Page 18 - RAF Magazine

WORLD WAR II 1939-45

AFRICA’S FIRST BLACK

RAF COMMISSION

Before 1942, no black African had been granted an officer commission in
the RAF, but Peter Thomas was not going to let that stand in the way of
his long-standing ambition to join the organisation...

Flight Lieutenant Emanuel Peter dealer. He was put on a ship along with 100 other
John Adeniyi Thomas slaves and was soon on his way to America.
1914 - 12 January, 1945 ‘Ten days out in the Atlantic his ship was intercepted
Years of service: 1942-1945 by one of Her Majesty’s ships. The slaves were rescued,
and at Freetown (Sierra Leone), my great-grandfather
abatunde O. Alakija, from Nigeria, was the regained his freedom.”
B first black African to be selected for training Flt Lt Thomas travelled to Britain in 1941 and qualified
in the RAF. While, in 1942 Emanuel Peter John as a pilot on September 17, 1942. In the space of two
Adeniyi Thomas became the first black African to qualify years he was promoted twice, to Flying Officer in
as a pilot. Peter, known as ‘Deniyi’ to his friends, also March 1943 and to
later became the first black African to be commissioned Flight Lieutenant in
as an officer. “…Outside of the September 1944.
Born in 1914, Thomas came from one of the richest force, Peter In his book, The
and most influential families on Africa’s west coast, Motherland Calls:
where his father Peter was a businessman and his older gave back to Britain’s Black
sister Stella was the first female magistrate in west his community, Servicemen & Women,
Africa. After graduating from King’s College – one of working with the 1939-45, author
the best secondary schools in Lagos – he worked for Stephen Bourne
the Nigerian government in the Labour Department. Flt Colonial Office in describes Peter
Lt Thomas’s reasons for joining the RAF were fuelled Britain, meeting Thomas as having “all
by a long-time admiration for the then mother country, West African the right qualifications
which he spoke about in his application, saying: “My students who came for entry into the RAF”.
great-grandfather was a chieftain. One day his rival On top of a great
betrayed him to Britain education, he was a
to a slave for training” long-distance runner
and had enrolled in the
Territorial Battalion of
the Nigerian Regiment at the time of his application”.
He was well liked and respected for his strong
Christian faith. Another thing noted by former
colleagues was that he was quite accident-prone, but
having a wealthy father proved to be a saving grace.
Bourne quotes a colleague as saying:“It was rumoured
that whenever he ‘bent’ an aircraft his father would
always foot the bill.” Outside of the force, Peter gave
back to his community, working with the Colonial
Office in Britain, meeting West African students who
came to Britain for training.
Flight Lieutenant Peter Thomas died in an air crash
on January 12, 1945 after he was forced to make a
crash landing in the mountains. He was just 30 years
old. He is buried in Bath (Haycombe) Cemetery.
His untimely death was echoed by the fact he had
already been admitted as a law student at the Middle
Temple, as he looked forward to his life after the war,
without knowing what lay ahead.

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