HOWARD JAMES HARDING MOSS
20 June 1896 - 13 October 1915
At School 1906 - 1911
2nd Lieut 5th Leicestershire Regt
Howard was born in 1896 in Loughborough, Leicestershire, and in 1901 was living at 3 Burton Street, Loughborough, with father Wilfred, a Solicitor, mother Elizabeth, older sister Nora, younger brother Kenneth and two domestic servants. By 1911 the family had moved to The Knoll, Nanpantan, Loughborough and Howard had acquired two further younger brothers. Howard, however, was now at School and living as a boarder at 1 Athol Road, with his two cousins and 5 other pupils from School. The house was managed by Charles Kelsey, a master at School.

On leaving School, Howard returned to Loughborough and entered the business of William Moss & Sons Limited, Contractors, a firm founded by his grandfather. In August 1914 Howard obtained a commission in the 1/5th Leicester Regiment and was attached to the 2/5th Battalion at Luton and St Albans, where he was promoted to Lieutenant.
Howard was keen for active service and, relinquishing his recent promotion, proceeded to the Front as a 2nd Lieutenant to join the 5th Leicesters. He arrived in France on 24th August 1915 and on the 31st joined "A" Company of his Regiment in the trenches to the south west of Zillebeke in the Ypres Salient.
It did not take long for his "baptism of fire"! The History of the 5th Leicestershires reports that on 1st September 1915 in reply to an Allied bombardment, the Germans heavily shelled the Leicestershires' trenches causing many casualties. Howard and a fellow officer, 2nd Lieut Tomson, had two miraculous escapes when "first a 5.9 dud passed straight through the roof of their dugout and on into the ground almost grazing Tomson's side. These two then went round to wake Captain Hastings, who was resting in another dugout, and the three had only just left when this too was blown in, burying Capt. Hastings' Sam Browne Belt and all his papers." The Battalion was relieved by the Lincolnshires on 2nd September and became









The Hulmeian – December 1915
Old Hulmeians and the War
Second-Lieutenant H J H Moss who was killed in the attack on the “Hohenzollern Redoubt” on October 13th was a pupil at this school from 1906 to 1911. He was the eldest son of Mr and Mrs Wilfred Moss, Nanpantan, Leicestershire. After leaving school he entered the business of W Moss & Sons, contractors, Loughborough. In August last year he obtained a commission in the 1st/5th Leicesters, and was attached to the 2nd/5th at Luton and St Albans and while at the latter place was promoted Lieutenant. He was very keen for active service, and, relinquishing his star, joined the 5th Leicesters at the front as second-lieutenant.
Writing to Mr Wilfred Moss, Lieut. Col. C H Jones,
commanding the 5th Leicesters, says: “You will doubtless have heard
officially already of the death of your son. I am so very sorry about it. I had
only just written to you to say how much I valued him. We were in attack on 13th
October, and your son was splendid. He did all that duty and honour could
demand. He was killed leading his men in battle, and when that has been said
all that can be said has been said. In all sympathy with you in your great
sorrow.”
Lieutenant Moss quickly proved his abilities as an officer, was highly esteemed by his colleagues and was exceedingly popular with the men of the 5th Leicesters. He was only 19 years of age at the time of his death.