Heroes.. every man & woman!
THEY are the heroes who served Britain in the nation’s hour of need. From Trafalgar to Iraq, men and women with Afro-caribbean heritage have shown inspirational courage in the face of conflict. Now, to mark Black History Month, JAMES MOORE has put together a special tribute to their amazing stories of valour and sacrifice…
FEARLESS SEAFARERS: Black sailors have been serving in the Royal Navy since Tudor times, with Jack Perkins becoming the force’s first black skipper in 1800. By the time of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 – Admiral Lord Nelson’s famous triumph over Napoleon’s fleets – there were at least nine seamen from the West Indies serving alongside him on HMS Victory. One is pictured in a famous painting of the tragic death of the admiral and another carved into Nelson’s Column in London. On another ship during the battle, Charles Macnamara, 21, from Barbados, saved an officer’s life.
BRAVE RECRUITS:
The Duke of Wellington is famous for his victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, and with him were black soldiers who fought valiantly against the French. One of those was George Rose, originally from Jamaica, who joined the British Army in 1809. He was wounded in the arm during the battle but recovered and later rose to the rank of sergeant.
MEDICAL MARVEL:
Jamaican-born nurse Mary Seacole, whose father was a Scottish Lieutenant in the British Army, travelled independently to the battlefields of the Crimea during the 1850s. There she set up a “hotel” for British soldiers wounded in the conflict and tended to others under fire and was known affectionately as “Mother Seacole”.
She was named the greatest black Briton in a 2004 poll.
WORLD WAR WONDERS:
Thousands of black men fought and died for the Allies during World War One and among the most celebrated is football pro Walter Tull, who played for Spurs and Northampton Town before trading his kit for khaki. He served in Italy and on the Somme, becoming the Army’s first black officer and was praised for his “gallantry and coolness” after leading a night raid. He was killed in action, aged 29, in 1918. WINGED WARRIORS: During World War Two there were many more black heroes among the ranks of Britain’s armed services including brave air crew. Billy Strachan, from Jamaica, piloted Wellington bombers, while Ulric Cross sailed from Trinidad to join the RAF and fight the Nazis in 1941. As a navigator, he completed 80 bombing missions and became a decorated hero. Meanwhile Lilian
Bader became the first black woman to join the RAF during the war as an instrument repairer. GONG GREATS: The British Army’s first black winner of the Victoria Cross was Samuel Hodge, 26, dubbed “the bravest soldier in the regiment” by his commanding officer after taking a stockade in the Gambia in 1866 almost singlehandedly and being seriously wounded. Other black servicemen awarded the honour include Royal Navy quartermaster William Hall in 1857 who kept his ship’s guns firing when those around him had been killed, and Colour Sergeant Johnson Beharry for saving members of his unit when faced with ambushes in Iraq in 2004.