One of the first black British women in the British armed forces and the first in the Royal Air Force, serving in the Second World War. Lilian Bader was doing all she could to stop Hitler, knowing that, as a black woman, if Hitler invaded, she would be front of the line for his brutality. Her contribution to the war effort was immeasurable, although recognition for such was hard to find. But her story in the military started before she was even born, when her father fought in World War One…
The Royal Barbadian
Marcus Bailey. A Barbadian born migrant found himself in England and in 1913, he married Lilian, an English born, Irish raised woman. This was on the eve of the outbreak of war, a war the likes of which had not been seen before. The couple were madly in love and had their hearts set on a typical family life… the house, the children, the stability they craved. Their future, however, was shattered when war was declared. Suddenly, everything they hoped for vanished and like so many emigrants, Marcus wanted to fight. And so, in 1914, he joined the Royal Navy as a Merchant Seaman. Life was on hold, for now.
Upon war’s end, the Bailey family realised what they had to wait for. They found a home in Toxteth, in Liverpool, and soon welcomed three children into the world, one of whom was Lilian Bader, born on February 18th, 1918. And their home was 19 Stanhope Street. Toxteth was working class Liverpool, tens of thousands of Victorian terraces crammed together, stacked on top of one another, a true community. Sadly, like so many Victorian areas, it was labelled a slum and almost completely levelled. Very little is left of where Lilian called home, now an industrial estate. Life was tough, money never pouring in, but the Bailey family made ends meet however they could.
Tragedy hit the family when Lilian was just seven years of age. Marcus and Lilian Senior’s marriage hit the rocks and they soon divorced. Marcus, looking for a fresh start, took his daughter Lilian and two sons, Frank and Jim, to Hull, where he lived before the First World War. Marcus struggled with his children; Lilian Senior was very much the parent who knew what she was doing and Marcus, now on his own, needed help. In Hull, he had friends and family who could, but only two years later, everything fell apart.
Marcus died and with his death, his family was torn apart…
The Orphans
History records Lilian, Frank and Jim as becoming orphans in 1927, so we’re not sure if this is strictly true, if Lilian Senior had died, or if she had simply disappeared. It was a disaster for the children. Nobody Marcus knew, not even his family, wanted his three children and, as such, the state intervened. The children, all very young, were told that they would be split up and taken to children’s homes across the country. Frank and Jim were lucky… they were taken to a children’s home in Hull but Lilian was taken to a children’s home in my hometown, here in Middlesbrough. It’s not too far but for a child, it was. Lilian considered Hull to be her hometown but now she was 90 miles away, all on her own. She must have been so frightened. She had lost everything.
In Middlesbrough, Lilian was raised in a convent where she remained under the care of nuns until she was 20. This was unusual. Most left the convent at a far younger age to find work and start their lives, but Lilian struggled to find work. She was black. And a woman. Nobody would employ her. She grew increasingly frustrated but she wrote in her diary at the time that she was determined to overcome racial prejudice.
And so she decided to join the armed forces.
Leaping the Bar
It is unclear what kind of influence Lilian’s father had on her decision to join the armed forces; it seems obvious to assume that her father’s exemplary record in the Royal Navy inspired her but we’re not sure. What is clear is how frustrated she was. At the age of 20, she said:
Nobody would employ me, and that was when I realised, I had a problem with colour.
Lilian was battling personal loss and racial prejudice, yet despite her struggles, she was popular in school and had many friends. She was often top of her class and excelled at whatever she turned her hand to. Despite her intelligence and popularity, however, she could not escape the limitations forced upon her for her race and gender. In 1939, at the onset of the Second World War, Lilian applied to join the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes or the NAAFI at Catterick Garrison, in Yorkshire. She saw this as her beginning, her start in life, but it all came to an end after just seven weeks.
My casting out from the convent walls was delayed. I was half West Indian, and nobody, not even the priests, dare risk ridicule by employing me.
– Lilian.
She was working in the canteen one day when she was called to meet her superiors. She was informed that she was being fired, forced to leave her position and why? Because she was of West Indian heritage. This was known as the ‘colour bar’. Because her father was not British, Lilian was not allowed to become a part of the armed forces.
