Terence was born on 17 January 1913 in Singapore to Sellim Raphael and Wilhelmina nee Van Vliet and had a sister Joyce. Before the war Terence wrote for the Israelite magazine which was printed for the Singapore Jewish community. He travelled from Singapore to work in London as an articled clerk for a chartered accountants and lived at Lexham Gardens in Kensington. He is remembered on the Memorial at the Chartered Accountants Hall in London. In July 1941 he married Winifred Rymer in Kensington.

Terence was the pilot of Catalina FP124 which departed from Gibraltar to carry out convoy escort duties in the Western Mediterranean. At 08.55 a signal was received from the aircraft stating they had made contact with the convoy. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft and it did not return to base. It was due to return by 18. 00. Following post war investigations and enquiries, it was recorded in 1948 that the missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.

Pilot, Pilot Officer Roland Dean Ambrose, 118492.
A/G, Sergeant Thomas Bailey, 527173.
F/E, Sergeant Charles Lynn Cockburn, 971612.
W/Op A/G, Sergeant Thomas Elder, 576091.
W/Op A/G, Flight Sergeant Ronald Austen Seymour Mitchell, 927808.
Pilot, Flight Lieutenant Terence Aubrey David Sassoon.
F/E, Sergeant Kenneth James Thorne, 1054379.
Obs, Flying Officer Egbert Watts Wall, 405281.
W/Op A/G, Sergeant Harold Hayden Warren, 1260652.