Hayball Ted

Ted (Edward) Hayball

 

 

Ted Hayball was born in Bristol, the son of a sergeant major in the Royal Gloucestershire Regiment. After his father was killed in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) in 1917, his mother struggled to bring up her sons while running a sweet shop in Lower Castle Street. Leaving school at 14, Hyaball had various jobs, and in 1931, after his mother was committed to an asylum, he joined his father’s regiment. He served in India for five years and gained the army certificate of education, first class. He then worked at the Bristol Aircraft Company at Filton, but with the war in 1939 was recalled and served in the British Expeditionary Force in France

There, he was wounded and transferred to the Royal Pioneer Corps.After being promoted to lieutenant he landed on Juno beach with the Canadians on D-day, later taking part in the Walcheren amphibious landings. After one of the craft in his flotilla was hit, he launched a small boat and saved several men from drowning. He was hospitalised in Belgium, but discharged himself and returned to the Walcheren beachhead, having discovered that his platoon was without officers. He was mentioned in despatches for this.

 

After the war, Ted took a keen interest in politics, joining first the Commonwealth Party, then the Communist Party, and later Labour. He applied to the postwar emergency teacher training scheme and was sent to Gaddesdon college in Hertfordshire, then taught in secondary modern schools in High Wycombe and London, became a branch secretary in the National Union of Teachers, and wrote for the `Teacher’ magazine. He died aged 96

 

Source: The Guardian June 13th 2008