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’.
On 25 March 1945 A/Captain ‘Ken’ Boss was seriously wounded while taking part in Operation Varsity, the Rhine Crossing, and died several weeks later on 9 June, aged 24 years old. He is buried in St Margaret Churchyard, Billericay, Essex.
Profile photo supplied by his nephew Kevin Bridgman
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