Walter Tull: Gone but not forgotten

By -
Remembering our past image © MisBeee Writes

As we remember the war dead 100 years after the First World War started in 1914, let’s spare a thought for Second Lieutenant Walter Daniel John. Tull was the first Black outfield player in Britain, which means he played outside goal, and the second Black professional footballer after Ghana-born Arthur Wharton.

Tull also enjoyed a six-year footballing career which included playing at Clapton and Northampton.

He also toured Argentina and Uruguay while playing for Spurs He gave up football to fight for his country during the First World War.

As a soldier, he also rose through the ranks to become the first Black infantry officer in the British army. His achievements came at a time when people of colour were not allowed to assume such positions due to military law.

Tull's bravery and skill was such that he was even recommended to receive the Military Cross for heroism on the Western Front in the First World War. 

But his military and footballing achievements remain largely unrecognised. Because of the colour of his skin, Tull never received his military cross.

This is why the likes of former Spurs and Arsenal footballer Sol Campbell and ex-Spurs striker Garth Crooks are pushing for the British Prime Minister to recognise him posthumously.

An e-petition pushing the Ministry of Defence to recognise his achievements closed on 6 November 2013 after gathering 3,031 signatures. But four times as many have been collected through Operation Black Vote and Black Activists Rising Against Cuts (BARAC) via campaigns platform Change.org.

Months before the war ended in 1918, Tull was killed in battle at the tender age of 29.  He had fought in the notorious Battle of Somme, in France.

This battle is widely believed to be one of the bloodiest battles in human history with over a million soldiers from all sides killed or wounded, according to historical website First World War.

Tull was the product of a union between an English woman and a Barbadian man. Tull’s grandmother had been a slave in Barbados. Following the death of his parents when he was young, he and his brother Edward were put in an East End orphanage. His brother, who was later adopted, went on to become on of the first Black dentists.

Check out a picture of them both here and learn more about the Tull descendants here. For more about Tull, click the Walter Tull Association (WTA).
By Kirsty Osei-Bempong

All comments are welcome on this page. If you are having trouble posting on the Google+ page, please share your views via Facebook here or tweet @MisBeee

Please be aware that you may not reproduce, republish, modify or commercially exploit this content without our prior written consent. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ghanaian sitcom star leaves lasting legacy in Kwahu

By -
Image
The late Gyearbuor Asante, who famously played long-term mature student Matthew in hit British sitcom Desmond’s , was also a royal. Gyearbuor Asante: Image credit Carole Latimer He came from Tafo, Kwahu, in Ghana's Eastern Region but rather than follow tradition and become a chief, the young thespian got himself circumcised instead. The reason, according to details from charity the Friends of Tafo (Kwahu), was to rule himself out of enstoolment. He then left Ghana in the late 1960s to become an actor and the rest, as they say, is history. But life has a funny way of panning out and although Gyearbuor never became a chief, his close friend Humphrey Barclay, who incidentally was the executive producer of Desmond's , did!  "I met Gyearbuor (or Christopher as he was known in UK then) in 1972, when he was doing such shows as Crown Court and so on," he told MisBeee. "I visited Ghana many times as his guest and when he died in 2000 at the age of 58 o...
Read more

What's your favourite Adinkra symbol?

By -
Image
Screenshot of hand-painted Adinkra symbols from charity Mmofra_Ghana.  I put this question to MisBeee readers after blogging recently about the origins of Adinkra in the post: 'Adinkra - more than just a pretty face'. A dinkra is a series of ideographic symbols from Ghana and the Ivory Coast depicting age-old proverbs that incorporate aspects of Asante culture, flora and fauna. These symbols are strongly linked to religion, language, and geometry but in modern times are used widely in and outside Ghana for their aesthetic appeal. The list includes jewellery, pottery, clothing and architecture.  Below is a snapshot of some of the responses I received, feel free to add your own. All images below come from adinkra.org.  Kwame from Birmingham My favourite symbol is Gye Nyame because everything starts with God, and ends with God. God creates, sustains and destroys and generates again. It is self-germinating. The symbol of Gye Nyame looks like a circle when con...
Read more

Insane in the membrane: Sticking two fingers up to the virginity test

By -
Image
Colonisation from within of the female form © MisBeee Writes There has been a slew of media stories since the start of the year fixated on the supposed potency of the female form and the responsibility women have with making their bodies less desirable to the opposite sex. The idea that a 16-year old girl groomed her married 47-year-old religious education teacher into having an affair, according to UK judge Joanna Greenberg QC , was one that stuck in my mind. It got me recalling the experience of a friend of mine whose mother directed her to wearing a dressing gown over her night dress whenever she ventured out of her room. The extra layer was supposed to act as deterrent against the licentious attacks she suffered most nights at the hands of her stepfather. It didn’t. More recently, fresh efforts by an MP in the Indonesian district of Jember to introduce the controversial 'two-finger' or virginity test to schoolgirls before they can graduate have been denoun...
Read more

British-Ghanaian TV personalities share their career tips

By -
Image
If you think you've exhausted all options when progressing your career, there is always something else you can try. That's what I took away from the Star 100's 'In Conversation' session with TV and KissFM radio presenter Melvin Odoom and Sky TV newsreader Claudia-Liza Armah on 25 February. MisBeee with Claudia-Liza and Melvin Odoom who have both forged careers on British TV screens You couldn't pick more wildly different personalities if you tried. Melvin, who has Ga and Fante roots, had me gripped even before the session started. He mixed easily with the audience, renewed my faith that some celebrities are down to earth, and effortlessly had us 'catchin joke' throughout his talk.  Claudia-Liza exposed her nerdy side and had me enthralled at how years of parent-enforced incarceration (the story of my life as the daughter of immigrant Ghanaian parents) had resulted in her becoming somewhat of a TV expert. At one stage during...
Read more

Vlog: Chieftaincy in Ghana - time for modernisation or time for an end?

By -
Image
Although on the surface it seems Ghana's archaic chieftaincy structures have survived colonialism and are still celebrated and revered in modern times, I did not realise how much influence neighbouring tribes and British rule have had on the institution. Alhassan Mbalba and Queen Mother Naa Tsotsoo Soyoo I © MisBeee Writes Star 100 UK's seminar: 'Tribes: Chieftaincy in Ghana' brought together four speakers representing the Akans, GaDangmes, Ewes and Northerners to shed some light on the intricacies of this much-celebrated institution. Jamestown chieftaincy According to Her Royal Highness (HRH) Queen Mother Naa Tsotsoo Soyoo I, the current chieftaincy tradition used among the GaDangme people was adopted from the Akans. She also explained that enstoolment of the chiefs in Jamestown was decided by the British who governed the Jamestown area - hence the English name.  Ghana and the Levites During the seminar, the strong connection between the Hebr...
Read more