We have been advised that Ted passed away on 8th August, 2017 at the age of 96 years.  

Our thoughts and prayers are extended to his family, friends and to all those that loved him.

To The Green Fields Beyond.

LEST WE FORGET

Ted enlisted for service on the 11th July, 1940.   His basic service details can be viewed here and his detailed service details can be viewed here. 

A profile of Ted is posted on the Randwick Petersham Cricket Club website under the heading 'The Silent Heroes'.  It can be viewed here but you will need to scroll down until you come to Ted's profile.

From Harry Bell:

Ted's children Gail and Gary, have provided the following potted history of Ted's extra-military life.  They are very sorry not to have been able to advise us of his funeral details; this was because they were unable to ascertain the details until the very last moment due to some family problem.   Gail has had a bad few weeks, the stress of her father's death not helping her with a flu attack.  May I extend to her and her elder brother the sympathy of the Commando Association and of the 2/6 Cav (Commando) Regiment Association. 

From Gary and Gail (Ted’s elder son and his daughter)

Ted was born to William and Edith Byrne on 23 May, 1921 in what was then the bushlands of Campsie, NSW.  He was the seventh child of a seventh child (his mother) and he always considered this as lucky (although not quite as lucky as the seventh son of a seventh son).  He did very well scholastically at school and loved his cricket at his local Croydon Park Club where he won trophies as an all rounder.

After the War and his service in Malaya with the Royal Sussex Regiment to which he had been seconded, Ted returned to Australia and civilian life again.  He married his wartime sweetheart, Betty Reta Chamberlain, at Sydney in 1946 and they went on to have three children, Garry, Gail and Teddy.  Although Ted and Betty later divorced they remained close and especially loved being together with their grandsons Christopher and Ted's beloved dog, Jason, and later with Luke.
Ted worked for some time at the stockbrokers Joseph Palmer and Sons.  Ted set up his business as the Sydney agent for some of Melbourne's finest fashion manufacturers and built it up in Culwulla Chambers to being one of the most respected in Sydney.

Being a man who loved building, Ted built himself three homes before finding his "spot in life", a rugged steep block of land at Northbridge on Sailor's Bay.  He then proceeded to build the home for his family which he continued to add to or change through the rest of his life.  He spent his last years happily living on a property in the Northern Rivers of NSW where he still indulged his love of building.

As by then the owner of Culwulla Chambers in Castlereagh St, in the 1990's Ted renovated and Strata titled this beautiful old building which, when completed in 1912, was Sydney's controversial first skyscraper at about 50 metres in height.  It sparked a decade’s long ban of buildings over 45 metres due to them being a fire hazard because fire hoses could not reach such great heights!