Brigadier Desmond Hayde, the patron founder of the school, was a Mahavir Chakra, the second highest honor in war-time, for winning one of the toughest battles ever fought by the Indian Army. In a brilliant and gruesome assault, what he and his men achieved that September 50 years ago, had never been seen before.

Brigadier Desmond Hayde was born in Exeter, UK, on 20th Nov 1926. He was commissioned into the Jat Regiment on 12th September 1948.

Hayde spent 30 years in the Indian Army before retiring as a brigadier in 1978. He then moved to Kotdwar in Uttarakhand, his wife’s hometown. He set up the ex-servicemen league in Kotdwar and readily helped former members of the Jat Regiment. He founded the school in Kotdwar.

Hayde Heritage Academy, Kotdwara, a school founded by him, was renamed in his honor.