John MOSS

Badge Number: 6590, Sub Branch: Edwardstown
6590

MOSS, John

Service Number: 132
Enlisted: 15 January 1916, at Adelaide
Last Rank: Sergeant
Last Unit: 43rd Infantry Battalion
Born: Liverpool, England, February 1879
Home Town: Ascot Park, Marion, South Australia
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Laborer
Died: France, 9 November 1966, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia
Memorials: Edwardstown District WW1 Roll of Honor, Fremantle Fallen Sailors & Soldiers Memorial, Marion District Roll of Honour WW1, WA Jewish War Memorial
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World War 1 Service

15 Jan 1916: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 132, 43rd Infantry Battalion, at Adelaide
9 Jun 1916: Involvement Private, 132, 43rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Afric embarkation_ship_number: A19 public_note: ''
9 Jun 1916: Embarked Private, 132, 43rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Afric, Adelaide
22 Jun 1917: Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 43rd Infantry Battalion
29 Jun 1917: Embarked 11th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Borda, Fremantle
29 Jun 1917: Involvement 11th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: ''
29 Sep 1917: Promoted Sergeant, 43rd Infantry Battalion
19 Jul 1918: Involvement Second Lieutenant, 11th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 11 Battalion awm_rank: Second Lieutenant awm_died_date: 1918-07-19
11 Nov 1918: Involvement Sergeant, 132, 43rd Infantry Battalion
8 Dec 1918: Discharged AIF WW1, 132, 43rd Infantry Battalion, Was officially discharged on the 8/12/1918.

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Biography contributed by Saint Ignatius' College

John Moss was born around February 1879 in Liverpool, England, and was 37 years old when he embarked overseas with the 43rd battalion. With a height of 174cm, he weighed a relatively low 68kg and had a medium olive complexion. When John Moss signed up for World War One, he was married to Jane Moss and they had three children, living in Ascot Park in Adelaide, South Australia. John was a labourer, a paid worker who does unskilled manual labour, suggesting a basic education. His religion was Church of England and he had the regimental number 132, having enlisted on the 15th of January 1916.

John Moss’ time overseas was likely heavily draining on him as he went to hospital many times for a physical weakness known as debility and was eventually discharged for neurasthenia, a condition associated with irritability, a lack of energy, headaches, and can be caused by emotional disturbance. John embarked from Adelaide on the 9th of June 1916 aboard the HMAT A19 Afric. On the 25th of November in 1916, John travelled overseas to France via Southampton. The unit diaries show the events of the 43rd battalion around this time, which consisted of early mornings, lots of travelling, such as from Bailleul to Steenwerk, and battalion training. These events would have likely showed John the hardships and stress of war, as is evident through his many hospital trips and him being a relatively old, skinny man. The 43rd battalion were involved in much fighting around France and Belgium, such as the Third Battle of Ypres, The Battle of Messines, and the bloody events around Flanders in Belgium. Many of these battles occurred in 1917, with the Third Battle of Ypres being one of them from the end of July to the 10th of November. Australians were said to have advanced along Menin Road and there were attempts to defeat the counter attacks from the enemy. John Moss was promoted to sergeant during this period and clearly took part in heavy fighting.

Three times within a period of 20 days in late 1917, John Moss was admitted to hospital and convalescent depots, due to an injury to his finger, an ICT, which is an Inflammation of the Connective Tissue. This can either be a genetic condition or could be where the connective tissue is a target from antibodies and causes swelling, pain and redness. After returning to his unit, it quickly became clear that John moss could not longer fight effectively on the front lines, and the decision was made to return him to Australia as suffering from neurasthenia, which is normally how shell shock is described in the records.

Between April 21st to 25th of 1918, John Moss returned to Adelaide for discharge due to Neurasthenia, with a total service of 2 years and 328 days, around 1000 days. His official discharge was on the 8th of December 1918. John’s war experience was far from over when he returned to Australia, for, likely because of war injury and illness, he was hospitalized. The length of hospitalization was not known, although he was in hospital on the 16th of July, over two months after returning to Australia, suggesting a long period of hospitalization. This information was determined through a company conduct sheet, in which displayed an act of disobedience on John Moss’ behalf, going out of bounds of the 15 Australia general hospital on the 16th of July in 1918. Attempting to leave the hospital implies that the weight of his war illnesses carried great emotional burden.

John received the British War medal and the Victory medal for general overseas service for Australia.  He passed away on the 9th of November 1966, aged 87, as is indicated on a tombstone in Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia. John exceeded the life expectancy of a soldier, suggesting his war injuries and illness, such as his inflamed finger and neurasthenia, didn’t have severe long-term effects on his health.

Reference List:

43rd Australian Infantry Battalion. (2021). Retrieved from Australian War Memorial: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51483#:~:text=The%2043rd%20Battalion%20spent%201917,Spring%20offensive%20at%20Villers%2DBretonneux.

Anzac Spirit. (2021). Retrieved from Australian War Memorialx: https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/anzac/spirit

Australian WW1 Hospitals. (2021). Retrieved from Anzac Day Commemoration Committee: https://anzacday.org.au/australian-ww1-hospitals

Debility. (2021). Retrieved from Oxford Languages: https://languages.oup.com/

Diseases of Connective Tissue, from Genetic to Autoimmune. (2021). Retrieved from healthline: https://www.healthline.com/health/connective-tissue-disease#genetic-conditions

Evacuation of the wounded in World War I. (n.d.). Retrieved from The History Press: https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/evacuation-of-the-wounded-in-world-war-i/

First World War Embarkation Roll-John Moss. (2021). Retrieved from Australian War Memorial: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1938730?image=1

Glossary. (2021). Retrieved from Australian War Memorial: https://www.awm.gov.au/learn/glossary/a

ICT in WW1. (2021). Retrieved from All Acronyms: https://www.allacronyms.com/ICT/ww1

Jane Moss. (2019). Retrieved from Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/151993677/jane-moss#view-photo=188865416

John Moss. (2016). Retrieved from The AIF Project: https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=216071

Military Abbreviations Used In WW1 and Reference Sources. (2015). Retrieved from Guild Ford Anzacs: https://www.guildfordanzacs.org.au/military-abbreviations-used-ww1-reference-sources

Military Structures and Ranks. (n.d.). Retrieved from British Library: https://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/military-structures-and-ranks

Moss John. (2021). Retrieved from National Archives of Australia: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7989163

My Projects. (n.d.). Retrieved from Visme: https://dashboard.visme.co/v2/projects/own

Neurasthenia. (2021). Retrieved from Oxford Languages: https://languages.oup.com/

Saint-Omer. (2015). Retrieved from Though These Lines: https://throughtheselines.com.au/research/saint-omer

WWI Age at Enlistment. (2015). Retrieved from Macquarie University: https://mq.edu.au/on_campus/museums_and_collections/australian_history_museum/online_exhibitions/oua_anzac_unit/wwi_age_at_enlistment/

Ypres The Third Battle, 1917. (n.d.). Retrieved from AWM London: https://www.awmlondon.gov.au/battles/ypres

 

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