Ulric Cross DSO DFC

About This Project

Philip Louis Ulric Cross served as an RAF bomber commander during the war. He was born in Trinidad on May 1 1917, and joined the RAF in 1941, aged 24. His first job was at the Trinidadian Guardian working as a copy editor. In the RAF, he rose to the senior rank of squadron leader. He was the only Caribbean in his squadron. In recognition of his wartime valour, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944 and the Distinguished Service Order in 1945.  He is recognised as probably the most decorated Caribbean of the war.

Cross went on to study law and returned to Trinidad where, from 1949-1953, he worked as a government legal advisor. He then practiced law in Ghana, West Cameroon and Tanzania. In these African countries he was appointed to important roles such as Crown Counsel, Senior Crown Counsel and Attorney General.

Returning to Trinidad in 1971, he served as a high court judge and, a few years later, became Trinidad and Tobago’s High Commissioner in Britain. In 1993, Cross co-founded a non-profit organisation named the Cotton Tree Foundation (CTF). It works with deprived communities in Port-of-Spain, to help battle poverty and unemployment, through counselling, self-help, education and training projects. On October 4 2013, Cross died aged 96 in his homeland, where he had been living with one of his daughters, Nicola. See obituary here.