605598 – D.G.H. Hoban – B. Guiana – attested 25.5.43 – P/O Pilot #4 SFTS 5.11.44 – UK 18.12.44
167004 – P/O – commissioned 20.10.44

[Source: NA AIR 2/6876]

Flying Officer – Pilot – DFC – KIA 17 Sept. 1944 (Operation Market Garden?)

Service no. at entry: 1318907, 144463 when commissioned F/O

Cremated, buried Stonefall War Grave Cemetery

[Source: AD]

Flying Officer Edward Fred Hutchinson Haly

Edward Haly received his commission on 21st March 1943 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency).  He was later awarded the DFC for service with 51 Squadron, Gazetted on 17th August 1943.  He was promoted to F/O on probation (war subs) on 21st September 1943.  On 17th September 1944 he was flying in Halifax BB360 and was probably instructing with 1652 HCU rather than training.  BB360 crashed near Angram, York on a training flight and all nine airmen on board were killed.  He was twenty three years old and is buried at Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.

The  Commonwealth War Graves Commission list him as being the son of John and Edith Marie Haly and the husband of Daphne Pauline Haly, of Wokingham, Berkshire. But with him being originally from British Guiana.

It seems F/O Haly had been involved in a previous crash due to engine failure, when he was still a Sergeant: Halifax W7818 at Snaith airfield.

On 18th February 1943 Halifax W7818 had just taken off for a mine laying flight at 18.44hrs when an engine failed, losing height the pilot belly landed the aircraft at the edge of Snaith airfield in front of the Squadron Headquarters building.  The aircraft was badly damaged but the crew escaped injury.  All of the above were posted to 51 Squadron on 4th January 1943 from 1652 HCU.  [Pilot – Sgt Edward Fred Hutchinson Haly RAFVR (1318907).]

[Source: http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york43/w7818.html, courtesy Audrey Dewjee]

[Picture courtesy International Bomber Command Centre]

Flight Lieutenant – DFC

Decorated for ‘much valuable work in Middle East’

Born: Guyana, 1920

[Source: TDA]

Air Commodore – CBE, OB

Deputy Senior Air Staff Officer of Fighter Command HQ

Born: Demerara, Guyana, 1888

[Source: TDA]

1399189 – F/O – P.L.U. Cross – Trinidad – Ach/P. – attested 19.11.41 commissioned 20.10.423 – DFC 29.6.44

[Source: NA AIR 2/6876 – Nominal Roll of Coloured Candidates, October 1944]

Squadron Leader – DFC, DSO – Observer – 139 (Jamaica) Sqn – Mosquito Received the DSO in recognition of his ‘fine example of keennes and devotion to duty’ and ‘exceptional navigational ability’ Born 1917, educated CIC, enlisted 1941; Bomber Command; 8 Group; Pathfinder Sqn; 80 missions; awarded DFC June 1944; DSO Nov 1944 Appears in Hornet Flight by Ken Follet

[Source: CG, CMHA, MOD]

Black Hornet Squadron Leader Philip Louis Ulric Cross, DSO, DFC (Trinidad & Tobago) 139 (Jamaica) Squadron RAF Bomber Command Squadron Leader Ulric Cross was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in 1944 for his gallantry during the Second World War. While serving as a Pilot Officer with 139 (Jamaica) Squadron, he participated in bombing attacks across occupied Europe. In 1945 he was also awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in recognition of his ‘fine example of keenness and devotion to duty’ and ‘exceptional navigational ability’. [MOD] Squadron Leader Ulric Cross was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in 1944 for his gallantry during the Second World War. While serving as a Pilot Officer with 139 (Jamaica) Squadron, he participated in bombing attacks across occupied Europe. In 1945 he was also awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in recognition of his ‘fine example of keenness and devotion to duty’ and ‘exceptional navigational ability’.

[Source: www.WW2chat.com] World War II airman Ulric Cross recalls ‘The day I almost died’ 139 (Jamaica) Squadron Pathfinders

Picture right: A mixed group of RAF-officers.

