Amazing story of a true hero: He was one of English football's first black players and the British Army's first ever black officer to command white troops. But 100 years after he died aged 29 on the battlefields of World War One, the name Walter Tull means little to most people. Tull was an orphan who had to overcome adversity all of his life, including being racially abused while a pioneering forward for Tottenham Hotspur and Northampton Town. His death received little media attention at the time, and it is only in recent years that his powerful story has started to be fully recognised. A campaign for Tull to be awarded the Military Cross is ongoing, with renewed calls for the prime minister to intervene. This is the forgotten story of a footballer and war hero. Read on for full story here http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43504448 Surely they need to give him his medal!
As someone who served in the Army for 28 years, I may have a slightly more hesitant view. The Military Cross is a highly prestigious award, given to a very small percentage of serving personnel and this must and should be preserved so it does justice to its recipients. I have read the link and whilst it was undoubtedly a daring and brave mission, there were many more like it, in that and all the other wars since, so why is there such a drumbeat now? Is it to down to Political Correctness? If the conveying committee genuinely believe that this act was worthy of the medal and it was ONLY denied being awarded to him due to his skin colour then that was wrong and should be put right, however, I would be desperately disappointed if this was awarded posthumously now, SOLELY on the colour of a person’s skin to make a PC statement, as that belittles and does a dis-service to the gallant men and women who hold this high honour.
