{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox military person | name = Eric Lawrence Moxey | image = Eric Lawrence Moxey 2.png | image_size = | alt = | caption = | nickname = | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1894|4|14}} | birth_place = São Paulo, Brazil | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1940|8|27|1894|4|14}} | death_place = Biggin Hill, England | burial_place = St. Peter & St. Paul, Cudham, Orpington, Kent | allegiance = United Kingdom | branch = British Army<br/>Royal Air Force | service_years = | rank = Squadron Leader | service_number = 73498 | unit = | commands = | battles = First World War *Battle of the Somme **Battle of Albert ***First day on the Somme Second World War *Home Front **The Blitz{{KIA}} | awards = George Cross | relations = | other_work = }} '''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.<ref>[https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/249 TracesOfWar.com – Moxey, Eric Laurence]</ref>
==Early life and family== thumb|left|Eric Lawrence Moxey during WW1 Moxey was born in São Paulo, Brazil, to English parents William Hall Moxey, Director of the São Paulo Railway Company and Margaret Moxey. He was educated in England at Malvern School and Sheffield University while working in the city at Vickers Limited. He was a keen motorcyclist and achieved some successes at Brooklands and the Isle of Man TT,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iomtt.com/TT-Database/competitors.aspx?ride_id=205|title=E L Moxey – Competitors – Isle of Man TT Official Website|website=iomtt.com|access-date=2016-06-05}}</ref> where he won a gold medal as a top-placed amateur.
At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Moxey entered the British Army to serve in the infantry. He saw action on the first day of the Somme as a lieutenant in the 7th Platoon of the 12th York and Lancaster Regiment (Sheffield City Battalion) and was one of four men to return that day. He remained in the army until 1917, rising to the rank of captain, when he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps.
In 1916 Moxey married May Arthur Clark, daughter of William Clark, then managing director of Vickers, and sister to Captain William S Clark, who fought alongside Moxey in the First World War and died on the first day of the Somme.
In 1919, Moxey left the Royal Flying Corps and 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/New_Conveyor_Co|title=New Conveyor Co|website=gracesguide.co.uk|access-date=2016-06-05}}</ref> 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.
Moxey and May had four children: * Douglas Erskine Moxey (1918–1984) – Served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserves on-board {{HMS|Ark Royal|91|6}} during the Battle of Spartivento, {{HMS|Eagle|1918|6}} and {{HMS|Emperor|D98|6}}. Douglas later took over the running of Babcock Moxey when Eric was killed. * Nigel Hall Moxey (1921–1942) – Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserves. He was shot down and killed in Cairo in August 1942, forming part of the build-up to the Battle of Alam el Halfa. He is buried in Heliopolis. * Jonathan Kirkwood Moxey (1924–1985) – Jack, as he was known, served as Navigator on Motor Launch 269 during the D-Day invasion of North France, having been seconded from his role as an Observer in the Fleet Air Arm.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/44/a4053944.shtml|title=BBC – WW2 People's War D-Day a bird in the water}}</ref> He later worked for several engineering firms before retiring to Alderney in 1972 with ill health * William Hall Moxey (1924–2011)
==Second World War== After the outbreak of the Second World 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 <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205049825|title=THE WORK OF RAF BOMB DISPOSAL SQUADS IN THE UK AND GERMANY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR.|website=Imperial War Museums|access-date=2016-06-05}}</ref>
thumb|Road sign for Eric Lawrence Moxey, killed at Biggin Hill in 1940 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 a 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:<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/35014/supplements/7053/page.pdf London gazette 17 December 1940]</ref>
{{Blockquote|The King has been graciously pleased to approve of the posthumous award of the George Cross to :—<br/> Acting Squadron Leader Eric Lawrence Moxey (73498), Royal Air Force Volunteer reserve.<br/> 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.}}
Moxey has since been remembered with a road named in his honour on a housing development beside Biggin Hill Aerodrome.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bigginhill-history.co.uk/leavesdenmoxey.htm|title=Moxey|website=bigginhill-history.co.uk|access-date=2016-06-05}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book|last = Owen|first = James|author-link = James Owen (British author)|year = 2010|title = Danger UXB|publisher = Little, Brown|isbn = 978-1-4087-0255-0}} * {{cite book|last = M-M|first = S|year = 1941|title = Together We Fly ''A Salute to Airmen''|publisher = Geoffrey Bles}}
==External links== {{Portal|Biography}} *{{Find a Grave|10802021}} * [http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2824724/MOXEY,%20ERIC%20LAWRENCE CWGC: Eric Lawrence Moxey]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Moxey, Eric Lawrence}} Category:1894 births Category:1940 deaths Category:People from São Paulo Category:People educated at Malvern College Category:Alumni of the University of Sheffield Category:Isle of Man TT riders Category:Royal Flying Corps officers Category:Royal Air Force squadron leaders Category:Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Category:British recipients of the George Cross Category:Royal Air Force recipients of the George Cross Category:Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Category:Bomb disposal personnel Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:York and Lancaster Regiment officers Category:Deaths by German airstrikes during The Blitz