A group of colored RAF-officers. Front row, from left: [1] unknown, from Jamaica or Belize; [2] Dusty Miller, from Guyana; [3] S/L Corbett (liason); [4] Ulric Cross, from Trinidad; [5] Johnny Smythe, from Sierra Leone; [6] Vivian Rivero, from Trinidad; (previously erroneously identified as: Mark Walker, from Trinidad);
Second row from left: [1] E.A. Gordon from Jamaica; [4] Percy Massiah, from Trinidad; [5] possibly his brother C.A. Massiah from Trinidad; [6] Vivian Thomas from Manchester, Jamaica; [7] Jellicoe Scoon from Grenada. Third row from left: [1] E.R Braithwaite from Guyana? The rest are as yet unknown to us. We invite our visitors to share the names of any person they recognise. [Names courtesy P.L.U. Cross a.o.; Photograph courtesy Audrey Elcombe, copyright unknown – click to enlarge] [Photographs: MOD (left) and AE]

Here is a photo of the legendary Squadron Leader (139 “Jamaica” Squadron)  Phillip Louis Ulric Cross, DFC, DSO, of Trinidad. He later held the position of Chief Liaison Officer for Demobilization of all Colonial Forces, ably assisted by Jamaican born Flight Lieutenant Dudley Thompson. Squadron Leader Cross is alive at 91 after having served as a Judge in Ghana, Cameroon, Tanzania and Trinidad. Later he served as ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago to Germany, France, Norway and High Commissioner to the UK.  Amazingly, he still writes opinion and is as lucid and aware as can be imagined. I am in regular contact with him and we are trying to bring him to the US for interviews preliminary to a documentary. [Picture below copyright Ean Flanders]     Phillip Louis Ulric Cross, DFC, DSO World War II Royal Air Force Squadron Leader (139 “Jamaica Squadron”) Excerpt of April 2008 interview of by Gabriel J. Christian – For King & Country (Irving Andre & Gabriel Christian) After high school [at St. Mary’s Port of Spain], I worked for a while with the  [Trinidad] government on the railroad. But by 1941, Britain stood alone. Dunkirk had been a defeat for Britain and Hitler had conquered all of Europe. The world was drowning in fascism and America was not yet in the war, so I decided to do something about it and volunteered to fight in the RAF.  We took the ship Strathall for twelve days days, straight to Greenock. A lorry awaited us and took us straight into the uniform of the RAF and training. So from November 1941 to November 1942, I trained at Cranwell on the wireless, did meteorology, bomb aiming, navigation and Morse code. I graduated as a Pilot Officer and was assigned to Bomber Command I served as a navigator in the Pathfinder section of 139 squadron; the famous “Jamaica Squadron” of the RAF.  The pathfinders led the way on bombing raids and marked the target; a most dangerous task.  Our unit flew the famous Mosquito bomber, which was made mainly of wood. Jamaica had paid for many of the planes of 139 squadron, hence the name.  There was also a Trinidad Squadron, where Trinidad had paid for those planes. I was the only West Indian on my squadron. I was lucky to have served at fixed pre war bases such as Marham, Wyton and Upwood. The fixed bases were more comfortable. There were many other temporary bases which had been scattered across the United Kingdom.  I flew 30 missions over Germany and occupied Europe. After 30 missions one earns a rest and can divert to teaching other pilots etc. However, I was interested in continuing the mission. At 50 missions, they again asked me to take a rest. I declined and flew 80 missions over Germany and occupied Europe before the war ended.  I did 22 missions over Berlin and made it through much flak; but one had to focus on the mission. My most harrowing mission was when one of the engines of our Mosquito fighter-bomber was shot up over Germany and we came down to 7,000 feet from 35,000 feet. We struggled back to England and crash landed in a quarry. It was a narrow escape but we made it out alive. The navigator is key, as we are the ones who tell the pilot how to get to and from the destination or target.   I ended the war as a squadron leader and was then sent to the Colonial Office to act as liaison for all colonial forces. It was there that I was phoned and advised that I was awarded the DSO. A plane was sent for me and I was given the award and we had a party. In all 250 Trinidadians flew in combat in the RAF during the war and 50 died in action. Many hundreds more, maybe more than a thousand, served with other West Indians, as ground crew. I knew the Jamaican Vincent Bunting; he was a fighter pilot and I believe he flew in the Battle of Britain. I met him in England. Julian Marryshow of Grenada was also a fighter pilot and he is still alive, I believe.  Osborne (should read Osmond, see remark below) Kelsick of Montserrat was a fighter pilot. I met Michael Manley of Jamaica in London, still in the uniform of the Royal Canadian Air Force and we became friends.  Billy Strachan of Jamaica was a bomber pilot.  Winston Racile and Gilbert Hubah came to England with me on the Strathall; they were both of East Indian origin and became RAF fighter pilots. Our Trinidadian contingent also had people of Indian, Chinese and European origin.  I knew Dyrample of Dominica (Edward Scobie) and would meet him when we went down to London.  Dudley Thompson of Jamaica was a flight officer and he was my assistant at the Colonial Office after the war. [Courtesy Gabriel Christian] ‘Hero’ is a movie on the life and times of Ulric Cross. It opened the 2019 Caribbean Film Festival at the American Film Institute, Silver Spring, Maryland on the evening of June 6, 2019. The highly acclaimed new film was shot in Trinidad, the UK, Ghana, and Canada. Cross is portrayed by the lead actor Nikolai Salcedo of Trinidad. Funded by Republic Bank of Trinidad & Tobago, the film boasts an all-star international and Pan African cast including Jamaican born Peter Williams, the UK’s Joseph Marcel, Fraser James, and Pippa Nixon; Ghanaian superstars John Dumelo and Adjetey Anang. Read more on Dominicanewsonline

