Ypres souvenir plate : H J Moss, Essex Yeomanry, British Army

Souvenir white ceramic plate with blue rim. In the centre is a blue crest showing a shield with the cross of Lorraine, a crossbow and the words 'SOCIETE ROYALE DES FRANCS ARBALETRIERS A YPRES'. The rear of the plate is stamped with the makers mark 'LIMOGES FRANCE'.

Souvenir plate collected from the Cloth Hall in Ypres, Belgium by 80262 Private Harry James Moss, Essex Yeomanry, British Army. The inscription on the plate translates to the Royal Society of French Crossbowmen at Ypres. Ypres was of strategic importance during the First World War and was the scene of almost constant fighting. The medieval Cloth Hall was the town's civic and commercial centre but it, and much of the town, was destroyed by heavy German artillery bombardments. The building was reconstructed to the orginal medieval design after the war. Moss was born in Suffolk, England on 5 March 1897. He served with the British Army's Essex Yeomanry, 3rd Cavalry Division during the First World War and later migrated to Australia. During the Second World War Moss enlisted in the Volunteer Defence Corps in Rutherglen, VIC. He was appointed lieutenant and served with the 22nd Battalion from March 1942 until March 1944.