Private Archibald James Moss
Moss with his wife (standing left) and members of her family
Archibald James Moss was born on 6 July 1890 in Plaistow, London, the sixth or seventh child of general labourer George Moss and his wife Mercy (née Creasey). By the time of the 1911 Census he was living at 10 Webb Street, Plaistow, with his parents, seven siblings and a nephew, and working as a general labourer. By 1916 he was working as a labourer on the docks.
Moss was called-up to the army on 20 September 1916 and initially posted to the 2/4th Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent) Regiment (No.5389). On 19 January 1917 he was transferred to the 2/1 Regiment, Derbyshire Yeomanry, a cyclist unit based in the Canterbury area.
On 12 September 1918 Moss, together with 55 other men of the regiment, was compulsorily transferred to the Corps of Hussars (No.81240) and posted to the 1st North Irish Horse Regiment, which was then serving in France as corps cyclist regiment to V Corps. They embarked at Folkestone for Boulogne that day, joining the regiment in the field six days later. They were assigned to A, D and E Squadrons, joining in the fighting during the Advance to Victory offensive in the final weeks of the war.
On 7 June 1919, with around twenty other North Irish Horsemen, Moss was transferred to the Army Cyclist Corps (No.23916) and posted to IV Corps Cyclist Regiment, part of the Army of Occupation based in Rolsdorf, Germany. He returned to the UK on 15 October that year, and on 23 November was demobilised and transferred to Class Z, Army Reserve.
After the war Moss returned to Plaistow and work as a dock labourer. On 5 August 1925 he married Jane Rose Weaver (née Wallis) in the St Mary the Virgin Church, Plaistow. He died in London in 1951.
Image sourced from Ancestry.com Public Member Trees – contributor 'JulieAnne131'