Captain Charles Mosse, 120th Rajputana Infantry, Waziristan, 1920

Photograph, India, North West Frontier (1920-1937), 1920.

Charles Oliver Robins Mosse (1891-1965) was born at Poona (now Pune) in India, the son of Colonel William Oliver Matless Mosse. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Indian Army in September 1910 after attending the Royal Military College. He was made lieutenant in December 1912.

Following the outbreak of war in 1914, Mosse was sent to Mesopotamia (now Iraq). He took part in the capture of Basra (11-21 November 1914) and the Battle of Shaiba (12-14 April 1915) during which he was wounded. On recovering, he took part in the capture of both Nasiriyeh (24 July 1915) and Kut-al-Amara (28 September 1915), where he was again wounded. Evacuated by hospital ship, Mosse avoided the subsequent siege in which his unit was forced to surrender. Awarded the Military Cross in April 1916, he was promoted to captain in September that year.

Mosse eventually retired with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, but returned to the colours in June 1939 when he became a pilot officer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.

From an album of 97 photographs compiled by Captain C O R Mosse, 120th Rajputana Infantry and 2/6th Rajputana Rifles.