Lilian Bader was born on the 18th of February 1917 at 19 Stanhope Street in the Toxteth Park area of Liverpool to Marcus Bailey, a merchant seaman from Barbados who served in the Royal Navy in WW1 and a British-born mother of Irish parentage. Orphaned at the age of nine when her father died in 1927, Lilian was separated from her two brothers and placed in a convent, where she remained until she was 20. She explained that she remained in the convent because it was difficult to find employment because of her father's origins. She said, "My casting out from the convent walls was delayed. I was half West Indian, and nobody, not even the priests, dared risk ridicule by employing me." She found employment in domestic services before, with the outbreak of war in 1939, working briefly in a Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI) canteen as a canteen assistant at the Catterick camp, Yorkshire, but was forced to leave because she was Black. Lilian found work again in January 1940, now working on a farm near RAF Topcliffe, once again feeding soldiers who ventured outside of the base. She would leave the farm voluntarily and take up the role of a domestic servant until 1941 but, determined not to let this setback hinder her and jumped at the chance to join the army once again. She had heard that some West Indians being interviewed on the radio saying that they had been turned down by the Army but accepted by the RAF.
So on the 28th of March 1941, she volunteered to join the WAAF and chose to train as an Instrument Repairer. During her training, she received the news that her brother Jim, who was serving in the Merchant Navy, had been killed at sea. Lilian took a leave of compassion but,upon returning to her training, she successfully qualified as an Instrument Repairer, a role that had recently been made available to women in 1940. The WAAF uniform skirt wasn't exactly suitable for clambering around inside twin-engined light bombers, so Lilian’s group were the first women in the WAAF to be issued with more practical overalls and battle dress.
She passed her course 'First Class', becoming one of the first women in the air force to qualify in that trade. Posted to RAF Shawbury, Lilian worked long hours checking for faults in the instruments of the aircraft based there. Being good at her job she became a Leading Aircraft Woman and was eventually promoted to Acting Corporal.
In 1943, Lilian met and married Ramsay Bader, a Black tank driver and was given compassionate discharge from her position in February 1944, when she became pregnant with her first son. After
the war, Lilian studied for a degree at London University where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree and became a
teacher. After retiring, she continued teaching private pupils and U3A classes
well into her eighties.
Lilian was determined that the contributions of Black and Asian Britons during the war should be recognised and remembered. She told her story of prejudice and racism to the Imperial War Museum, journalists, politicians and appeared on numerous television shows. In 2002 Lilian was invited to meet the Queen at the inauguration of the Commonwealth Memorial Games. Her younger son flew helicopters in the Royal Navy and later became an airline pilot. Lilian passed away in 2015 aged 97 but her legacy as one of the first Black woman to join to British Armed Forces remains. In 2018, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote, The Voice newspaper listed Lilian alongside Kathleen Wrasama, Olive Morris, Connie Mark, Fanny Eaton, Diane Abbott, Margaret Busby and Mary Seacole among eight Black women who have contributed to the development of Britain.
see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2020/10/a-liverpool-exemplar-william-henry.html
No comments:
Post a Comment