Ulric Cross

Philip Louis Ulric Cross (1 May 1917 – 4 October 2013) was a Trinidadian jurist, diplomat and Royal Air Force (RAF) navigator, recognised as possibly the most decorated West Indian of World War II."Profile – Justice Ulric Cross".
/ref>"Justice P L Ulric Cross", The Cotton Tree Foundation.
/ref> He is credited with helping to prevent some two hundred bombers from being shot down in a raid over Germany in 1943. He subsequently studied law at London's Middle Temple, and went on to fulfil a distinguished international career as a jurist across Africa and within Trinidad and Tobago. He also served as a diplomat for Trinidad and Tobago to the United Kingdom.

Early years

Ulric Cross was born on 1 May 1917, in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad, to Reginald Rufus and Maud Iris Cross."Justice P. L. Ulric Cross", Commonwealth Secretariat
Archived 5 July 2013 from www.thecommonwealth.org. He was the second child in a family of nine.
'' Newsday'', 29 April 2007. At the age of 11, he came first in Trinidad's Government Exhibition Scholarship Examination, thus qualifying for five years of free secondary education, 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, 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 Railway. In this job, his close colleague was J. O'Neil "Scottie" Lewis."Philip Louis Ulric Cross", Caribbean aircrew in the RAF during WW2
quoting interview in Irving Andre and Gabriel Christian, ''For King and Country''.

World War II service

In 1941, aged 24, Cross left Trinidad to join Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF). He served with RAF Bomber Command during World War II, attaining the rank of Squadron Leader. In June 1944 he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and in January 1945, he 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''.

Distinguished legal career

After the war, Cross studied law and was called to the Bar under the aegis of the Middle Temple, London, on 26 January 1949.

He then 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. He subsequently returned to London, and worked for some time as a producer for Talks and the famed Caribbean Voices at the BBC
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