Scrapbook with letters from WWII soldiers from Winnipeg found in Calgary

A scrapbook containing letters from Winnipeg soldiers during WWII has made its way back to the city after being found in a building in Calgary.

A scrapbook containing letters from Winnipeg soldiers during WWII has made its way back to the city after being found in a building in Calgary.

Ian Stewart, the curator at the Royal Winnipeg Rifles Museum, said he was contacted about the scrapbook while the museum was closed during the pandemic.

"It was found in an old branch office of Willson's in Calgary," said Stewart.

"The story is, a company owned by a Mr. Travis Peckham was clearing the building site and found this scrapbook and they reached out to us to see if we were interested in the book, and, of course, we were."

According to a document in the City of Winnipeg Archives, Willson Stationery Company was founded in Winnipeg in 1903 and later opened branches in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

The scrapbook contains letters and newspaper clippings about 25 men from Manitoba battalions.

"They were all employees of the Willson Stationery Company, or some of them might have had an association with the company through a relative," said Stewart. "You can't tell that from a lot of the letters because they just have a name in them."