The discovery of a war badge rewrote the history books to reveal that Walter Tull was not the first black officer in the British army.
Experts believed that Tull, a former Tottenham Hotspur footballer, was the first black man to be commissioned and also killed the Great War in 1918.
But a plaque honoring Lieutenant Euan Lucie-Smith of the 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, suggests that he enlisted and died about 3 years earlier.
He died in action on 25 April 1915, the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium, just six weeks after its deployment.
A plaque recently discovered in honor of Lieutenant Euan Lucie-Smith of the 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, suggests that he was the first black man to enlist in the British Army. He died in action almost three years before former Tottenham footballer. Walter Tull in 1918.
The piece, which is about to rewrite black history in the conflict, will pass under the hammer at an army membrance auction.
The elder learned from James Carver, a former member of the European Parliament, who is an avid collector of West African infantry-related medals from the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
The 51-year-old man put it up for sale and bought it with a hunch, which led him to delve into Lieutenant Lucie-Smith’s desirable history.
Walter Tull, also known for his professional football career, long regarded as the first black officer of the war, however, a review of records revealed that Lucie-Smith predating him.
The plaque, which is about to rewrite black history in the conflict, will pass under the hammer at an army membrance auction.
Mr Carver said: “I discovered it on a reseller site, a medal dealer site, I was just moving around and obviously they hadn’t learned the importance of the article.
I looked at Lucie-Smith and he killed so early in the war and before Walter Tull and I studied at the London Gazette and compared him to other candidates’ records and he surpassed them all.
“I’ve researched the tree of his circle of relatives and he’s a pretty prominent character.
“His father came here from a long list of prominent white colonial officials, but his mother was the granddaughter of a prominent black lawyer, Samuel Constantine Burke, who defended Jamaica’s black communities in the 19th century.
He added: “So far, the most prominent black soldier of World War I is Walter Tull, but now I think Lucie-Smith is the first black officer.
Experts believed that Walter Tull, a former Tottenham Hotspur footballer, was the first black man to be commissioned and also killed the Great War in 1918.
“His experience was different from Tull’s: he came from a privileged Jamaican family, he undoubtedly belonged to the so-called ‘officer class’, having attended two personal English schools.
“In my opinion, he’s the first black officer.
”Historically, the appeal of this is that it comes from a prominent family, attended two public schools in the UK. It’s unbelievable, but it’s history.
Walter Tull is very special because he was the first black officer commissioned in the ranks, however, my argument until I was, is that Lucie-Smith was the first black officer commissioned.
“This month is African American History Month, the timing of this discovery is even more poignant.
Lieutenant Lucie-Smith landed in France on March 17, 1915, and disappeared just over a month later.
Lieutenant Lucie-Smith died at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915. It does not yet have a known tomb on panels 2 to 3 of the Ploegsteert monument in Belgium (pictured)
Records show that he was later shown to have died in action after being shot in the head on April 25, 1915, at the age of 25, at the Second Battle of Ypres, which made him a victim two years and 11 months before Walter Tull.
Private F. Jukes, of Suffolk Hall Hospital in Cheltenham, said: “Lieutenant Lucie-Smith, he learned through his servant that he had been killed and seen dead by Array. Shot in the head. “
It does not yet have a known tomb on panels 2 to 3 of the Ploegsteert monument in Belgium.
It is also located at Berkhamsted Memorial School, Eastbourne College Memorial and has access in “Jamaica in the Great War”.
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