he was born in london on 4 july 1926, the second born son of arthur william tedder and rosalinde maclardy. his father had a military career in the royal air force, that culminated in his becoming marshal of the royal air force. as his father's military appointments involved frequent changes, the tedder family's residences also shifted. he attended schools in surrey, whitgift school (1934–36), sumatra in indonesia (1936–38) and dauntsey's school in wiltshire (1938–44). he suffered with disabilities in both hearing and eyesight, and was rejected as a candidate for military service in the second world war.