was born in Salisbury, England on 2 November 1930 the son of Christopher John and Amy (nee Parker). They lived in Exmouth, Devon.His father was a Station Warrant Officer in the Royal Air Force.

At 14 Ted Clapp was allowed to finish school early to undertake war work at Exeter Airport.He de-greased and greased cannons on fighter planes and cleaned out the insides of newly built military gliders. At 15 he became a deckhand on the sailing ship Crown of Denmark plying cargo around the River Severn and Plymouth: this was the beginning of his love of the sea and sailing.

In the early 1940s, his father was posted to (then) Rhodesia and from there, in 1947, Ted Clapp travelled to Simonstown in South Africa to join the Royal Navy. Back in England, he attended the Boys Training Establishment at HMS Vincent and then at HMS Ganges and graduated as a boy telegrapher. He served on various ships and on submarines. Because of his telegraphy skills he was attached to Combined Operations and spent much of his time on land - he did two jungle patrols in Malaysia during the communist uprising, served in Suez in 1956 and, in his words, ‘wandered around’ North Korea during the Korean War. He was in fact getting as close to enemy positions as possible and sending the co-ordinates back to the ships for more accurate naval gunfire.

In 1957, he heard of an expedition to Antarctica. He made enquiries and was interviewed by Sir Vivian FUCHS and was then seconded to the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS). He had not told the Navy of this, so there was a slight delay until Sir Vivian was able to clear the way by speaking to a certain Philip Mountbatten (EDINBURGH).) A month later he was in the RRS John Biscoe travelling south.

When he arrived in Stanley his secondment to FIDS was temporarily suspended as he was needed on a small naval team carrying out a more detailed survey of the coastline of parts of Antarctica.The team was headed by Lieutenant John Wyn-Edwards and Clapp was the coxswain of a small 25ft survey launch, the Anvers Kate, and radio operator. Once this survey was completed, he went to Wordie Hut on Argentine Islands (1958 and 1960), Base W, Stonington and Hope Bay, latterly as Base Commander (1959).

Ted Clapp met his wife, Falkland Islander Jean, nee Campbell, at a ship’s party during one of his journeys through Stanley.It was love at second sight.He went back to the UK to resign from the Navy as a chief petty officer and returned to the Falklands in 1960 to take up the position of Colonial Officer/Radio Communications Supervisor and eventually Officer in Command at the FIDS/BAS office.They were married in 1961 and had two children – Kevin Christopher, born in 1965 and Karen born in 1970.

In 1966 Clapp was one of the first on the scene of the infamous CONDOR GROUP hijacking.Believing the Aerolineas Argentinas DC4 to be in trouble, as it landed on the racecourse, he had rushed to help and, as the doors opened, promptly had two rifles pointed at his stomach and a pistol under his chin. The aircraft had been hijacked by a group of ultra-nationalist Peronist militants.Several others, both civilians and military, who had arrived to help were also taken hostage, and a stand-off ensued. Eventually the hijackers asked to speak to the Roman Catholic Priest, Father ROEL, and they surrendered.

In Stanley, Clapp threw himself into the Falklands way of life and loved it. He resurrected the Youth Club; became Chief of the Fire Brigade and set up the Search and Rescue service – in 1971 leading the team which successfully rescued the crew of a military hovercraft which went missing in the Johnson’s Harbour area; he was a founding member of the Malo Angling Club; was on the committee of the Radio Station and often hosted radio programmes including the local version of Desert Island Discs. He helped to run the cinema and was a projectionist at the Parish Hall. He said that Sunday afternoon showings were for the kids, and they could shout, scream and jump around as much as they liked.If any adult complained, they were politely instructed to put up with it or leave!

Eventually Clapp became Head of the BAS office in Stanley, which meant he was also the Forward Administration Office for all the bases – everyone and everything going to Antarctica went through Stanley. He improved communications with both the bases, and the survey teams, ensuring the office knew where all the survey teams were, at any given time. This turned out to be vital when co-ordinating the response to major events, for example the evacuation of Deception Island base when the volcano erupted in 1969

In 1975 Clapp was recalled to the UK to help set-up the BAS HQ in Cambridge. That year he was awarded the Fuchs Medal – something he was honoured to receive because he had been nominated by his peers in Antarctica, Stanley and the UK in recognition of all he had done. He was also greatly honoured to have a place named after him in Antarctica, Clapp Point (latitude -65.35 longitude -64.0166667). He was belatedly awarded the Polar Medal in 2013.

On his return to the UK, Clapp became heavily involved with the Falkland Islands Association (FIA). (He had been a member of its predecessor, the Falkland Islands Emergency Committee). During the 1982 Conflict, he spent a lot of time in London meeting MPs and various government officials – his knowledge of the Islands and their terrain was invaluable. He also spoke with the BBC and much of their footage shown at the time was his personal cinefilm. In the 1990s and 2000s he travelled around the UK to attend the presentations and seminars of the anti-Falklands lobby, particularly the South Atlantic Council. He used his knowledge of the Falkland Islands to rebut their assumptions and arguments about the Falklands and the Islanders’ way of life. He was described as a courteous, but forceful, advocate of the Islanders’ right to self-determination. He undertook the role of Honorary Secretary, Treasurer and Membership Secretary and undertook huge amounts of work which helped, along with Merle CHRISTIE'S efforts, in keeping the FIA functional. It is debateable whether, without his input, the FIA would have survived and grown into the organisation it is today. His staunch support of, and love for, the Falklands never wavered. Throughout this period, he was ably assisted by his wife, Jean. When, at last, retirement beckoned, he was asked to become a Vice President of the FIA, an appointment he was honoured to accept.

In 1998 Clapp was awarded an MBE by the Queen for his services to the Falkland Islands, both in the community when he lived there, and for his tireless work in the UK with the FIA on behalf of Falkland Islanders.

He died on 26 March 2021, at home in Needingworth, Cambridgeshire aged 90.