On his death, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, then Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, acknowledged his years spent on the judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago, saying: "Some of his judgments changed the landscape of Trinidad and Tobago." Diplomatic postings He then became Chairman of the Law Reform Commission of Trinidad and Tobago, from 1982 to 1983, and in this position he made a significant contribution towards furthering the revision and development of the country's laws. In 1979, he was elevated to the Court of Appeal. Once again, Cross returned to Trinidad, this time in 1971 to serve as a High Court judge. He also served as a professor of law at the University of Dar es Salaam. In 1967, Cross became a High Court judge in Tanzania, where from 1968 to 1970 he was Chairman of the Permanent Labour Tribunal. Continuing his African journey, he served in West Cameroon (1960–1966), where he was elevated to Senior Crown Counsel and Attorney General, was a Member of the Cabinet, the House of Chiefs and the House of Assembly Avocat-General at the Federal Court of Justice of the Republic of Cameroon. Between 19, he worked closely with Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, where Cross was Crown Counsel and Senior Crown Counsel, and lectured in Criminal Law at the Ghana School of Law. Then his career took an entirely different turn, and he went to practise law in Ghana, Cameroon and Tanzania for many years. He subsequently returned to London, and worked for some time as a producer for Talks and the famed Caribbean Voices at the BBC (1953–1957). 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 then returned to Trinidad where, from 1949 to 1953, he was Legal Adviser to the Comptroller of Imports and Exports, Trinidad and Tobago. Distinguished legal career Īfter the war, Cross studied law and he was called to the Bar under the aegis of the Middle Temple, London, on 26 January 1949. 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. The bomb had an 11-second delay, so you shot up to avoid the bomb blast. You then did a shallow dive onto the target and released your bombs. You flew in to your target at 50 feet and as you approached it you went up to 1,200 feet. We flew at just 50 feet instead of the normal 25,000 feet. In his own words: "We did a lot of low-level daylight bombing. Ĭross was a member of the elite Pathfinder Force that perfected techniques for precision main force bombing. 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 served with RAF Bomber Command during World War II, attaining the rank of Squadron Leader. In 1941, aged 24, Cross left Trinidad to join Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) – being "young, adventurous and idealistic". When Cross turned 21, he joined the Civil Service and worked for a while with the Trinidad Government Railway. Then he worked for about four years as a clerk to Leo Pujadas, Solicitor. His first job was with the Trinidad Guardian as a copy editor. His academic focus was completely derailed, and so, after completing five years of college education, he left school. He was devastated by his mother's death when he was just 13 years old. 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 the second child in a family of nine. Ulric Cross was born on, in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad, to Reginald Rufus and Maud Iris Cross. He also served as a diplomat for Trinidad and Tobago to the United Kingdom. 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 is credited with helping to prevent some two hundred bombers from being shot down in a raid over Germany in 1943. Philip Louis Ulric Cross DSO DFC ( – 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.
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