Noor Inayat Khan
WAR Heroine/BRITISH SPY
Khan was a Special Operations Executive in the Second World War. She was the first female wireless operator sent to occupied France to assist the French Resistance.
Khan was born in Moscow in 1914 to an Indian father and an American mother. Her family moved to Bloomsbury London the same year. (Khan later moved to France where she studied child psychology and music. She published a book called ‘Twenty Jakata Tales’ and wrote articles for children’s magazines).
In 1940 Khan joined The Women’s Auxiliary Air Force as an Aircraft woman and was subsequently trained as a wireless operator. She was given a new identity and sent to France in 1943 as a spy - her Codename was Madeleine.
Khan was betrayed and captured before being executed in 1944. She was awarded the George Cross posthumously in 1949, the highest civilian honour. A HEROINE.
Lilian Bader
Aircraft Technician
Bader was born in the Toxteth Park area of Liverpool in 1917, her dad was from Barbados, her mother was British. She was orphaned at nine and sent to live in a convent.
Bader was the first black/mixed race woman to join the British armed forces, she joined The Women’s Auxiliary Airforce in 1941, serving in the Second World War,
She initially worked as a Technician checking aircrafts for faults, then was later promoted to the position of Acting Corporal. After the war Bader left the Airforce and became a teacher.
Walter Tull
WAR HERO/Professional Footballer
Tull was a professional footballer and a First World War hero. He was born in 1888 in Folkestone England, Tull's father was from Barbados, his mother was English. Tull was orphaned at nine and brought up in a Children’s home and an orphanage in Bethnal Green London.
At twenty-one Tull signed to Tottenham Hotspur then later went on to play for Northampton Town. In 1917 he was the first black/mixed race player signed to Rangers FC - where he was also an Infantry Officer.
Tull fought bravely with the 23rd battalion on the Italian front leading twenty-six men into battle and retuning them all unharmed in one raid. He was unfortunately killed in action March 1918.
To date Tull has not been posthumously awarded the Military Cross for his bravery. In 2018 the Royal mail produced six commemorative stamps to mark the end of the First World War – Tull was on one of them. A HERO.
Ulric Cross
ROYAL AIRFORCE NAVIGATOR / HERO/Jurist / Diplomat
Cross was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in 1917, he lived a remarkable life - Cross was a Royal Air Force Navigator, a Jurist and a Diplomat. He flew over 80 bombing missions (50 was the recommended maximum) and is said to be the most decorated Second World War West Indian serviceman. Cross was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Distinguished Service Order. After the war Cross studied law and was called to the Bar in London in 1949. He left later left law (temporarily) and worked at the BBC as a Talks Producer.
Cross worked in Africa from 1958 to 1971 serving as Crown Counsel and Senior Crown Counsel in Ghana, Senior Crown Counsel and Attorney General in West Cameroon and as a High Court Judge in Tanzania. He also wanted to create a united Africa.
In 1971 Cross returned to Trinidad and Tobago serving as a High Court Judge and then on the Court of Appeals. He later became the Chairman of the Law reform, before becoming the High Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago in the UK and Ambassador to France and Germany.
In 1993 Cross co founded the charitable non-profit organisation Cotton Tree Foundation to help combat poverty and unemployment within deprived areas of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Cross received many awards during his lifetime including the 'Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago', for services to law - the nations highest honour.
Bal Bahadur (Bhaz Gul)
WAR Hero
Gul (of Indian origin) fought with The 59th Scinde Rifles in the First World War. When there was a call for volunteers to rescue wounded soldiers in front of the trenches Gul stepped up, despite the heavy fire he must have known he would have been exposed to.
Gul rescued one man and went back out to continue the rescue when he was hit by an enemy bullet and seriously wounded. Gul was hospitalised in Brighton, England. A HERO.