FAMILY heirlooms that hung on the walls of a Stockton Heath property for decades sparked a trip down memory lane to Germany in the footsteps of D-Day veteran Cyril Moss.
Joan Mullee inherited the fine detail drawings of the German city of Duderstadt following the death of her father who lived in Cawdor Street who had been posted there after the war.
During lockdown her husband Patrick decided to look into Duderstadt and was amazed when we saw the details in the drawings.
The Stockton Heath couple joined a Facebook site in Duderstadt and a postcard appeared on a heritage postcard site with the initials C M on it.
Duderstadt is a city in southern Lower Saxony, Germany. The city has a population of around 22,833.
Cyril was born in the Cheshire village of Stockton Heath 1915. He married in 1939 his childhood sweetheart Margaret. At the outbreak of WW2 Cyril was employed as a coach painter and sign writer in a local coachbuilder.
Cyril enlisted into the Royal Artillery regiment and after training was posted in various locations until finally landing in Europe on D-Day. When peace broke out and before he was demobbed, he was posted to Duderstadt to study the art of heraldry the science and the art that deal with the use, display, and regulation of hereditary symbols employed to distinguish individuals, armies, institutions, and corporations, to prepare him for life back in his old profession. He had a coach painting and sign-writing business on Birchdale.
Whilst he was in Duderstadt Cyril did quite a few pen drawings of the local landmarks in remarkable detail that have stood the test of time.
Patrick added: “I was immediately surprised to see the detail in his drawings, it was remarkable. So as soon as it was safe for us to travel I planned the crusade.
“Our stay in Duderstadt was a wonderful and very emotional experience. We met many lovely people who just wanted to talk to us and share a drink or two. One other thing we uncovered was the Army’s 25 Club. The place where they socialised and studied was the Lion Hotel in the main square.
“Cyril was a lovely and highly skilled man eventually starting his own business.”
He died in 1990 age 75.