But you know Lilian. Any barrier she faced she was determined to leap it…
The Soldier
War broke out. Race had seen Lilian dismissed from the NAAFI. You’d think Lilian would be angry, seething with rage. But in her diaries, she simply wrote, ‘I am sad. This is so unfair.’ She was angry but sadness was her overriding emotion. She just wanted to serve. Most tragically of all, Lilian’s District Manager at the NAAFI toyed with the decision to let her go, sympathising with her Irish and Roman Catholic backgrounds as he was Irish and Roman Catholic. Lilian had served food and drink to servicemen with her eyes on progressing, rising up through the ranks, but that didn’t work out for her. She now found herself out of the armed forces and working in domestic service.
But Lilian, like her father, was determined to help out with the war effort, however she could. Every day she scoured newspapers and listened to radio broadcasts trying to find opportunities, any opportunity, to help with the war effort. She was determined and intelligent, yet unqualified. Domestic jobs and menial work was all she could find. On one day, for example, she was approached by a group of soldiers who asked her what her work was. They were so surprised to discover Lilian was not doing anything for the war effort. They ridiculed her for it, even though she was trying. She was left greatly embarrassed.
How could I tell them that a coloured Briton was not acceptable, even in the humble NAAFI?
– Lilian.
Lilian’s determination was admirable. No background will be a stumbling block. And, in the January of 1940, she found work on a farm near RAF Topcliffe. Soldiers who ventured outside of the base found Lilian on the farm and she offered to make them food, just like she had done in the canteen. Over time, more and more soldiers started to come to see her. Lilian was incredibly personable. The soldiers loved her. In her own small way, she was doing her bit, however she could, damn those who told her she couldn’t.
It was in this year when the ‘colour bar’ was finally lifted. Lilian was ecstatic. This is it, this is my opportunity! Now she knew she could join the armed forces, heck, nothing would stop her…
The Royal Air Force
The colour bar being lifted saw many thousands of men travel for miles across the oceans of our world to enlist, often paying their own way to do so. Colonial soldiers became crucial for the Allied forces, something very few of the colonial soldiers ever received credit for, even to this day. Caribbean soldiers became one of the largest groups of non-white armed forces personnel and it was the Royal Air Force actively recruiting most of these soldiers. A few of these soldiers appeared on the radio and that day, Lilian was tuned in…
She was staggered to hear West Indian soldiers being interviewed on the radio, soldiers that would fight for the Allies in a world where, during peacetime, those very people were being discriminated against. It was a fascinating paradox. But for Lilian, it was an opportunity. The Army was reluctant to take ‘colonial soldiers’, but the RAF was not.
At once, Lilian decided to join the RAF. Why the hell not? She had been inspired to apply and that’s what she did… and the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, well, they accepted. Lilian was now in the RAF. Colour bar my arse. Lilian passed her course ‘First Class’, becoming the very first woman in the air force to qualify as an Instrument Repairer. This role was brand new and was only made available to women in 1940. Lilian had become the RAF’s first female Instrument Repairer. Finally! Lilian was posted to RAF Shawbury.
Far from being excited, however, Lilian’s elation was tampered and overshadowed by tragedy. Just two weeks before she enlisted, she lost her brother.
The Legacy of the Able Seaman
Able Seaman James Bailey. Lilian’s brother, who had followed his father into the Royal Navy, was killed in action whilst serving in the Merchant Navy. He lived long enough to see his sister take up the fight and even then, even when she lost her brother, she didn’t cower. She wasn’t frightened of what might happen to her, just as the worst had happened to her brother, no, she was more committed than ever. It was something she had to do.
I hoped against hope that he had been picked up as I knew he sailed in convoy. The survivors of his ship, the Western Chief, were picked up, but Jim was not amongst them.
– Lilian.
