b. 08/05/1900 Hong Kong. d. 11/02/1965 Exeter, Devon.
DATE OF AM ACTION: 04/05/1925 South China Sea.
George H White AM
George was born in Hong Kong on 8th May 1900, the son of a cemetery overseer Henry James Bernard White and his wife Rose Emily (nee Allen). He was educated in the Diocesan Boys’ School, Hong Kong and on leaving school became an engineering apprentice in the Royal Naval Dockyard, Hong Kong. He served in the Mercantile Marine during WWI and was awarded the British War, Mercantile Marine War and Victory Medals. Most of his time in the Merchant Navy was spent in the Far East. He married Dorothy in Hong Kong Cathedral in 1940. He then became a Chief Engineer and served throughout WWII. He retired to Exmouth, Devon in 1963 and died in Exeter City Hospital of a brain tumour on 11th February 1965.
AM CITATION:
On the 4th May, 1925, the ” Paul Beau ” was proceeding from Hongkong to Canton when a tube blew out in the starboard boiler projecting a stream of boiling water and steam 35 feet long into the after end of the Boiler Room and Engine Room; the Engine and Boiler Booms are in one compartment, there being no dividing bulkhead. At the time of the accident, two men Hau Foong and So Hau were on duty on the boilers, and two others on the engines. Hau Foong was immediately overcome and collapsed and So Hau at once went to his assistance and at the risk of his own life, managed to drag him clear of the scalding water before making his way on deck when he collapsed also. Meanwhile, the other two men sought refuge in the tunnel way. Observing a thick cloud of steam rising from the Engine and Boiler Booms to the level of the promenade deck, George Henry White suspected what had happened, and, wrapping his face in wet towelling, he made his way through the steam along the top of the boilers and shut off the valves connecting the boilers to the engines, and the valve connecting the two boilers. The three men in the Engine and Boiler Rooms were reached as soon as the steam had cleared away and were removed in a state of collapse to the upper deck. But for the gallantry of Mr. White they would in all probability have been suffocated by the escaping steam. Mr. White ran a very grave risk, since he had to grope about in the scalding steam fog, blinded by the covering on his head, in his endeavour to shut the stop valves on the boilers, and he might have encountered the full force of the issuing steam, in which case the result would have been fatal. In spite of being badly scalded, he took charge and having effected the necessary repairs, raised steam again, thus enabling the vessel to be brought safely to the wharf at Canton where the injured men were removed to hospital.
BURIAL LOCATION: EXETER AND DEVON CREMATORIUM, EXETER, DEVON.
ASHES SCATTERED IN GARDEN OF REMEMBRANCE. NAMED IN BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: FAMILY.
Acknowledgement:
Allan Stanistreet – Images of George White AM and his birth and death certificates.