The subject of a film about a Trinidadian wartime flying ace who became a lawyer, TV producer, judge and diplomat, passed away on Friday 4 October 2013, he was 96.
Ulric Cross was born in Belmont and in the 1940s served as a navigator with the Pathfinders Force of the Royal Air Force. His courage earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Distinguished Service Order, making him the most decorated West Indian airman of the Second World War.
After a stint at the BBC as a producer, he advised leaders of newly independent African countries, including President Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana and President Julius Nyerere in Tanzania, before returning to practise law in Trinidad. Noted for his fairness, he was a well respected judge and mediator, and completed his glittering career with his posting to London as TT high commissioner. In 2011 he was awarded the country’s highest honour, the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
His story is such an inspirational one that it is being made into a film, appropriately entitled Hero. Speaking for the film’s title sponsor, Republic Bank, Anna-Maria Garcia-Brooks paid tribute to Cross as “a man of great intellect and determination, a pioneer and trendsetter”.
Soca News covered the UK launch of the film project earlier this year and will keep you up to date with its progress.
For further information, visit www.ulriccross.com or email herofilm2012@gmail.com.
