Walter Tull: calls for first black British army officer to be honoured

Calls are growing for Walter Tull, the first black person to serve as an officer in the British army, to be posthumously awarded a military cross as the centenary of his death on the battlefield approaches.
Tull, who was a professional footballer at the outbreak of the first world war, gained his commission as a second lieutenant in 1917, having served as a non-commissioned officer in the Somme and in other battles in France and Italy.
A crossbench group of 127 MPs has written to the prime minister asking that Tull be awarded the medal, calling him a “true British hero” and saying his achievements “in the face of the bitter prejudice that he faced throughout his life should be recognised and celebrated”.

just 127 MPs out of over 600 what about the other 500.A very remarkable man as are all our service personal

The facts at the time does not support the claim. he was not recommended officialy, and did not have a part in the raid that would merit an MC. Just another blown up political positioning I’m afraid.

Lars

Or was it because of the racist mentality at the time that he was not put forward for an MC

Don’t know where you get your facts from Lars but everything I read about the man states he was recommended for an MC

Tull, from Folkestone and whose parents were from Dover, was the first black infantry officer to lead white troops into battle and the first black infantry officer to be recommended for a Military Cross, which he never received.

this is just one item from many reports that are published online

yes I believe he should finally receive what he earned. it is only a pity it has taken so long to recognise his bravery, and putting a long standing Racist issue right

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jones20

Don’t know where you get your facts from Lars but everything I read about the man states he was recommended for an MC

Tull, from Folkestone and whose parents were from Dover, was the first black infantry officer to lead white troops into battle and the first black infantry officer to be recommended for a Military Cross, which he never received.

this is just one item from many reports that are published online

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My source is a person who has looked into the primary sources. It is claimed that he was MID, but no such mention can be found in the Gazette. No recommendation for an MC has been found for him. It is claimed in a letter by a fellow officer to his family that he was recommended for a MC, but this has never been verified.

The raid in question was a large one, but aborted without much fighting. Tull led a covering party, and was one of several officers that took part. Two are verified as receiving a MC, one of them a new years honour without a citation.

Even if he was recommended, it is a well known fact that not all recommendation led to an award. Without an existing recommendation and a clear connection to his ancestry being the reason for a non-award, I simply can’t see a case for an award 100 years later.

Thanks for that info, what sticks in the throat with this is the fact that Walter Tull was black and the bigotry that went against blacks at the time was well documented particularly as Walter had gone through the ranks to reach officer rank, it was stated by many senior officers at the time that black officers should not lead White troops therefore it is not inconceivable that Walter had been recommended by his senior officer who treated each person as he found them and then ended up on the desk of an officer who was not so sympathetic towards Black soldiers.It will be something that we can neither prove or disprove as there are no living witnesses

I agree with you.

There are similar examples of some other black officers, one of them (George Edward Kingsley Bemand) stating on his attestation, accepted by his CO, that he was of ”pure european descent”, which he obviously was not. Yet another, Allan Noel Minns, was an officer in the RAMC and received a MC and a DSO during WWI - the MC for Gallipoli.

Lars