Black Soldiers In Conflict: Walter Tull

Today, there are numerous Black footballers being adored by fans and earning millions of pounds in the British Premier League.

Previously published in The Nenequirer

When football began, it was more or less exclusively white. Well, until one Black Briton had the courage and candour to cross the white line. In the early 20th century, he was one of the first, Black professional footballers. You’d think swimming with the sharks would guarantee him a place in the history books. But he has been lost to history. Not only was he a sporting hero, he was the first Black officer in the British Army — an institution that referred to Black people as “woolly-headed niggers” on official correspondence. Yet, he still fought and died for his country, this country. His name, Walter Tull.

Modern British society has propagated the idea that Black British history begins and ends with Slavery and Windrush. But it isn’t so. Walter Tull is proof of that. There are pioneers out there, many of whom have been lost to history. But to understand his story, one must know where the Tulls came from.

Daniel Tull and his children (Photo Credit: Unknown)

Born in Barbados in 1856, his father Daniel Tull was the son of slaves Anna Lashley and William Tull. By 1876, Daniel had migrated to England, decades…