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Lilian Bader
(1918 - 2015)
Lilian Bader was born in Liverpool to a seaman from Barbados who served in the First World War and his British-born wife.
Lilian found employment in domestic service but, when the war broke out in 1939, she was determined to support the war effort. One day Lilian heard a group of black West Indian men being interviewed on the radio. When they wanted to volunteer for war service, they had been rejected by the army, but the Royal Air Force accepted them. Consequently, the resilient, resourceful and patriotic Lilian tried again. She succeeded in enlisting with the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) on 28 March 1941 and, sent to York, she found herself “the only coloured person in this sea of white faces but somebody told me I looked smart in my uniform which cheered me no end”. Lilian trained as an instrument repairer, one of the new trades open to women.
Lilian’s joy at being enlisted in the WAAF was overshadowed by tragedy. Just two weeks prior to enlisting, her older brother, Able Seaman James Bailey, was killed in action on 14 March 1941 while serving in the Merchant Navy. In the WAAF, Lilian worked hard, passed her exams and became a First-Class Airwoman. In December 1941, Lilian became a Leading Aircraftwoman (LACW) and was soon promoted to the rank of Acting Corporal.
Ramsay and Lilian Bader
Through an ex-landlady in Yorkshire, Lilian made contact with a young British-born mixed-race soldier called Ramsay Bader. He was a tank driver who was serving with the 147th (Essex Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. Lilian and Ramsay exchanged letters and photographs. Lilian immediately felt attracted to Ramsay: ‘Even in the ugly khaki battle dress, he looked like an officer.’ Lilian and Ramsay were married in Hull on 11 March 1943.
Lilian’s chances of further promotion in the WAAF were curtailed when she discovered she was expecting a baby. She received her discharge papers in February 1944. On 6 June 1944 Ramsay was one of thousands of soldiers engaged in the D-Day landings. It was an anxious time for Lilian and she prayed that her husband would survive, which Ramsay did.
This information is from Stephen Bourne's books Mother Country: Britain's Black Community on the Home Front 1939-45 (The History Press, 2010) , The Motherland Calls: Britain's Black Servicemen and Women 1939-45 (The History Press, 2012) and War to Windrush: Black Women in Britain 1939-48 (Jacaranda Books, 2018).
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