WHITE, Lawrence Adrian

  1. Service Details
  2. Personal Details
  3. Unit and Rank Details
  4. Notes
  5. Sources

Service Details

Branch of Service
Army
Conflict
World War I (1914-1918)
Date of Enlistment
18/04/1917
Date of Discharge
21/09/1919
Place of Enlistment
Wagga Wagga NSW

Personal Details

Gender
Male
Other Name(s)
Also spelt as 'Laurence' in some sources
Date of Birth
25/02/1900
Place of Birth
Canberra ACT
Address (at enlistment)
Wagga Wagga NSW (previously Canberra ACT)
School(s) Attended
Canberra School
Occupation
Assistant grocer
Next of Kin
John White (father), Esplanade Street, Wagga Wagga NSW

Unit and Rank Details

Service Number
3529
Final Rank
Driver
Final Unit
5 Light Horse Field Ambulance AIF

Notes

Although White's place of birth is given as Queanbeyan it is probable that he was born in Canberra. His mother Clara had worked for the Brassey family at Acton and his two older sisters, Clara and Catherine, both appear on the student roll at the Schoolhouse at St. John's. He may have started his schooling at the Canberra School or possibly the Crossroads School, a site now occupied by the old Forrest Fire Station. His mother also appears on the 1903 electoral roll for Werriwa as a resident of 'Redbank', Canberra and he had a younger brother born in the Queanbeyan area around 1906. According to Curley, the White family were tenants on Duntroon (in the vicinity of Barton and Kingston) where they ran a dairy which was probably 'Redbank'. The family moved to Wagga Wagga in about 1907.

White was living at Wagga Wagga when he enlisted and he arrived in Egypt in December 1917 as a reinforcement for the Camel Corps. He served with the 17th Company, 4th Battalion, Imperial Camel Corps in the Sinai and Palestine until the Camels were disbanded in 1918. After some training White was attached to the 5th Light Horse Field Ambulance with whom he served the final months of the war. He married Amy Murphy in 1923 and around 1937 they moved to the Blue Mountains where White ran a general store in Katoomba. He was an alderman on the local council and served a term as mayor in 1938. Around 1945 the family moved to Fairfield in Sydney. White lived there until he died on 29 September 1983.

Description - height 5 feet 4¾ inches, weight 147 pounds, chest 33½ -36½ inches, fair complexion, blue eyes, light brown hair, Catholic, moles on the front left shoulder and back left calf.

Sources

NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
AWM First World War Unit Embarkation Rolls
Students roll, Schoolhouse Museum, St John's, Reid
G.A. Mawer, 'Canberry Tales: An Informal Story', 2012
Sylvia Curley, 'A long journey', 1998 (p.6)
Ryerson Index http://ryersonindex.net/search.php
The Biz (Fairfield) - 5 February 1948 (see trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/76265214 obituary for Amy White)
Blue Mountains City Council - list of mayors (www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/yourcouncil/councillors/pastandcurrentelectedmayors)

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