son and a daughter,
Brian and Jean. Watt passed away in Orange in February, 1986 at the age of 66 and is interred at Riverside National Cemetery
in Riverside, California.
[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Claude Z. Watt Second World War correspondence and other materials (2019.033.w.r),
Center for American War Letters Archives, Chapman University, CA.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this
collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
This collection contains correspondence and other materials relating to the service of Cpl. Claude Z. Watt, USA during the
Second World War. Included are 30 correspondence, loose photographs and one album, one discharge document, two clippings,
and artifacts including Nazi memorabilia, a French flag, one knitted piece of "trench art", four handkerchiefs, several pamphlets,
a metal book of matches, nine uniform patches, one uniform decoration cord, and one bible. Of the correspondence, 22 were
written by Cpl. Watt, the rest from various authors including one First World War postcard.
There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War (1939-1945)
Correspondence -- World War, 1939-1945
Maps.
Bible
Newspaper clippings
Photographs
World War (1939-1945) -- Photography
Willis, Jean
box WWII 115, folder 8, folder 1
Series 1, Correspondence from Claude Watt 1942 March 14 - 1949 October 30
Creator: Watt, Claude Zeverts, Corporal, 1919-1986
Physical Description: 0.1 Linear Feet(1 folder)
Language of Material: English.
This series contains 25 correspondence from Cpl. Claude Z. Watt, USA mostly to his parents and brother Addy, as well as some
to his brothers Bob, Roy, and Earl during the Second World War. Included are two postcards and one small Christmas card. His
handwriting is sometimes unclear and there are a lot of spelling and grammar errors, but consistently which may indicate some
illiteracy. The letter dated April 12, 1942 appears to be missing one or more pages.
He began his correspondence on postcards while entering the service, first on March 14, 1942 from St. Paul, Minnesota and
a few days later from Kansas City, Missouri as well as one letter with no envelope letting his parents know about his travel
west to California.
After arriving in California in April, he reaches Camp Cooke with B Battery, 58th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 5th Armored
Division. He describes work, training on machine guns, and the food. He mentions several instances of going "on alert" with
equipment at the ready, including all of the men on base and on ships. He also mentions that the general said they are the
only armored unit on the west coast and may stay to defend it rather than ship out to join the war effort.
Discussion continues on work and the weather in California, as well as enjoying shows including seeing the Three Stooges,
Clark Gable, and other stars in person either on base or during trips to Los Angeles and Hollywood.
By the end of the year, Watt was promoted to corporal and deployed to North Africa. He writes a letter from Casablanca, Morocco
and it can be inferred to be December, 1942 but the exact date is cut out by the censor. There are a few more letters, mostly
asking about home and reporting on the weather, and one Christmas card from Sicily, 1943.
Also included are three letters in 1949 from Watt to his girlfriend and future wife, Joan Savard, about his road trip across
the United States.
box WWII 115, folder 9, folder 2
Series 2, Correspondence from other authors 1918 August 19 - 1945 August 20 1944 October 20 - 1945 August 20
Physical Description: 0.01 Linear Feet(1 folder)
Language of Material: English.
This series contains correspondence mostly written to Cpl. Claude Z. Watt, USA during the Second World War. Also included
is one postcard from the First World War and two letters to Cpl. Watt's parents.
The postcard was written by Sergeant Eugene, Clemm[?] of Company 17, 1st Motor Mechanics Regiment, Signal Corp, Air Reserve
from France on August 19, 1918.
The letter dated October 20, 1944 is from Captain A. Montana, 58th Field Artillery Battalion [?] to Cpl. Watt.
There is a letter dated November 12, 1944 from Melvin S. Sloan to Cpl. Watt's mother. He served with Watt in North Africa
and was apparently also wounded and sent home. He writes his sympathies after Watt had been wounded and was staying in a hospital
in England. He mentions that while in North Africa they served under General George Patton but does not know who Watt was
with while in France where he was now injured for the second time.
The next three letters are addressed to Cpl. Watt, Detachment of Patients 4167, Company I. One is from a friend in England
and the other two from a friend in Harrogate, England that knew him while he was in the hospital. The second friend, Catherine
Soullier, expresses her sympathies in a letter dated May 3, 1945 about him being redeployed to Europe even though he had been
injured twice and the war was almost over.
The last letter is from a Belgian friend of Cpl. Watt's written from Resles, Belgium and dated August 20, 1945. She discusses
the Belgian experience of the war coming to an end and how happy he must be to have made it home.
box WWII 115, folder 10, folder 3
Series 3, Service documents 1945-06-01-1945-10-31
Physical Description: 0.01 Linear feet(1 folder)
Language of Material: English.
This series contains one immunization register slip with dates of shots, and one photocopy of the Enlisted Record and Report
of Separation with Honorable Discharge for Cpl. Claude Z. Watt, USA during the Second World War.
box WWII 115, folder 11, folder 4, box Oversize 3
Series 4, Photographs 1943-01-28-1983
Physical Description: 0.02 Linear Feet(1 folder)
Language of Material: English.
