Letter from WWII sailor killed by Nazi U-boat found in 'the bowels' of Calgary high school

Brendan Coulter · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 27, 2025 12:35 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

While digging done aged folders and filing cabinets, Western Canada High School teacher Geneviève Dale happened crossed an 81-year-old missive mailed by a Canadian Navy sailor during the Second World War.

The missive was signed by Cecil Richard Moss, who attended Western Canada High, according to Dale, and addressed to Rosalie Cummings, a erstwhile schoolmate.

Dale recovered the missive successful the school's underground retention area. She was searching for old, missing yearbooks for a digitization task with immoderate colleagues.

"There's a batch of weird small nooks and crannies present astatine Western. And truthful astatine 1 point, determination was a treatment astir going down into, benignant of the bowels of the school," she said.

"We each went down into 1 of the basement retention rooms and conscionable started rifling done drawers and boxes."

"I recovered this small missive benignant of tucked into a record folder, conscionable benignant of sitting there."

In the letter, Moss offered proposal connected classes, listed his favourite teachers, and reflected backmost connected precocious schoolhouse way and tract competitions.

"Betty Mitchell, aged woman McKinnon and Johnny Souter were my favourite teachers. The occupation is I didn't cognize it until I'd near there," helium wrote.

(Mitchell, who taught drama, would spell connected to go a fable successful Calgary's theatre community, with 2 venues and an yearly awards lawsuit named successful her honour.)

Moss besides wrote astir his family, saying helium was the youngest of 8 children but insisting helium didn't turn up spoiled.

"I'm gladsome to accidental I'm the youngest of a household of 7 boys and 1 girl. I've got 2 brothers overseas successful Italy, 1 successful the Air Force successful Edmonton," helium wrote. "I conjecture the remainder of the household had to look aft maine but I'm gladsome I had cipher to look after. Don't get the thought I was spoiled either arsenic everybody does, conscionable due to the fact that I'm the youngest."

Dale said Moss near schoolhouse aft Grade 11 to enlist.

"As I started speechmaking it, I was truly struck by however overmuch helium sounded similar our students that we person successful school. Like this is the astir teenage lad happening I've work successful a agelong time," she said. "It astir felt similar if I'd picked it up disconnected the level of my classroom."

'Day dreaming' of coming location to Calgary

Toward the extremity of his letter, Moss talks astir wanting to get home.

"I've fixed up the thought of having thing to bash with women until I get location and past conscionable look out. I tin conscionable spot myself going howling down Eighth Avenue astatine 12 o'clock Saturday noon. (Day dreaming again)," helium wrote. 

"It would beryllium bully if each america kids could get location together. Let's conscionable support hoping, it's definite thing to look guardant to, successful information it's the happening that keeps maine going."

The missive is dated May 1, 1944 — astir 7 months earlier Moss was killed successful precocious November during the Battle of the St. Lawrence.

He was aboard HMCS Shawinigan, which sank disconnected the Newfoundland seashore aft it was attacked by a German submarine, according to the Canadian War Museum.

The 91 unit members aboard were each mislaid astatine sea. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission's records accidental Moss was conscionable 18 astatine the time.

"That's a baby. That's not adjacent a 19-year-old. That's a truly young person," said Dale. "Finding retired that helium and each of his crewmates passed away, I was touched much by it than I thought I would be."

Dale poured done yearbooks successful hopes of uncovering much accusation astir Rosalie Cummings but said she didn't crook up much, different than that she had planned to go a caregiver aft graduation.

"This school, adjacent wrong its bones, has truthful overmuch to thatch us," she said, adding that she plans to proceed looking for much details astir Moss and Cummings' lives.

Dale said she's inactive deciding what to bash with the letter, but she's not readying to support it and would similar to donate the papers to a section museum.

"I deliberation it goes beyond the school, honestly, and that it mightiness beryllium a truly absorbing small nugget of history, tying Calgary to the remainder of satellite history."