The Walter Tull exhibition makes a homecoming return to Folkestone next week, the birthplace of the war hero who became the British Army’s first black officer.
It features a showcase of the soldier’s life, who also became the first professional outfield footballer when he signed for Tottenham Hotspur, with the chance to discover his local connections.
Tull was born in April 1888 and attended Mundella primary school in Black Bull Road, before playing for Spurs on a wage of £4 a week.
When the First World War broke out, he volunteered as a private soldier and gradually rose up the ranks and was commended by top brass for his “gallantry and coolness”.
He died in action in 1918, just a few months before the war finished.
The nationwide tour has already visited the National Army Museum in London, the National Football Museum in Preston and the Scottish Football Museum in Glasgow.
Last month the exhibition was in Dover, as part of the Dover War Memorial Project, where Tull’s mother was born and where his sisters and step-parents lived for many years after his death.
However it was overshadowed when a collection box was stolen, a display piece was vandalised and a racist comment left in the visitor’s book.
A number of new panels will be on display when the exhibition opens at The Grand on Wednesday July 8, including where people can visit places in the town most closely associated with Tull and his family.
The opening ceremony takes place in the hotel’s Palm Court, along The Leas, at 10.15 and the exhibition runs until July 31.
The project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and more information can be found at www.doverwarmemorialproject.org.uk.
POSTED: 02/07/2009 13:52:16
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