MPS call for posthumous medal for black soldier

A cross-party group of MPS is calling for the first black British Army officer to be awarded a posthumous Military Cross.

The campaign to honour Walter Tull has been backed by 127 MPS, and comes ahead of the 100th anniversary of the death of Mr Tull, who was also one of the first black professional footballers, this Sunday.

Mr Tull was commissioned as an officer in 1917 despite regulations forbidding “any negro or person of colour” from serving in such a role. But parliamentarians say racism meant he was never awarded the Military Cross he was recommended for before he was killed in action in 1918.