This series contains photographs of Cpl. Claude Z. Watt, USA, as well as others relating to his service during the Second
World War. Included are two black and white photographs in uniform, one portait and one with his two brothers and his sister
in their uniforms. There are also six photograph prints of North Africa, with pencil-written notes on the back of each describing
them, sent home by Cpl. Watt in 1943. Also included is one photograph reprint of Jacques Lemonchois standing with Cpl. Watt's
M7 Priest self-propelled gun (tank) that had been exhumed from the waters off the coast of Normandy, and one black and white
photograph of Watt, holding his war memorabilia in the 1980s taken for a newspaper clipping.
The series also contains one photo album, including 184 photographs of Watt, his truck, members of his unit, family, and some
overseas and training shots.
box WWII 115, folder 10, folder 3
Series 5, Clippings 1945-2000
Physical Description: 0.01 Linear Feet(1 folder)
Language of Material: English.
This series contains three clippings pertaining to the service of Cpl. Claude Z. Watt, USA during the Second World War. One
photocopied clipping is about Cpl. Watt shortly after he completed his tour of duty in North Africa and a letter his mother
received from a fellow serviceman, Albert Basileo, who served with Watt in Africa. One photocopied clipping entitled "D-Day
just one moment of service for Orange resident" is apparently from an Orange, California publication and describes the salvage
of Watt's M7 Priest self-propelled gun out of the waters off Normandy. The last clipping is a more general article about the
salvage operation, and was found by the donor and the archivist while appraising this collection.
flat-box Specimen box 2, Compartment 4, box Oversize 3, folder 6
Series 6, Realia 1938-12-16-1945
Physical Description: 0.2 Linear feet(1 specimen box section)
Language of Material: English.
This series contains various realia items collected by Cpl. Claude Z. Watt, USA during the Second World War. Included are
four handkerchiefs, ten military uniform patches, one military uniform decorative cord, one handstitched French flag, one
metal match case with six matches, one knitted or crocheted antimacassar "trench art" with the letter "W" for Watt, one red
arm band with Nazi swaztika, one Nazi uniform metal cap pin eagle with swaztika, one Nazi knife, two Nazi medals, and one
plastic bag filled with sand from Omaha Beach in Normandy, France.
The four handkerchiefs include: one white with red US Army emblem and "Remember Me," one blue plaid with white Arc d'Triomphe
and "From Paris, To my Dear Mother," one pink with Belgian flag and "Liberté!", and one powder blue with "RAF, Souvenir de
France" and a winged emblem with the Free French Forces cross.
The uniform patches include: one blue with white, eight-pointed star US Army 8th Service Command SSI shoulder patch, one red,
white and blue patch in the shape of a shield, two 5th Armored Division patches (second one was added 9/29/2021), one piece
of green fabric with an emblem of a rooster over a pentagram, one 9th Air Force patch, one Army Air Forces patch, one 8th
Air Force patch, one 7th Army patch, and one US Forces, European Theater patch (flaming sword and rainbow; blue background
instead of black signifies post-August 2, 1945). The military uniform cord is gold with bullet-shaped metal ends and a metal
clasp emblem of the 58th Armored Field Artillery Battalion.
The knife is folded with bronze handle with decorative reliefs. One side says "Deutschland erwacht" (Germany Awakes) and the
other has an image of Adolf Hitler with his name engraved at the bottom.
The medals iniclude: one Bronze Cross of Honour of the German Mother with blue and white ribbon and cross containing swaztika
and the words "Der Deutschen Mutter," engraved on the back with "16 Dezember 1938" and a signature; one Knight's Cross of
the Iron Cross.
Also included are two small leather wallets, one containing torn up pieces of foreign currency, of "Banque d'etat du Maroc,"
the central bank in Morocco. There are two 5 Franc bills, "cinq francs."
The plastic bag of sand from Omaha Beach in Normandy, France was added on 9/29/2021.
box WWII 115, folder 12, folder 5
Series 7, Books and pamphlets 1942 April 26 - 1945 August
Physical Description: 0.2 Linear Feet(1 folder)
Language of Material: English.
This collection contains five books and pamphlets, and one empty leather bill holder relating to the service of Cpl. Claude
Z. Watt, USA during the Second World War. Included are one bible, one "Pocket Guide to Paris and Cities of Northern France,"
issued by the War Department, one "Here is Paris," guide to the amusements of Paris and "offered gratuitously to the Allied
Soldiers," one folded map of "Paris et Ses Environs, Monumental Metropolitain" in French, one subway map of Paris for American
soldiers, one souvenir English art booklet, one instruction pamphlet on separating from the Army at Fort Snelling, one unit
history of the 58th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, and one "Going Back to Civilian Life" issued by the War and Navy Departments
in August 1945.
The bible is military issued and contains Cpl. Watt's name and unit, nearest of kin, and was issued to him at Camp Cooke by
Major MacArthur, Battalion Chaplain.
The unit history for the 58th Armored FA Bn is not dated but was written just after the victory in Europe, but before the
end of the Pacific war.
The map of Paris says it is in English and French, but there is only French writing inside.
The leather bill holder is embossed with the name "Carl Z. Watt," father of Claude Z. Watt (added 9/29/2021).