Ulric Cross

Philip Louis Ulric Cross
Nickname(s)	Black Hornet
Born	(1917-05-01)1 May 1917 Port of Spain, Trinidad
Died	Port of Spain, Trinidad
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1941–47
Rank	Squadron Leader
Commands held	No 139 (Jamaica) Squadron
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Distinguished Service Order Distinguished Flying Cross

Philip Louis Ulric Cross DSO, DFC, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , (1 May 1917 – 4 October 2013) was a Trinidadian jurist, diplomat and Royal Air Force (RAF) navigator. He is recognised as possibly the most decorated West Indian of World War II.

Early years

Ulric Cross was born on 1 May 1917, in Port of Spain, Trinidad, to Reginald Rufus and Maud Iris Cross. He was the second child in a family of nine. At the age of 11, he passed the Government Exhibition Examination and was awarded one of eight annual scholarships that qualified him for five years of free secondary education. He came first in the island by achieving the highest marks scored nationally, and went on to attend St Mary's College. He was devastated by his mother's death when he was just 13 years old. His academic focus was completely derailed by this latter event and so, after completing five years of college education, he left school. His first job was with the Trinidad Guardian as a copy editor. Then he worked for about four years as a clerk to Leo Pujadas, Solicitor. When Cross turned 21, he joined the Civil Service and worked for a while with the Trinidad Government Railways. In this job, his close colleague was J. O'Neil "Scottie" Lewis.

World War II service

In 1941, aged 24, Cross joined the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and served with RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War, attaining the rank of Squadron Leader. He was the only West Indian in his squadron. In June 1944 he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and in January 1945 was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in recognition of his "fine example of keenness and devotion to duty" and "exceptional navigational ability". He was a member of the elite Pathfinder Force that perfected techniques for precision main force bombing. In his own words: "We did a lot of low-level daylight bombing. We flew at just 50 feet instead of the normal 25,000 feet. We dropped four 500-pound bombs. You flew in to your target at 50 feet and as you approached it you went up to 1,200 feet. You then did a shallow dive onto the target and released your bombs. The bomb had an 11-second delay, so you shot up to avoid the bomb blast. We went over in formation and we bombed in formation, but we came back independently". Cross flew 80 missions over Germany and occupied Europe as navigator of a Mosquito fighter-bomber, and was the model for the black character, Squadron Leader Charles Ford, in Ken Follett's novel Hornet Flight.

Post-war career

After the war, Cross went on to study law and was called to the Bar under the aegis of the Middle Temple, London, in 1949.

He returned to Trinidad where, from 1949 to 1953, he was Legal Adviser to the Comptroller of Imports and Exports, Trinidad and Tobago. He also lectured in Trade Union History and Trade Union Law at the Extra-Mural Department of the University of the West Indies, located in Trinidad. When he went back to London, he worked for some time as a Talks Producer with the BBC (1953–57).

Subsequently, Cross practised law in Africa for many years: between 1958 and 1960 he worked in Ghana, where he was Crown Counsel and Senior Crown Counsel, and lectured in Criminal Law at the Ghana School of Law. Continuing his African journey, he served in West Cameroon (1960–66), where he was elevated to Senior Crown Counsel and Attorney General, was a Member of the Cabinet, the House of Chiefs and the House of Assembly Avocat-General at the Federal Court of Justice of the Republic of Cameroon. In 1967, Cross became a High Court judge in Tanzania, where from 1968 to 1970 he was Chairman of the Permanent Labour Tribunal. He also served as a Professor of Law at the University of Dar es Salaam.

He returned to Trinidad in 1971 to serve as a High Court judge. In 1979 Ulric Cross was elevated to the Court of Appeal. He then became Chairman of the Law Reform Commission of Trindad and Tobago from 1982 to 1983, in which position he made a significant contribution towards furthering the revision and development of the country’s laws. On his death, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, then Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, acknowledged: "Some of his judgments changed the landscape of Trinidad and Tobago."

Diplomatic posts

From 1990 to 1993 Ulric Cross served as High Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago at the Court of St James's, UK, combining the position with that of Ambassador to both Germany and France. Previously, he had been appointed Chairman of the Commonwealth Foundation in 1983.

Later years

In April 1993, Cross co-founded—with his colleague, Desmond Allum SC—the charitable non-profit organization called Cotton Tree Foundation (CTF), that works with some of the most deprived communities in Port-of-Spain in order to combat high levels of poverty and unemployment through counselling, self-help, education and training projects. On his 90th birthday in 2007, the Ulric Cross Cotton Tree Endowment Fund was launched, to expand the work of the CTF to include a legal aid clinic, community sports programme and an art and music programme.

