Edward “Ted” Hoare grew up against the backdrop of mid 1930s London. Ted received a scholarship to attend a uniform school, but he wasn’t able to attend due to a lack of financial resources. He eventually got a job and registered for the military at the age of fourteen, and he subsequently joined the Home Guard at the age of sixteen. Ted recalled hearing about Hitler’s rise to power in Germany and he was well aware of the different political parties that existed in prewar England. Ted enrolled in the army after turning eighteen. Training took place mainly in England and included operating a machine gun and mine laying. Ted then made his way overseas to North Africa and Italy, where he eventually and took part in the Battle of Monte Cassino. There he suffered a wound that brought his “life in khaki to an end”. When the war concluded, Ted returned to England and eventually emigrated to Canada, where he raised a family.
We interviewed Ted at the Muir Retirement Home in Newmarket in January 2015. Amal Ismail-Ladak took the lead on this interview, along with students Izabella Osme, Akib Shahjahan, and Danielle Gionnas. In October 2017 we visited Ted again, in his new home at Sunnybrook. Students Arielle Meyer, Adelaide Pike, Trevon Thomas and Steven Lazar interviewed him by the billiards room.
Videos
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- 1. Ted Hoare - Introduction and Childhood
- 2. The Depression; Training
- 3. Age 14; Work; News and Entertainment
- 4. Fire Watch
- 5. Ted's Memories of His Father; The Beginning of the War
- 6. Ted's Army Work; The Generals; After 13 Weeks
- 7. Into the Atlantic; The Search for Germans; Italy and First Combat
- 8. Photographs and Memories of the War
- 9. Montecassino and Rome; Advancing
- 10. The Transfer; The Preparation
- 11. The Collapse
- 12. Meeting His Wife; Family.mp4
- 13. Britain and Veteran Care.mp4
- 14. The Holocaust and Hiroshima.mp4
- 15. VE Day; Life after the War and in Toronto
- 16. Life in Sunnybrook
