Captain Kenneth Boss MC

Kenneth Boss was the son of George Frederick and Bertha Boss, of Pitsea, Essex.

He was granted an emergency commission with the Royal Artillery on 1 January 1944 and volunteered for airborne forces later that year.

Lt Boss qualified as a military parachutist on course 138, which ran at RAF Ringway from 16 to 28 October 1944, and was posted to 2 (Airborne) Forward Observation Unit, Royal Artillery (2 FOU).

He took part in the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes, while serving as an Acting Captain.

A/Capt Boss was later awarded a Military Cross for his actions on 11 February 1945, while serving in the south eastern part of the Netherlands at Roermond. He was amongst a group ordered on a mission to cross the River Maas and penetrate 3,000 yards behind enemy lines. A/Capt Boss was commended for  ‘displaying remarkable qualities of leadership, courage and aggression for a junior officer’.

During Operation Varsity (the Rhine Crossing), Boss was the FOO attached to the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. His sacrifice was recalled by the Canadians' war diary: "Capt Boss gave effective service in calling down a concentration of artillery fire on enemy infantry and guns in the woods north-west of "C" Company's location. Unfortunately, he was wounded during the shelling on the afternoon of D plus 1 and had to be evacuated. Later German artillery fire grew less and less as the Allies extended their foothold and overran the gun sites". His actions had helped thwart a German counterattack. 

Sadly A/Captain ‘Ken’ Boss succumbed to his wounds and died several weeks later on 9 June, aged 24 years old. He was apparently uneasy about receiving the MC, considering himself no more worthy than other friends he had lost along the way. Nonetheless, he was glad his family had a memento to remember him by, stating "I have some small symbol showing that I didn't let them down". He is buried in St Margaret Churchyard, Billericay, Essex.

Profile photo supplied by his nephew Kevin Bridgman