D-Day veteran David Teacher, 100, dies

A 100-year-old D-Day veteran described as an ‘inspiration’ has died less than a fortnight before the 80th anniversary of the landings.

David Teacher, who served as a mechanic with the RAF in the Second World War, died last Friday, a spokesperson for the Broughton House veterans care home in Salford, Greater Manchester, said.

Mr Teacher, who was born in Hastings, East Sussex, was one of the first to arrive on Juno beach in the 1944 Normandy landings with No. 2 RAF Beach Squadron, driving a Bedford QL truck onto the beach under heavy bombardment at just 20 years old.

He lived in a trench on the beach for three months fixing broken down vehicles, managing fuel, ammunition, equipment and vehicles and guiding troops safely onwards in their fight against the Axis powers.

Mr Teacher then went onto serve in the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium in 1944 as part of the RAF’s No. 2742 Squadron, traipsing through heavy snow to bring supplies back to his squadmates.

The harsh fighting conditions are believed to have played a part in why the mechanic later lost his legs due to poor circulation. 

He was demobbed in 1946 and discharged in 1947. He later began undertaking charity work, for which he was awarded an MBE in 2012.

Filmmaker Richard Alexander, who befriended the veteran in 2017, said in a written tribute: ‘Our incredible friendship has shaped the last seven years, and I’ll miss him in ways that mere words cannot do justice. 

‘Our shared memories will continue as long as I’m drawing breath, however, and I hope that I can go on in a way that does them justice.

‘As David would say, it isn’t goodbye, but see you again, and take care until next time.’  

Mr Teacher first encountered the armed forces whilst living in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine, where he lived with his grandparents for a time before returning to Britain.

Whilst in the Middle East, he would spend time at the local British Army base and even translated Hebrew and Arabic for soldiers. He returned to Britain as war broke out, witnessing the Blitz in London.

It prompted him to joined the armed forces at the age of 18 in 1942, after which he was posted at various RAF stations across the UK.

He met his wife Nancy as he walked up a set of steps to attend a dance. He recalled in a BBC News interview that he remarked, ‘That’s the girl I’m going to marry,’ to which she responded: ‘You must be joking.’

But he wasn’t. On August 22 1943, after being granted a short period of leave, Mr Teacher and Nancy were married at the Holy Law Synagogue in Prestwick, Greater Manchester. They were married for 76 years before she died.

Mr Teacher joined Combined Operations, Churchill’s brainchild that brought together the might of the Army, Royal Navy and the RAF to create a complete fighting force against the Nazis across land, sea and air.

The tactic was deployed across the theatre of war, culminating in the D-Day landings in which Mr Teacher played a vital part.

He had been trained in maintaining and waterproofing the mighty three-tonne Bedford QL lorries – guiding it through six feet-deep water to the shores in an operation that turned the tide of the Second World War.   

Writing in his autobiography, Mr Teacher recalled the horrors of the Normandy landings, in which he was front and centre, piloting his lorry to a safe zone as bombs rained down – including one that landed just 20 feet away and failed to go off.

He wrote: ‘The beach was under fire from shells, mortars and machine guns, we dived for cover. The sea was covered in blood and vomit and flies began to arrive by the thousands, which created another nightmare.

‘At around midday three German aircraft attacked our beach. Three bombs were dropped. The first hit a landing craft causing many casualties. Number two hit an anti-aircraft post where all were killed.

‘The third bomb landed not more than 20 feet away from me. It did not explode. I didn’t know what to think, other than someone was certainly taking care of me that day.’

He returned to England in September after three months of living in the trench, which regularly filled with beach water and was infested with sand lice and flies.

He was then sent to the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium just a few months later, contending with freezing conditions in what was to be the Nazis’ last stand on the Western Front.

Celebrating his 21st birthday amidst the bleak and unforgiving Ardennes winter, he endured freezing conditions on the front, with no fires allowed lest they give away their positions.

He told Broughton House, which cared for him for several years: ‘It was cold, wet and miserable. We had no food or heat. The snow was six feet deep.’

The miserable conditions, compounded with the cold, soggy clothing he and his squadmates wore, are believed to have contributed to the circulatory problems he experienced that led to his legs being amputated later in life.

Close friend and filmmaker Richard Alexander, who met him in 2017, told the Manchester Evening News: ‘He lost his legs due to bad circulation, which people have pointed to freezing conditions, -22C, that he spent in leather shoes, ill-prepared during the Battle of the Bulge.’

After the end of the war in Europe, he spent eight months in the Azores before returning to the UK in March 1946. He was demobbed that December and discharged in February 1947. 

He has been a persistent campaigner for his fellow veterans ever since, regularly attending memorial events in Normandy.

In 2010, he teamed up with war historian Mike Fenton – whose father John Hughes Fenton served with No. 4 RAF Squadron – to have a memorial plaque for the RAF Beach Squadrons installed in France.

It was unveiled on June 6 2011 – the 67th anniversary of the D-Day landings – and is attached to a wall at the Musee du Debarquement in Arromanches.

Poignantly, Mr Teacher returned to Juno Beach on the 73rd anniversary of the D-Day Landings in 2017, where he was driven along the exact stretch of sand he knew all too well in a restored Bedford QL.

It looked just like the one he drove in 1944 – and had even been named Nancy in honour of his late wife.

He was later reunited with the restored truck in August last year after it had been given a fresh coat of paint in the livery of his 103 Beach Unit.

‘I could never have even dreamt of seeing the old girl again, looking so fine, and with Nancy’s name still on the front of it – I’m lost for words,’ he told the Express.

‘She never let me down, not once, and I never thought we’d see each other again. 

‘That vehicle served me very well. It went from D-Day and all the way through Germany. It’s hard to believe being here and now to see it.’

Mr Teacher also volunteered at the Imperial War Museum North in Salford Quays in his later years. He was a former vice-chairman of Bolton and District Normandy Veterans Association and an ex-chairman of the Manchester Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women. 

After suffering a fall in 2020, Mr Teacher was admitted to hospital where, shockingly, his phone was stolen by a man who claimed his older brother had served in Afghanistan.

He told the Express of the theft: ‘That’s how it is these days unfortunately – no respect. They think ‘If I want it, I’ll take it’.

‘The nurses were great, they were shocked it had happened and were saying only a scumbag could do such a thing.’

He marked his 100th birthday on December 29 – with a swinging party complete with boogie-woogie singers and a slap-up meal.

Karen Miller, chief executive of Broughton House, said: ‘David was 100 years old and was an inspiration to us all. He lived with us for three years and was immensely popular, much-loved and respected by all of our residents and staff.

‘David served this country during World War Two with enormous courage, and after his service he continued inspire others through his charity work with ex-service organisations, and by sharing with the younger generation the important values of friendship, duty and service.

‘It was a privilege for us to care for him in his later years and he will be greatly missed by us all. Our sympathies are with his family at this sad time.’

Mr Teacher is survived by his daughter Lesley as well as his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 

The 80th anniversary of D-Day will be marked on Thursday June 6 with commemorations in Normandy as well as across the UK.