Flying Officer

[Source: CG]

Service No. 1811270

[Courtesy AD]

A group of colored RAF-officers. Front row, from left: [1] unknown, from Jamaica or Belize; [2] Dusty Miller, from Guyana; [3] S/L Corbett (liason); [4] Ulric Cross, from Trinidad; [5] Johnny Smythe, from Sierra Leone; [6] Vivian Rivero, from Trinidad; (previously erroneously identified as: Mark Walker, from Trinidad);
Second row from left: [1] E.A. Gordon from Jamaica; [4] Percy Massiah, from Trinidad; [5] possibly his brother C.A. Massiah from Trinidad; [6] Vivian Thomas from Manchester, Jamaica; [7] Jellicoe Scoon from Grenada. Third row from left: [1] E.R Braithwaite from Guyana? The rest are as yet unknown to us. We invite our visitors to share the names of any person they recognise. [Names courtesy P.L.U. Cross a.o.; Photograph courtesy Audrey Elcombe, copyright unknown – click to enlarge]

174054 – P/O R.F. Hall – attested 13.10.41 – Pilot

[Source: NA AIR 2/6876 – Nominal Roll of Coloured Candidates, October 1944]

Flight Lieutenant – navigator

In sea two days

Became a dentist in Greenwich after the war.

[Source: CG, AE]

Ronald Fitzherbert Hall

Service no. on enlistment  1397508    (174054 must have been his service number after he was commissioned)

Read an extensive article about Mr. Hall and his time in the RAF on the website historycalroots.com

 

Below: with fellow-Guyanese Cy Grant (centre). And the names on the back of the picture.

[Photo’s: Courtesy of Pip Jager and David Gleave/historycalroots.com]

[click to enlarge]

1397467 – P/O – Cyril Ewart Lionel (Cy) Grant – attested 10.10.41 – commissioned 6.2.43 – F/O 188338 Pilot
Missing – POW 26.6.43

[Source: NA AIR 2/6876 – Nominal Roll of Coloured Candidates, October 1944]

Flight Lieutenant – Navigator – 103 Squadron – Lancaster – POW 1943-1945

Picture on the left shows Cy Grant as he was portrayed in the Nazi-propaganda paper Der Völkische Beobachter. Caption reads: ‘Ein Mitglied der Royal Air Force von unbestimmbarer Rasse’ (A member of the Royal Air Force of indeterminable race). The clipping was given to Grant by the commander of POW-camp Stalag Luft III in Silesia.

Barrister
Actor – stage, film, TV;
Singer – concert, cabaret, record;
Co-founder Drum Arts Centre;
Director Concord Multicultural Festivals;
Author: A Member of the RAF of Indeterminate Race (a war memoir) Woodfield, 2006,
Ring of Steel: pan sound & symbol, Macmillan 1999,
Blackness & the Dreaming Soul: Race, Identity & the Materialistic Paradigm, Shoving Leopard, 2007;
Rivers of Time (collected poems) Naked Light 2008.

Article in Black History 2009

website (new!)

[Source: CG]

MOD – we were there

[Trinidad Guardian 18 January 1944 – Courtesy Jerome Lee, CMHA]

With fellow-Guyanese Ron Hall (to the left of Cy). And the names on the back of the picture.

Read an interesting account about Mr. Hall enlisting in Guyana and his voyage to the UK here on historycalroots.com.

[click to enlarge]

[Photo’s: Courtesy of Pip Jager and David Gleave/historycalroots.com]