Terence Lancelot Tynan was born on 11th April 1915 in Gravesend, Kent. His father was Francis Valentine Tynan, a Secretary to the Soldier’s Federation, and his mother was Lilian Laura (née Driver). Terence’s father had served in India with the 1st Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment and he died in 1940. The first school that Terence attended was Cecil Road School in Gravesend.
In 1925 Terence Tynan joined The County School for Boys – now known as Gravesend Grammar School. The Head Master at that time was the Reverend Samuel Lister. The County School for Boys was located in Darnley Road, Gravesend close to the Railway Station (now the Victoria Centre for Education). In 1938 the School moved to brand new premises in Church Walk, Milton, Gravesend opposite to Milton Church.
The School’s Admission Register lists Terence’s address as 130 Old Road East, Gravesend. Whilst at the School, Terence was in Town House, he played for the 1st XV Rugby team and took part in the 1930 School Drama production of Abraham Lincoln. Two older brothers also attended the School; Francis (born 1909) and Dennis (born 1911). In World War Two, Francis served with the Royal West Kent Regiment as a Lieutenant and was listed as missing in action June 1940 during the Battle for France; as the British armies were in retreat to the coast. It was later found out that he was a Prisoner of War, No. 1570, at Oflag VII B, Eichstatt, Bavaria. The camp was liberated on 16th April 1945 by the US army – the same day that his brother, Terence died.
In 1932 Terence left the School and started work at APCM in the Welfare Department. He initially served with the Territorial Army in the London Irish Rifles before World War Two, then serving in Northern Ireland with the Royal Ulster Rifles, and later being selected for special duties. In 1940 he married Nancy Davenport Gibbs, their daughter, Kathleen, was born in 1941.
By 1945, Terence was serving in the First Parachute Regiment as a Captain, Service Number 129586. Terence Tynan was killed during a military operation near Minehead, Somerset, on 16th April 1945, his daughter’s fourth birthday. He was 30 years old. His funeral took place at St John’s Church and he was buried at Gravesend Cemetery on 20th April 1945. His wife gave birth to their son, Patrick, after Terence’s death.

Terence Tynan was in the same Form as Douglas Owen, who was also Killed in Action in World War Two.

There are links below to Newspaper Clippings and Photographs from the Gravesend Grammar School Archives.
Below are links to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website and a few other websites that might be of interest:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2361699/tynan,-terence-lancelot/