Cross was the recipient of many awards and accolades. In 2011, at Trinidad and Tobago’s 49th Independence Day celebrations, he received the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the nation's highest award, for distinguished and outstanding service in the sphere of law. In June 2011, the Piarco Air Station was renamed the Ulric Cross Air Station. In 2012 a comic book entitled And Justice For All, The True Story Of A Local Hero was published in his honour in Trinidad by the Heroes Foundation, in their "Heroes of a Nation" series.

A documentary feature film by Frances-Anne Solomon inspired by the life and times of Ulric Cross is currently (2013) in production. His daughter Nicola Cross is the film's associate producer. Ulric Cross also has another daughter, arts administrator Sue Woodford-Hollick, Lady Hollick and a son, Richard Finch, an educator who currently works in South Africa.

Squadron Leader P. L. Ulric Cross served as President of the Royal Air Forces Association Trinidad and Tobago Branch No. 1075 (established on 17 April 1953) from 2009 until his death in 2013. As President he was very active in the running of the Branch and inspired the vision to build a Military Veterans Complex for all veterans of military service on the Branch's property at 20 Queen's Park East, Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Ulric Cross died aged 96 on 4 October 2013, at his home on Dere Street, Port of Spain, where in his retirement he had been living with his daughter Nicola. A memorial service in his honour was held at Memorial Park, Port of Spain, on 10 October 2013. Paying tribute to Cross at the service, the British High Commissioner said: "Without the help of servicemen from the Commonwealth (like Cross), the outcome of World War II would have been entirely different."

A tribute to Justice Cross was held in London by the Trinidad and Tobago High Commission on 8 February 2014 at St Peter's Church, Eaton Square.

Awards

• Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 1944
• Distinguished Service Order (DSO), 1945
• Order of Merit – First Class, Federal Republic of Cameroon
• Order of Valour, Federal Republic of Cameroon
• Chaconia Gold Medal, Trinidad & Tobago, 1983
• Honorary Doctorate of Law, University of the West Indies
• Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, 2011

Papers published

• "First Instance Civil Procedure in Anglophonic Africa" (conference at University of Nairobi sponsored by the Max Planck Institute, Hamburg)
• "The Administration of Legal Systems in Developing Countires" (Law and Development Seminar at the University of Papua New Guinea)

Further reading

• Irving W. Andre and Gabriel J. Christian, For King & Country: The Service and Sacrifice of the British West Indian Military, Pont Casse Press, 2009.

External links

• "Military History Week 2010 – R.A.F Sqdn Ldr Ulric Cross Part 2" on YouTube, Chaguaramas Military Museum.
• "Phillip Louis Ulric Cross", Frances-Anne Solomon.
• Nicola Cross at "Ulric Cross – A Hero For All Time".
• "Philip Louis Ulric Cross", Caribbean aircrew in the RAF during WW2 – A record of West Indian volunteers who served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War (includes photographs).
• Sean Douglas, "World War II Airman Ulric Cross Recalls 'The Day I Almost Died'", Trinidad Express, 15 November 1999.
• Ulric Cross by Horace Ové. National Portrait Gallery.
• "Black Heroes of World War 2 (PT 2/2)" on YouTube. Presentation for 100 Black Men at Stratford Circus in 2006 – African/Caribbean unsung heroes: Sqdn Ldr Ulric Cross DFC.
• Val Simpson, "The Caribbean Connection".
• "West Indies Calling (1944)" on YouTube, BFI Films. "In this film, made during the Second World War by the Ministry of Information, a group of West Indians, led by Una Marson and Learie Constantine, assemble at Broadcasting House in London. They describe to listeners of a popular BBC radio series, Calling the West Indies, how people from the Caribbean are supporting the war effort. Constantine speaks about factory workers, and introduces some war-workers, including Ulric Cross, a bomber navigator from Trinidad. Cross tells of his work in the RAF...." (Stephen Bourne)
• "PM pays tribute to Ulric Cross", Trinidad Express Newspapers, 5 October 2013.
• "Ulric Cross, ace airman", Newsday, 5 October 2013.
• "Ulric Cross" (obituary), The Telegraph, 8 October 2013.
• Stephen Bourne, "Squadron Leader Ulric Cross: Pilot who went on to become a judge and diplomat", The Independent, 10 October 2013.
• "Pathfinder navigator who flew 80 sorties over occupied Europe and later became a judge and a High Commissioner", The Times, 11 October 2013.
• "The Passing of Squadron Leader Phillip Louis Ulric Cross, DSO, DFC".