October is Black History Month, so every day during October I will be posting up an introduction to an historical person of colour with a place in the history of the United Kingdom.

Lilian Bader (1918-2015) was one of the first black women to join the British armed forces. Born in Liverpool to a Barbadian father and a British-born mother, she and her two brothers were orphaned when their father died. At the age of nine she was separated from her brothers and placed in a convent, where she remained until she was 20.

At the start of WWII Bader enlisted in the NAAFI at Catterick, but was dismissed after seven weeks when it was discovered that her father was not born in the United Kingdom. In 1941 she enlisted in the WAAF, trained in instrument repair, became a Leading Aircraft Woman and was eventually promoted to corporal.

In 1943 she married Ramsay Bader, a tank driver in the Artillery, and they had two children together. After the war, they moved to Northamptonshire. Bader studied at London University where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree, and then became a teacher.

More about Lilian Bader at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilian_Bader