Allegiance United Kingdom Name Eric Moxey Rank Squadron leader Awards George Cross Service/branch Royal Air Force | Battles/wars World War II Battles and wars World War II Service number 73498 Education Malvern College | |
Born 14 April 1894
Sao Paulo, Brazil ( 1894-04-14 ) Buried at St. Peter & St. Paul, Cudham, Orpington, Kent, Died August 27, 1940, Biggin Hill, United Kingdom Place of burial Cudham, United Kingdom, Orpington, United Kingdom | ||
Eric Lawrence Moxey, GC (14 April 1894 – 27 August 1940) was an officer of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve who was posthumously awarded the George Cross for attempting to defuse enemy bombs on an airfield in 1940.
Contents
Early life and family
Moxey was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil to English parents, William Hall Moxey, Director of the Sao Paulo Railway Company and Margaret Moxey. He was educated in England, at Malvern School and Sheffield University, while working at Vickers Limited in the city.
He was a keen motorcyclist and achieved some successes at Brooklands and the Isle of Man TT where he won a gold medal as a top placed amateur At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, he entered the York and Lancaster Regiment to serve in the infantry until 1917 where he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps with the rank of captain.
In 1916 he married May Arthur Clark, daughter of William Clark, then managing director of Vickers.
In 1919 he returned to Sheffield to act as Sales Director for Vickers where he remained until 1926 when he became Managing Director of the New Conveyor Company in Smethwick. In 1935 he formed the Moxey Conveyor Company which later became Babcock Moxey which in turn was purchased by Claudius Peters, one of the Langley Holdings companies.
He and May had four children:
Second World War
After the outbreak of war Moxey volunteered and was posted to the RAF Intelligence as part of the "Special Duties" team where he was tasked with bomb disposal and became a pioneer in the investigation of enemy bombs and armaments. While there he invented the "Fuze Extractor", the original safe defusing device for German bombs
After a Luftwaffe raid on the aerodrome at Biggin Hill on 27 August 1940, Moxey, then an acting squadron leader, was called to remove the unexploded bombs which had buried themselves into an runway. He successfully dealt with one bomb, opening the runway up to RAF fighter pilots to defend the capital. However, when he attempted to clear the second, it exploded, killing him instantly.
It was for this act he was awarded the George Cross, becoming the first person to be awarded the medal posthumously. His citation, which appeared in the London Gazette of 17 December 1940, read:
The King has been graciously pleased to approve of the posthumous award of the George Cross to :—
Acting Squadron Leader Eric Lawrence Moxey (73498), Royal Air Force Volunteer reserve.
On the 27th August, 1940, it was reported that two unexploded bombs were embedded in an aerodrome. Squadron Leader Moxey, a technical intelligence officer employed at the Air Ministry, immediately volunteered to proceed to the site and remove them, though from the nature of his duties he was very fully aware of the risk entailed in such an operation. One of the bombs exploded causing his death. On many occasions Squadron Leader Moxey has exhibited similar complete disregard for his personal safety.
He has since been remembered with a road named in his honour on a housing development beside Biggin Hill Aerodrome.