Lilian had to carry on. For Jim. For her father. For the country. Her sense of duty was incredible. She had trained as an Instrument Repairer and spent extremely long hours working at RAF Shawbury checking for faults in the instruments of the aircraft based there. You can’t underestimate just how important this work was. And Lilian never forgot just how hard she had to work to get there. A black woman in 1941 in the armed forces. And she was the first in the RAF.
And soon, her ambitions to climb the ladder were coming to fruition…
Fully Certified
In the December of 1941, Lilian became a Leading Aircraftwoman and not long after, she was promoted to Acting Corporal. Holy shit, Lilian had done it. This was one of the most important roles on the entire base. She was directly responsible for checking the function of all planes, including checking for leaks in the pipes, before take-off to ensure the pilot’s safety. In 1941, Lilian said:
[I found myself] the only coloured person in this sea of white faces, [but] somebody told me I looked smart in my uniform, which cheered me to no end.
The working class woman from Toxteth in Liverpool was now Acting Corporal, Leading Aircraftwoman Lilian Bailey. Her group was the first to be issued overalls and battle dress, after Lilian made a very good point that the uniform she was given, a dress, was not exactly suited to servicepeople like her. She progressed rapidly, her pay increasing from 22 shillings every two weeks to 44, around £2,000 a year in today’s money. It was enough.
Her academic prowess and personable nature shone through in her time at the RAF, passing several exams and making many friends. She was treated as an equal for the first time in her life. During her service, she met Ramsay Bader, also of mixed race heritage. He was a tank driver who served in the 147th (Essex Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery.
They exchanged letters and soon felt an instant rapport. Lilian felt instantly attracted to Ramsay, saying, “Even in the ugly khaki battle dress, he looked like an officer.” She had a thing for a man in uniform. Well, who didn’t? Romantically, they met for the first time in York railway station. You can just see it now. Lilian loved a man she never met, falling in love through letters, agreeing to meet with him at York station, and there he was, debarking a steam train, walking through the cloud to meet Lilian. She knew it was him. And it was love at first sight. It was so romantic. So utterly perfect. Aww.
They soon fell in love and married on March 11th, 1943.
The Trailblazers
The couple married in a private, quiet ceremony at Corpus Christi Catholic Church on Spring Bank West, still there to this day. Lilian recorded her wedding as ‘typical for the war’. Sugar was rationed so she couldn’t have her fancy wedding cake that she dreamt of as a child stuck in that miserable convent. The cake instead was either chocolate or ginger, Lilian could never remember which, with a plastic of Paris top. Despite not being allowed, Lilian’s sister-in-law got hold of cold meats, jellies and other festive fare for the reception, of which Lilian was extremely grateful. The newlyweds spent their honeymoon at the Station Hotel in York. Lilian later said:
Hitler celebrated with an air raid.
Ha. God, she was funny. She fell pregnant that year but when the WAAF found out, they discharged her, leaving the RAF in the February of 1944. Her hopes of further promotion were curtailed. A new mother, without work, Lilian could only hope that Ramsay would survive the war. On June 6th, 1944, Ramsay was called up as one of the thousands of soldiers to fight on D-Day. Lilian felt sick. She had no idea if Ramsay would come home.
I didn’t know if Ramsay was alive or dead… I remember kneeling in the chapel and praying like blazes that Ramsay would be saved. It was a terrible time because you knew some people were going to be killed, and Ramsay couldn’t swim! He hated water. That’s what worried me more than anything, but he came through.
Yes, Ramsay survived D-Day. And soon, he would be back home with his family…
The Corporal Left Behind
Lilian loved her time in the RAF and she was now a mother with a husband she loved so much. But after the war, her service counted for nothing. The discrimination she faced in society meant that Lilian, a hero of the war, could not find work. She had to take night classes whilst bringing up her children. Little Geoffrey was soon joined by Adrian, Lilian now a mother of two committed to having a good life after the war, determined as ever not to let discrimination ruin her life.
What was the Corporal to do now, in a country that was rapidly forgetting all that black people, mixed race and non-white soldiers, like Lilian, had done. She decided to get her qualifications, so she went back to school achieving the necessary grades she needed to secure a position at the University of London. She attended the university, her intention to become a teacher. And you know what? Lilian secured her teaching degree and indeed she became a qualified teacher. If you told her she couldn’t do something, she was determined to prove you wrong. And she often did.
