First black British officer of First World War went to Eastbourne school
and live on Freeview channel 276
Lieutenant Euan Lucie-Smith is believed to have also been the first black officer casualty of the Great War.
He was killed in action on April 25, 1915, during the Second Battle of Ypres.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe Lieutenant, who served in the 1st Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, has recently been discovered to have been a former student at Eastbourne College.
His remarkable background was unearthed by former member of European Parliament, James Carver, who is a collector of medals relating to West African soldiers of the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
Mr Carver found a Great War memorial plaque belonging to Lieutenant Lucie-Smith online, and has put it up for auction.
He said, “With this month being Black History Month, the timing of this discovery seems all the more poignant.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“Until now, the best-known black soldier of World War One has been Walter Tull. However I now believe Lucie-Smith to be the first black officer.
“His background was quite different to Tull’s – coming from a privileged Jamaican family, he was undoubtedly from the so-called ‘Officer Class’, having attended two English private schools.”
Like Walter Tull, Euan Lucie-Smith had a mixed heritage background.
He was born at Crossroads, St. Andrew, Jamaica, on December 14, 1889 to John Barkley Lucie-Smith, the Postmaster of Jamaica, and Catherine ‘Katie’ Lucie-Smith.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdHis father hailed from a line of white colonial civil servants, according to Mr Carver’s research.
While his mother was a daughter of the distinguished lawyer and politician Samuel Constantine Burke – who campaigned for Jamaican constitutional reform in the late 19th century through his desire for Jamaica to have greater control over its own affairs than Whitehall.
Euan Lucie-Smith was educated in England, initially at Berkhamsted School, before going to Eastbourne College.
Returning to Jamaica, he was commissioned into the Jamaica Artillery Militia on November 10, 1911.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad