Calls are growing for Walter Tull, the first black person to serve as an officer in the British army, to be posthumously awarded a military cross as the centenary of his death on the battlefield approaches.

Tull, who was a professional footballer at the outbreak of the first world war, gained his commission as a second lieutenant in 1917, having served as a non-commissioned officer in the Somme and in other battles in France and Italy.

A crossbench group of 127 MPs has written to the prime minister asking that Tull be awarded the medal, calling him a “true British hero” and saying his achievements “in the face of the bitter prejudice that he faced throughout his life should be recognised and celebrated”.

The drive to recognise Tull’s bravery is being led by the Labour MP David Lammy and has the backing of Jeremy Corbyn as well as prominent Conservatives, such as Maria Miller and Sarah Wollaston. Liberal Democrat, Scottish National, Plaid Cymru and Democratic Unionist party members are supporting the move.



Lammy, whose constituency is home to Tull’s former football club Tottenham Hotspur, said: “Walter Tull is a true British hero and he embodies everything that makes me so proud to be British.”

In their letter, the MPs say Tull’s story “still serves as an inspiration to Britain’s black, Asian and minority ethnic communities” and “encapsulates what it means to be a Briton”.

Tull’s great-nephew, Ed Finlayson, said he wanted to see Tull’s life commemorated more broadly than simply awarding him a medal for his military service.

“We have seen the creation of educational materials, publications, community projects, activities in the arts and sport – including dramas, plays, and documentaries – concerning Walter’s life and issues of inequality and discrimination,” he told the BBC.

The current Northampton Town manager, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, told the BBC’s Football Focus programme: “What he has done on the pitch opened doors for me, as a black man, to make life easier. But, also, was a role model for the white man, who he fought together with for his country.”

Tull played for Spurs and Northampton Town before the war and joined up in 1914 as part of the pals battalion scheme that allowed people from the same town or workplace to serve together.

He joined the football battalion, part of the Middlesex regiment, was promoted to sergeant and fought in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, where the downsides of the pals scheme were tragically exposed as large numbers of men from single villages and towns were killed en masse.

Tull survived and began training as an officer the following year, despite army rules forbidding “any negro or person of colour” from serving in such a role. He was killed on 25 March 1918, in the early stages of the German spring offensive.

In their letter to Theresa May, the MPs said Tull succeeded in defying the “racism that plagued our society and ridiculed the prejudice that denied people of colour equality and deemed them inferior to their white counterparts”.

They said military doctrine at the time held that people who were not white could not lead servicemen into combat. “Given the widespread prejudice that existed in society at this time and his position as a black officer in an army that did not permit black officers, Walter’s race was clearly a factor in explaining why he was never awarded the military cross that he was recommended for.”

The MPs asked May to “take this opportunity to right the wrong that has unjustly denied 2Lt Tull the military cross that he was recommended for”.