By the 1960s, Lilian and Ramsay had moved to Northamptonshire to raise their family. Lilian started a new career as a teacher of languages and then she taught students privately, well into old age. Adrian, meanwhile, left greatly inspired by his awesome mother, grew up to follow in her and her family’s footsteps. Rather wonderfully, he joined the Royal Navy and flew helicopters, later becoming an airline pilot.
Lilian was tenacious throughout her long, long life, undoubtedly a hero and a undoubtedly a trailblazer. She wrote her memoir, ‘Together – Lilian Bader: Wartime Memoirs of a WAAF 1939-1944’, published in 1989. She knew the contribution of black and Asian Britons in the war should be recognised and remembered, a struggle that continues to this day. She dedicated her later years into making as much noise as she could for this, her last fight.
The Final Stand
She told her story of prejudice and racism to the Imperial War Museum, journalists, politicians and appeared on numerous television shows. Lilian was incredibly frustrated by the lack of understanding from younger generations about what she and other black, mixed race, Asian and non-white servicepeople did during the war. Lilian was asked why black people from the across the British Empire joined the war effort. Her blunt reply was:
We [black people] would have ended up in the ovens.
Lilian knew that if Hitler had invaded England, the black and all non-white citizens of Britain would be targeted for extermination first, just as they had been in Germany and across Europe. That is why, as Lilian put it, remembering, recognising and understanding what all non-white servicepeople did, is crucially important. And Lilian was a part of that rich and vital network of resistance.
In 2002, she met the Queen, her contributions as one of the first black women to join the British Armed Forces and the first to join the Royal Air Force never forgotten. She was a hero. And perhaps most remarkably of all, we only lost her six years ago.
Remarkably, Lilian Bader died on March 13th, 2015, at the astonishing age of 97.
The Legacy
What Lilian did for the war effort cannot be underestimated nor can the prejudices she had to battle to get there. She was funny, intelligent, feisty, outspoken and, by the end of her life, incredibly proud that three generations of her family had served in the British armed forces. She is now considered one of the most important black women in British history but how many people know her name? It wasn’t necessarily what she did that made her a hero, it was what she overcame. She told her story, making sure people knew what she went through. The true influence of what she did is almost impossible to fathom.
The simplicity of Lilian’s work does not negate its importance, her well-documented professionalism displaying, starkly, the paradox of World War Two. British society discriminated against Lilian but celebrated her during the war, and then went back to hating her. It’s insane. It’s utterly insane. War broke down racial barriers promising a new future of unity and inclusivity… little things like Lilian being the first to be issued overalls instead of skirts… such progress is not trivial but highlighted how war was necessary for women to take one giant leap forward, to shake social norms. But it didn’t eradicate discrimination.
Lilian fought hard to change that. To get recognition. She was determined, persistent and an inspiration for so many. That’s why she should be remembered. She was a working class girl from the most working class part of Victorian Liverpool. She was stranded in a convent completely on her own. She could have gone mad. Or settled into a mediocre life accepting the hate that was directed at her. But she didn’t. She stood up and demanded a better life. She fought hard to join the RAF, the first black woman to do so, and one of the first ever in the armed forces. Through her sheer tenacity, she forces everyone who hears her story to consider what our British national identity even is. From Toxteth to revolution. Lilian wasn’t only a Corporal in the RAF.
She was a revelation.
Father served in the First World War, his three children served in the Second World War. I married a coloured man who was in the Second World War, as was his brother who was decorated for bravery in Burma. Their father also served in the First World War. Our son was a helicopter pilot, he served in Northern Ireland. So all in all, I think we’ve given back more to this country than we’ve received.
– Lilian.
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Images (click on them to enlarge): 1) Lilian Bader, 2) Lilian and Ramsay - I love this photo, they look so in love. Image Credits: https://elizabethokoh.com/lilian-bader-first-black-woman-to-join-the-airforce/.
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