S14294
WHITE, Frederick John
| Service Number: | 1550 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | 1888, place not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Boilermaker |
| Died: | 18 December 1963, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Feb 1915: | Involvement Private, 1550, 10th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Feb 1915: | Embarked Private, 1550, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Runic, Melbourne | |
| Date unknown: | Wounded 1550, 10th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Frederick John White's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by St Ignatius' College
Frederick J. White was born in 1888 in the railway town of Crewe, Cheshire, England with his brother Henry White where in the years before his 26th (before the war), both moved to South Australia as immigrants where they resided in Day Terrace, Croydon, Adelaide. There, Frederick took up occupation as a boilermaker.
On the 26th of November 1914 when Frederick joined, he was assigned the service no.1550. Starting out as a Private, he embarked with other South Australian recruits with the 10th Infantry Battalion from Outer Harbor, Adelaide to Alexandria, Egypt on the HMAT A11 Ascanius in February 1915. In early April White was absent without leave and was fined 4 days pay.
Under the cover of darkness (at 4 am), on the 25th of April 1915, Frederick alongside his Australian and New Zealand comrades were approaching the beaches of Anzac Cove (formerly known as Ari Burnu) where their purpose was to capture the coastlines of the Gallipoli Peninsula to clear the area and allow ships safe passage through the Dardanelles Strait to Russia, and to eliminate the Ottoman Empire from the war.
In July, Frederick was wounded in in the right knee with a gunshot wound and was taken to the General Hospital, Alexandria 26th July. He rejoined his unit 23rd November 1915. A month later he was admitted to hospital sick. On 3rd January 1916 he was transferred to base. On 27th March 1916 proceeded to join the BEF and disembarked at Marsailles 3rd April 1916.
After rejoining his unit, Frederick was placed in Northern France where soon he would find himself in the Battle For Pozieres (as it was located on high ground) where he and his comrades were faced with merciless and cruel retaliation in the form of heavy bombardment from German forces making the landscape a living hell-hole. At Pozieres Frederick was wounded 8th August with a gunshot wound to his thumb. He received treatment in hospital and on the 15th August was promoted to Lance Corporal. I
Following February the next year, Frederick was fully promoted to Corporal and was transferred to the 13th Training Battalion on 10th May and shipped to England where he’d attended the Lewis Gun School from the 25th – 29th June easily passing his class. He then headed back to France and rejoin the 10th Battalion. During, the 3rd battle of Ypres he was promoted to Temporary Sergeant on the 10th September due to a Vice Sg. Keur being wounded.
Frederick would hold this maturity and reliability throughout the rest of the year which allowed him to be promoted to Sergeant until a rather unfortunate incident involving him being “drunk and disorderly” during active duty where he was found guilty and sentenced to demotion to the ranks along with without pay for eleven days.
Finally, the great war, that had taken millions of casualties and deaths in its wake was finally coming to a close. During these last months he continued to commit to his duties and platoon, racking up a few illnesses and a nasty G.S.W to the eye.
He passed away on 18th of December 1963 at the age of 65 due to unknown health complications and was buried in Centennial Park Cemetery, SA.