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Admiral Locklear: After the end of World War II and before 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States had a continual presence in the Asia-Pacific. This presence enabled the...
The southern fleet under Admiral David Beatty consisted of six battlecruisers and four battleships. One hundred and twelve kilometres (60 nmi; 70 mi) further north was the main force of three battlecruisers and 24 battleships under the command of Admiral John Jellicoe. In addition, the two British formations included 34 light cruisers and 80 ...
- Walter Tull
- Lionel Turpin
- Audrey Jeffers
- Robbie Clarke
- Lilian Bader
- Johnny Smythe
- Connie Mark
- Billy Strachan
- Ulric Cross
- Princess Ademola
Not only was Walter Tullthe first professional Black outfield footballer in Britain, but he was also the first known Black officer in the British army. Tull enlisted at the start of WWI and soon demonstrated exceptional leadership skills, bravery, and calmness under pressure. Breaking the colour bar that prevented anyone who wasn’t of ‘pure Europea...
Born in British Guiana (modern-day Guyana), Lionel Turpin typified the story of many black colonials who fought for king and country during WWI. Turpin found his way to English shores as a merchant seaman and when Britain and Germany went to war in 1914, he loyally wished to serve his new homeland. Turpin enlisted in 1915 at the age of 19 and was s...
Born in Trinidad, Audrey Jeffers came to Britain in 1914 at age 15. She began studying social science at a north London college where she co-founded the Union of Students of African Descent. At the outbreak of the Great War, she began working among West African troops and set up a West African Soldiers’ fund. The fund aimed to raise money via contr...
Jamaican-born Robbie Clarke self-funded his way to Britain at the outbreak of war in 1914, when he was just 19. A year later he found himself in the Royal Flying Corps serving initially as a mechanic. However, Clarke was a trailblazer destined to write his name into the history books. He gained his wings in 1917, becoming the first black pilot to f...
Lilian Bader was one of a hundred female volunteers from the Caribbean to join the British Armed Forces. Born in Liverpool to a British mother and Barbadian father, she was orphaned at a young age and raised in a convent. Racism made it hard for her to find a job but eventually, Bader became one of the first Black women in the RAF after joining the...
Although thousands from West Africa volunteered, Johnny Smythewas one of only a few that successfully made it into RAF aircrew during the Second World War. Born in Sierra Leone - at the time a British colony - Smythe’s mathematical talents made him the perfect fit to be trained as a navigator. He successfully navigated 26 bombing missions over Germ...
Connie Mark is often listed among the most influential black British women in history. Born Constance Winifred McDonald in Jamaica in 1923, Mark was only 16 when WWII broke out. In 1943. She joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) Service – the women’s branch of the British army at that time - as a medical secretary in Jamaica, tasked with d...
Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, Billy Strachanmade his way across U-boat-infested waters to sign up for the RAF. Trained as a wireless operator and air gunner, Strachan joined a bomber squadron tasked with making nightly raids over heavily defended German cities. Strachan flew 30 raids over Europe; a remarkable achievement considering the ave...
Ulric Cross is often recognised as the most decorated Caribbean airman of WWII. Born in Trinidad in 1917, Cross joined the RAF aged 24. He trained as a navigator and joined 139 Squadron, gaining the nickname ‘The Black Hornet’. Cross became an expert in precision bombing and joined the ranks of the elite Pathfinder Force, often flying missions at j...
Princess Ademola was the daughter of a king in the southern region of Nigeria and first came to Britain in 1935 at the age of 22. She trained as a nurse at Guy’s Hospital in London, becoming a qualified registered nurse in 1941. During WWII, Princess Ademola served in hospitals across London and was even the focal point of a war movie. Titled Nurse...
From the start of the First World War in 1914, Germany pursued a highly effective U-boat campaign against merchant shipping. This campaign intensified over the course of the war and almost succeeded in bringing Britain to its knees in 1917.
Oct 11, 2020 · WALTER TULL has become the most celebrated black British soldier of the First World War. He enlisted in December 1914, suffered shell shock, returned to action in the battle of the Somme and was decorated with the 1914-15 star and other British war and victory medals.
Operation Dynamo was the rescue operation implemented by the Royal Navy. It was co-ordinated by Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay and his small team in Dover Castle. There, beneath the fortress, a network of tunnels deep within the cliffs became the nerve centre controlling the evacuation of Allied forces.
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Overseen by Rear Admiral Sir Reginald Tyrwhitt, commanding officer of the Harwich fleet, the German crews were loaded on to transport ships to be sent home without being allowed to set foot on British soil.
