He attended local state schools and helped on his parents' property before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force on 1 February 1917.
He served in the 12th Army Brigade of the Australian Field Artillery as a gunner on the Western Front, but was badly gassed in October 1918 and returned to Australia; he was discharged from the AIF on 19 February 1919.
[1] Returning to Victoria, Moss farmed wheat and wool at Numurkah and joined the Victorian Farmers' Union.
In July 1930 he visited Canberra in his capacity as vice-president of the Victorian Wheat Growers' Association as a lobbyist, and joined the Australian Country Party in 1931.
He regularly contributed to a variety of newspapers, and was chairman of the Enterprise of New Guinea Gold and Petroleum Development company.