Ted joined the Royal Navy as a Boy Seaman and trained at the Russell Cotes Nautical Training School. In 1943, the Germans bombed the area of his training camp and his Band Master was killed at his front door, so Ted had seen the effects of war before he was drafted. 

In 1943, at the age of 17, he was drafted to the Empire Tegaica, which was carrying ammunition. He was shortly transferred to a Red Cross ship, where he served as a Sick Berth Attendant. His ship sailed to Normandy, anchoring off the coast on June 6th. Once the battle of Caen began, they had to anchor further offshore because the shelling produced aftershocks which could cause damage to the boats. He describes looking upwards and not being able to see the sky because there were so many planes flying into Caen. For a few months from June 6th, the ship ran back and forwards between Portsmouth and Normandy, carrying the wounded. 

The ship was then sent to Java and Sumatra, as the Japanese were in the process of surrender. They picked up hundreds of Allied soldiers, who had been starved and abused under the Japanese occupation, and brought them home in a journey that took several months. 

Ted’s story highlights the role of the Royal Navy in WW2 campaigns, and reflects the bravery of young soldiers.