CROSSING THE WHITE LINE


2nd Lieutenant WDJ Tull. Phil Vasili/Finlayson Family collection	Walter and Edward Tull. Phil Vasili/Finlayson Family Collection	2nd Lieutenant WDJ Tull. Phil Vasili/Finlayson Family Collection

During his military training Walter was promoted three times. In November 1915, as Lance Sergeant he was sent to Les Ciseaux in France. He was positioned very close to the front lines, so close that he would have easily heard the great guns booming in the distance as he lay in bed at night. In May, 1916 Walter was sent home with acute mania, now called post traumatic stress disorder.

Returning to France in September 1916 Walter fought in the last months of the Battle of the Somme, between October and November, 1916. This battle saw some 420,000 British troops casualties in just 4 months. His courage and soldiering abilities encouraged his superior officers to recommend him as an officer. On 26 December, 1916, Walter went back to England on Leave and to train as an officer.
After spending six weeks with family and friends, on 6 February, 1917, Walter presented himself at Number 10 Officer Cadet Battalion, Gailes, Scotland. This was despite military regulations forbidding those who were not of ‘Non- European descent’ from becoming officers. Walter received his commission as an officer 30 May, 1917, in spite of the fact that it was technically illegal. The military’s colour bar didn’t change until the Second World War.

2nd Lieutenant Walter Tull was sent to the Italian Front and became the first black officer in the British Army to command white troops. He twice led raiding and reconnaissance parties across the River Piave on a raid and both times brought all of his troops back safely with out a single casualty. He was cited for his ‘gallantry and coolness’ under fire by Major General Sir Sydney Lawford, his commanding officer. He was recommended for the Military Cross but never received it.

After their time in Italy, Walter’s Battalion was posted back to the western front in northern France. On March 21, 1918, the Germans made one last desperate effort to win World War One. Walter Tull was a 29 year old 2nd Lieutenant in the 23rd (2nd Football Battalion) Middlesex Regiment, when he found himself in the British trenches facing advancing Germans.

On 25 March, 1918, 2nd Lieutenant Tull was killed by machine gun fire near Favreuil aerodrome trying to help his men retreat. Several of his men including, Leicester goalkeeper, Private Tom Billingham, attempted to retrieve his body under heavy fire but was unsuccessful due to the enemy soldiers' advance. His brave action is a testament to Walter Tull’s character and the respect his men held for him. Walter’s body was never found and he is one of thousands of soldiers from World War One who have no known grave.

Having no known grave, his name is inscribed on Bay 7, Arras Memorial, Faubourg-d’Amiens Cemetery, Arras, France. In 1999 Walter Tull’s former club, Northampton Town, erected a memorial outside of Sixfields Stadium, naming the road to the stadium “Walter Tull Way”. In 1921 Walter’s family in Dover ensured that his name was inscribed on the Parish Memorial at River, and in 1924 on the Dover Town Memorial.

If you would like to vote as to whether Walter Tull should be awarded his Military Cross, click here.

2^nd Lieutenant WDJ Tull and an article written in the Northampton Independent, reporting the final moments of Walter Tull's life. Phil Vasili/Finlayson Family collection

To the left is page 198 from the Manual of Military Law (1914). The highlighted text proves that there was a colour bar in the British Army during the First World War.

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