Colonel Roy Moss RIP

Kyt · May 6, 2009

Colonel Roy Moss - Telegraph

Colonel Roy Moss, who has died aged 89, commanded a squadron of the controversial Churchill Crocodile flame-thrower tanks in the Second World War and won a Military Cross and an American Bronze Star.

Moss, commissioned as a captain into 141st Regiment Royal Armoured Corps, became one of the key commanders of the famous "Playboys" squadron, so named after it secured seven days' leave in Antwerp whilst the rest of the regiment was deployed in Holland.

The "Playboys" were equipped with one of Major-General Sir Percy Hobart's modified tanks. Under Hobart's leadership, these "Funnies" (as the specialised armoured vehicles were called) were manufactured from October 1943 to tackle tasks that were beyond the scope of the standard equipment.

One of the "Funnies" was the Churchill Crocodile flame-thrower tank, which carried 400 gallons of fuel in a carrier – enough for 80 one-second bursts.

This was fed through an armoured pipe, fitted along the underside of the tank, to a projector which had a range of about 80 to 100 yards. If the carrier was set on fire it could be quickly jettisoned.

On March 8 1945, during the battle for the town of Xanten in the Rhineland, Moss was commanding two troops of Crocodiles in support of the 4th Battalion the Somerset Light Infantry.

During the latter stages of the attack, his command tank was the only one that managed to get through the obstructions in the narrow streets of the town.

Its presence with the leading platoon proved the decisive factor in dealing with pockets of snipers, spandaus and bazookas which might otherwise have held up the progress of the infantry indefinitely. He was awarded an immediate MC.

Reginald Roy Moss was born at Welling, Kent, on May 18 1919 and educated at Upton College, Bexleyheath. He joined the Army in 1939, when the first tranche was called up, and went to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force.

After the evacuation from Dunkirk, he wanted to go into the RAF as a fighter pilot. An accomplished second row forward who played rugby for the Army, he was too heavily built and was turned down. He joined the East Kent Regiment, which was to form 141st Regiment Royal Armoured Corps, The "Buffs."

In September 1944, during the battle for Brest, elements of 29th US Infantry Division, supported by "B" Squadron 141st Regiment RAC, attacked Fort Montbarey. The fort's outer defences consisted of a moat, a minefield and sunken roads; inside the fort there were three lines of defences, comprising machine guns, anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns.

At a critical stage in the five-day action, with the Americans pinned down and taking heavy casualties, Moss's tank joined the battle and fired at very short range into the fort.

A task force of infantry and engineers went into the moat and placed charges against the walls. Under cover of smoke and a barrage of flame and fire power, the infantry assaulted through the hole blown.

After hand-to-hand fighting, the fort surrendered. Although badly wounded in the arm, Moss continued to fire until he was carried out of his tank through faintness caused by loss of blood. He was awarded the American Bronze Star Medal.

Towards the end of the war, during the liberation of the Dutch town of Apeldoorn, Moss was sitting on the scout car drinking in the cheers and acclamation of the citizens when his driver pointed out that there was a large hole in his trousers.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me before?" snapped Moss. "Well, sir," his driver replied, "As you were having all of the glory, I thought you might as well have some of the humiliation, too."

After the war, Moss commanded the Armour School at Bovington, Dorset. While he was there he played a notable part in the development of the Challenger tank.

He was appointed OBE at the end of his tour and retired in 1979, settling at a village in Wiltshire.

Roy Moss died on March 13. He married, in 1943, Monica Button, who survives him with their daughter.
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