Moss, Ivan William Stanley (Billy)

Date of birth:: June 15th, 1921 (Yokohama, Japan)
Date of death:: August 9th, 1965 (Kingston, Jamaica)
Service number:: 200101
Nationality:: British

Biography

William Stanley Moss was born in Yokohama, Japan, in 1921 to an English businessman and a Russian émigrée. The family survived the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake and later moved to England, where Moss attended Charterhouse School.

At the outbreak of WWII, Moss was living in Latvia. He made his way to England via Stockholm, crossing the North Sea in a yacht. After training at Caterham, he joined the Coldstream Guards in 1941, serving at Chequers and Buckingham Palace before being posted to North Africa. He fought with Montgomery’s Eighth Army from El Alamein to Pantelleria, then volunteered for the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in Cairo in late 1943.

In Cairo, Moss moved into a villa nicknamed “Tara,” shared with fellow SOE agents and Countess Sophie Tarnowska. The house became a lively hub for diplomats, officers, and resistance operatives. Its residents adopted playful titles—Moss was “Mr. Jack Jargon”—and hosted spirited gatherings while planning covert missions.

Moss is best known for co-leading the daring 1944 abduction of German General Heinrich Kreipe in Crete. Alongside Patrick Leigh Fermor and Cretan resistance fighters, Moss disguised himself as a German soldier and stopped Kreipe’s car near Archanes. After knocking out the driver, Moss drove the general through 22 checkpoints in Heraklion, impersonating his chauffeur.

The team then crossed the Ida Mountains on foot and mule, evading German patrols with help from locals. On May 14, they escaped by British motor launch from Peristeres Beach. The operation boosted Allied morale and was immortalized in Moss’s bestselling book Ill Met by Moonlight (1950), later adapted into a 1957 film.

Returning to Crete in July 1944, Moss led a mixed team of Cretans and escaped Russian POWs in an ambush at Damasta, destroying vehicles and killing 40–50 Axis troops. He left the island in August and was later promoted to major.

From September to November 1944, Moss operated in northern Greece, attempting sabotage missions to disrupt German withdrawals. In 1945, he joined Force 136 in Thailand, parachuting into the Bandon region for Operation Sungod. His team coordinated with Thai forces, identified POW camps, and prepared infrastructure sabotage. They oversaw the orderly surrender of Japanese troops before Moss departed in November.

He was discharged in November 1946.

Moss's wartime exploits are described in his books "Ill Met by Moonlight" and "A War of Shadows." The baton with which Moss knocked Kreipe's driver unconscious is on display at the Imperial War Museum in London.

Promotions:
2 August 1941: 2nd Lieutenant

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Military Cross (MC)

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Temporary Captain
Unit:: Force 133, Special Operations Executive (SOE), British Government
Awarded on:: July 13th, 1944
Awarded for:: Bricklayer

Recommendation:
"This officer showed exceptional gallantry in taking part, with Major Leigh Fermor, in the organization and execution of the kidnapping of Major-General Kreipe at Arkhanes, Crete on 26 April 1944. It was due to Captain Moss's swiftness in attacking the Generals car that the operation was made possible.

In the early stages of the kidnapping, Capt. Moss impersonated the chauffeur of the General's car and for an hour and a half drove "the General" through Heraklion and passed 22 controlled road blocks before the car was finally abandoned. Subsequently Capt. Moss assisted in moving the General during a period of 17 days through enemy held territory.

For outstanding courage and audacity Capt. Moss is recommended for the Immediate Award of the MC."