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Tom Warren White

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Tom Warren White
Born(1902-11-28)28 November 1902
Brisbane, Queensland
Died14 June 1993(1993-06-14) (aged 90)
Buried
Tamborine Mountain Cemetery, Tamborine Mountain, Queensland
AllegianceAustralia
Service / branchAustralian Army
Years of service–1957
RankBrigadier
Service numberVX20316
Commands2/1st Battalion
Battles / warsSecond World War
AwardsLieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order
Officer of the Legion of Merit (United States)

Brigadier Tom Warren White, LVO (28 November 1902 - 14 June 1993) was an Australian soldier who served during the Second World War.

Early life

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Tom was born in Brisbane, Queensland on 28 November 1902,[1] the third son of John Warren White and Elizabeth Matilda Rosa Georgina née Barker. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Australian Army Staff Corps in 1924.[2] He was seconded to the Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons) between 1926 and 1927 in India and attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1937 to 1940.[2] Tom was attached to the British War Office in 1939 and served with the British forces in France in 1940.[2]

Second World War

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With Japan's entry into the war in December 1941, the 2/1st Battalion was ordered to return to Australia from the Middle East.[3] White had been appointed as commanding officer. Whilst en route, the battalion was diverted to Ceylon to defend it from a possible Japanese invasion.[3] The invasion never eventuated and the battalion finally arrived home in August 1942.

Later life

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He was appointed the representative of the Australian military mission of the Allied Control Council for Germany, in Berlin in 1945.[2] He was awarded the Legion of Merit (Officer) by the United States for "invaluable assistance in the preparation of plans affecting Australian and combined forces in the South-west Pacific area from 1943 to 1945".[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Temporary Brigadier Tom Warren White". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "Australians in Berlin". The West Australian. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b "2/1st Australian Infantry Battalion". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Australian in Berlin gets US honour". The Argus. Retrieved 22 December 2020.