We were excited to welcome author and poet Michaela Morgan to the Prep School on Friday 17 November, who gave a series of talks to all year groups.
Michaela’s talk to our older boys followed the theme of our recent curriculum collapse day on World War I, as she shared the hugely important and inspirational story of Walter Tull. Not only was he one of British football’s first Black players, but he also became the first Black officer in the British army to lead a battalion during World War I.
Michaela explained how she came across Walter Tull by chance and was inspired to learn more about him – in the days before the internet, this took a lot of time and effort. Walter was an unsung hero until relatively recently, and Michaela wanted even more people to know about him and his achievements. Now, thanks to her two books about him, his story is reaching an even greater audience. Boys in Y7 and Y8 also took time in their history lessons to research Walter Tull ahead of the talk, leading to some excellent and insightful questions.
During the day of talks, Michaela also explained how she started her writing career by creating picture books, including showing boys the first homemade lift-the-flap book she made for her young son in her early days of writing.
Now, Michaela concentrates on writing and performing poetry, which she delighted the boys with as she performed several poems, including one inspired by the witches from Macbeth about disgusting school dinners, which made the boys laugh and squirm in equal measure.
About Walter Tull
Walter was born in Folkestone, Kent, and came from a mixed-race family. His mother was a Folkestone local, and his father moved from Barbados to England. Tragically, both his parents died before Walter was nine, and he and his brother Eddie were cared for in an orphanage in London. However, Walter’s footballing talent saw him become the first-ever Black British professional outfield footballer with Tottenham Hotspur and, later, Northampton. With just 0.04 per cent of the population of Edwardian Britain Black, Tull faced much racism from the stands.
When war broke out in 1914, Walter joined the 17th battalion of the Middlesex Regiment of the British Army, known as the Footballers’ Battalion. Walter started out as a Private and later became the first-ever Black British Officer. He fought in many major battles in France and Italy and was sadly killed in 1918, leading his men. Despite displaying great gallantry and bravery, he was never awarded the Victoria Cross, even though he was reputedly put forward for the award by the commanding officer of his battalion. Recent evidence suggests that this is down to the army’s reluctance to acknowledge Tull at a time when there was extraordinary prejudice towards even having a Black man in the armed forces, let alone as an officer.