A RUSSIAN language teacher born and bred in Hayes has been bestowed with one of Japan’s highest honours.
Roy Hurst, 74, was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays (5th Class) on Monday last week, for his outstanding contribution to international relations and diplomacy.
Mr Hurst taught Japanese diplomats Russian and German languages at the Royal Army Educational Corps (RAEC) centre at Wilton Park, Beaconsfield, for 38 years, becoming principal lecturer of the Russian department before retiring in 2002.
He was one of four British people to be decorated at the ceremony, held at the Japanese Ambassador’s Residence in Kensington, west London.
Mr Hurst lived in St Mary’s Road, Hayes, in his early years, and attended Townfield Primary School, which was where Uxbridge College’s Hayes campus is now. He went on to study German and Russian at Oxford University, and did a year’s national service before securing his job with the Defence School of Languages.
“I am proud of my background and my roots. I lived in a council estate and my family was poor, but I managed to do all right. I had a wonderful career,” he said.
“My two sisters and cousins still live in Hayes, and I go there a lot, so I still feel a strong connection to the area.”
Mr Hurst was made an OBE in 2000 and awarded the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation in 2006.
He has lived in Langley, Slough, with his wife, Nancy, for 14 years.
