Watch: The life of Walter Tull
Childhood
Walter Tull was born in Kent in 1888.
Walter came from a mixed-race family. His mother, Alice, was from Kent. His father, Daniel, moved from Barbados to England. He married twice.
After Daniel's death in 1897, Walter's stepmother had to move Walter and his brother from the countryside to an orphanage in East London.
Walter the footballer
1 of 4
End of image gallery
Walter goes to war
- Walter joined the Football Battalion and was quickly promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
- In 1916 Walter went back to England to train as an Officer.
- He became the first black officer to lead soldiers on the front line.
What happened to Walter?
- In May 1917 Walter was commissioned to the rank of Officer.
- On the 25th March 1918, Walter led soldiers in an attack on German trenches.
- The German machine-guns opened fire and Walter was shot dead.
- His body was not found.
How do we remember Walter?
1 of 3
End of image gallery
Activities
Activity 1: Quiz 鈥 Walter Tull's life
Activity 2: History Explorer game
Play this game to test your knowledge and learn even more facts about World War One.
History Explorer: Secrets through time
History Explorer: Secrets through time: KS2 History
Bitesize Primary games. gameBitesize Primary games
Play fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art, computing and modern languages.
More on World War One
Find out more by working through a topic
- count30 of 43
- count31 of 43