Alan Thomas Bannister was born in 1922 in Wallace Road, Grays, Essex. He was the second son of Thomas & Eliza Bannister of Grays. He had two brothers, Keith 1914- and Colin 1928-.
He attended Quarry Hill Infants School in Dell Road, Grays 1927-32 and then John Henry Burrows Intermediate in Hathaway Road, Grays 1932-37.
He joined Siley Weir Engineering in Tilbury Dock as an Apprentice Mechanical Engineer from 1937-1940. He joined the Merchant Navy as an Engineering Officer in 1940 and signed up with P&O. He joined the S.S. Otranto and saw war service around the world. He made a number of trips to Australia, Egypt, India, Singpore, Australia, America and South Africa. He took part in the Battle of the Atlantic, the invasion of Sicily and the Salerno landings in Italy. He transferred ships in 1944 to the Thor and finished the war doing cross-channel trips in support of the invasion of France.
He was invalided out of the Merchant Navy in 1945 and married Patricia Foster of Grays at St Giles Church, Orsett in 1948. He worked as an engineer at the Thames Board Mills, Purfleet for two years and then enrolled at a teacher training college at Burdrop Park, Swindon in 1950. He qualified as a Handicraft Teacher and started his teaching career at Torells Boys School, Buxton Road, Grays in 1952.
Alan and Pat had two boys, Ross 1954- and Martyn 1956- and lived in Malting Lane in Orsett. Alan continued his teaching career and finally retired, after 32 years at Torells, in 1985. He and Pat retired to Willoughby, Lincolnshire in 1987 where they spent only three happy years. They celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary there in 1988 where, in his speech, Alan said that he had counted every year since the war as a bonus as so many of his friends had not been so fortunate. Alan was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1989 and died at Alford Cottage Hospital in May 1990. He is buried in the graveyard of All Saints Church, Ulceby near Alford, Lincolnshire
