Walter Tull: why the black footballing pioneer was denied a Military Cross

[r00fie1]

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ack-football-pioneer-military-cross-tottenham

Extract:
Tull was one of the very first black professional footballers. Born in east London, he made his debut for Tottenham Hotspur in September 1909, before going on to play for Northampton Town. He was also the first black officer in the British army to lead white troops. A pioneer in football and the armed forces, he was tragically killed serving his country.......

Tull was among the first to sign up when war was declared in 1914. A member of the footballers’ battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, he fought in the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 30 May, 1917 despite laws supposedly preventing him from doing so. Tull was cited for his “gallantry and coolness” during the Italian offensive of that year after safely leading 26 men on a night raiding party.

"..[he was denied the Military Cross until].....a top-secret memo sent by a General White – the head of recruitment in New York – to the War and Colonial Offices. That made it clear any “wooly [sic] headed niggers” were not wanted for the forthcoming spring offensive that eventually led to the allied victory later that year. “We now refuse to post coloured men to ‘white units,’” the memo stated. “These ‘niggers’ must therefore go to native units if accepted. Can we take them for W Indies or other bns [battalions]?”

Have things changed?

Walter was awarded the Military Cross following a campaign and he is commemorated at Northampton Town`s Sixfields ground.

 

[Redwurzel]

Could you imagine a non-white officer in the US Army in 1917?

Black solders did not even carry arms in the US Army until the Korean War 1950-53 (except 1863-1865 Federal Army as an emergency measure) even though they made up a significant amount of the US Army.

I am proud the British Army had a non white officer in 1917, although I expect there was a considerable amount of racism.

The Boro had a player from Jamaica playing for them in the 1950s. Relatives of mine said he was well received by Boro fans and he stayed 8 years. His name was Lindy Delapenha. I found this interesting interview with him in 2016 when he was 89.

 

[zaphod]

There were hundreds of thousands of black soldiers in the Union Army in the civil war, including over 7,000 officers. There continued to be black soldiers in the US army, though the army was segregated.

I am uncomfortable with referring to all mixed race people as black. It is a legacy of slavery, where even the smallest of amount of African blood made you black. Mary Seacole, for example, described herself as creole, as her father was a Scotsman.

 

[r00fie1]

There were hundreds of thousands of black soldiers in the Union Army in the civil war, including over 7,000 officers. There continued to be black soldiers in the US army, though the army was segregated.

I am uncomfortable with referring to all mixed race people as black. It is a legacy of slavery, where even the smallest of amount of African blood made you black. Mary Seacole, for example, described herself as creole, as her father was a Scotsman.

The Head of the Colonial Office in New York was recruiting [in the first world war] those from the British Dependencies and colonies - it was the equivalent of the British consulate.
The British Army relied heavily on Armed Forces from all parts of the empire - the issue being that the contribution of Black Forces Personnel is often unrecognised - even up to the present day.
As for Mary Secole: her contribution as a nurse was no less than Florence Nightingale, but the latter gets more recognition - even on modern Nursing courses.

 

[r00fie1]

https://www.forces.net/heritage/wwii/lives-mattered-black-experience-ww2
Lives That Mattered – The Black Experience Of WW2. Author: Stephen Bourne
Extracts:

For those already in Britain, like Aunt Esther, black citizens were under fire along with the rest of the population.



There are stories of white British people finding the hard line on racial segregation in the American military to be shocking.

Sam King, a Jamaican who joined the Royal Air Force in 1944, said:

“I don’t think the British Empire was perfect, but it was better than Nazi Germany.”​

In 1941, with 250 other Trinidadians, Cross was accepted into the RAF and made the journey to Britain.
Of that group, 52 were killed in action.
Ulric Cross was one of those lucky enough to survive. Furthermore, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DSC) and the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) - two of the RAF’s highest honours - for his fine service.
He said of his time in the Royal Air Force:

“I felt I was doing the right thing in trying to stop Hitler. I never felt I was going to the aid of the mother country. Some people did but I would say the majority of us didn’t. Reasons differ, but certainly, for myself, you’re young, this was a tremendous adventure and you were doing it for the right reasons.”​

“ … the only coloured person in this sea of white faces but somebody told me I looked smart in my uniform which cheered me no end.”

 

[Redwurzel]

There were hundreds of thousands of black soldiers in the Union Army in the civil war, including over 7,000 officers. There continued to be black soldiers in the US army, though the army was segregated.

I am uncomfortable with referring to all mixed race people as black. It is a legacy of slavery, where even the smallest of amount of African blood made you black. Mary Seacole, for example, described herself as creole, as her father was a Scotsman.

Zaphod

There were no black solders in the Union Army until late 1862 - Black solders in the US Army after the Civil war were often give roles non - combatant roles such as cooks, grave diggers, road builders. Segregation was 100% in the US Army until 1948. The Confederacy lost the war, but won the peace. Not much WW2 footage showing black US solders in the front line, even though they were 11% of the US population.