Casualties of Spring 1918: Second Lieutenant Walter Tull

Sunday 25 March will mark 100 years since Second Lieutenant Walter Tull was killed while leading his men into action. Described as "a class superior to that shown by most of his colleagues", Walter was one of the first black professional football league players, and later became one of the few black officers to lead white troops into battle during the First World War.

Second Lieutenant Walter Tull

Middlesex Regiment

Died: 25 March 1918

Aged: 29

Commemorated on: CWGC Arras Memorial, Pas-De-Calais, France

Early life and football career

Born on 28 April 1888 in Folkestone, Kent, Walter was brought up in a National Children’s Home orphanage in Bethnal Green, London, from the age of nine, along with his brother, following the death of their parents.

Walter was a natural sportsman and began his football career playing for his local amateur team Clapton FC. Within a few months of joining the club he had won medals in the FA Amateur Cup, London County Amateur Cup and London Senior Cup. In March 1909 the Football Star called him 'the catch of the season'. It was while playing for Clapton his talent was spotted and he was invited to join Tottenham Hotspur on their pre-season tour to South America in the summer of 1909. Walter was later offered professional terms by the club and signed ahead of the 1909/10 campaign.

Walter made his debut for Tottenham in September 1909 against Sunderland, but only went on to make 10 first-team appearances, scoring twice, before he was dropped to the reserves. Walter was often subjected to racial abuse while playing and he eventually transferred to Northampton Town in 1911, where he made 111 first-team appearances and scored nine goals for the club.

Walter became the first Northampton player to enlist in the British Army following the outbreak of the First World War. It was later reported, and confirmed, that in February 1917, while he was attending an officer’s training course in Scotland, Walter had signed to play for the Scottish club Glasgow Rangers once the war was over.

Active service

Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, Walter joined the Footballers' Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, and fought in the Battle of the Somme in 1916. He was a natural leader and in May 1917 was commissioned as an officer – a remarkable achievement given the prejudices of the time.

Walter fought in Italy in 1917–18, and was Mentioned in Despatches for "gallantry and coolness" while leading his company of 26 men on a raiding party into enemy territory. He returned to France in 1918 and was killed in action on 25 March while leading his men into battle during the German Spring Offensive.

Walter’s body was never recovered, and he is commemorated on the CWGC Arras Memorial to the Missing.