Alfred Thomas White

Alfred Thomas White [Parents] was born on 26 Jul 1878 in Auckland, New Zealand. He died on 6 Mar 1960 in Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand . He married Minnie Eliza Scadden on 30 Dec 1901 in The Residence of William Scadden, Onekaka, New Zealand.

[Notes]

Minnie Eliza Scadden [Parents] was born on 10 Sep 1878. She died on 13 Apr 1959. She married Alfred Thomas White on 30 Dec 1901 in The Residence of William Scadden, Onekaka, New Zealand.

[Notes]

They had the following children:

  M i Alvan Willmette White was born on 15 Feb 1902. He died on 23 Oct 1994.  

  F ii Lorna Clarabel White was born on 15 Feb 1907. She died on 13 Mar 2003.  

http://www3.sympatico.ca/rupertlt/willmettf/pafg16.htm#498

Alfred Thomas White

Attended Hampden St School, Nelson. Enlisted as a pupil teacher. Lieutenant Alfred Thomas White, of Waimea Rifle Volunteers, first joined the service in 1895, as a gunner in the H Battery, Nelson. Subsequently he held a commission as lieutenant in the Takaka Mounted Rifles, which he resigned on being appointed schoolmaster at Spring Grove public school at Nelson. Played the cornet in the Wakefield Band.

He served in the New Zealand Army in the First World War; he was an officer, mentioned in Sir D Haig's despatches and was awarded the Military Cross.

New Zealand Expeditionary Force to Egypt - Date of embarkation 8.1.16.

Embarked on the LLANDOVERY CASTLE for France from Egypt 9.4.16.

Embarked at Liverpool on the SS MAUNGANUI for New Zealand 2.12.18. - the ship travelled via the Panama Canal, opened in 1914.

Extract from article from the AUCKLAND WEEKLY NEWS, January 16, 1919.

HOME FROM THE WAR

INVALIDED MEN ARRIVE

MAUNGANUI BRINGS 870

ENTHUSIASTIC WELCOME

"Captain A.T. White, MC., who is a native of Auckland, enlisted from the Wairarapa, and went to Egypt with the Mounted Rifles attached to the Ninth Reinforcements. He then held the rank of second lieutenant. When the squadron was broken up the men went to the artillery and the officers were transferred to the infantry. Captain White was posted to the Second Wellington Battalion, and after two months in Egypt with his regiment, proceeded to France. He went through all the offensives with the New Zealanders and was wounded at Armentieres, gassed at Ploegsteert, and was again wounded at Bapaume in August, 1918. He was mentioned in despatches in 1916 and received his decoration with the New Year honours of 1917. Captain White also wears the medal won by his late father in the Maori wars."

He was a schoolmaster in civilian life. He was a kind man who sent food parcels to the UK during/after WW2.

His 'adopted' son Philip Riley was in the UK during WW2. SLT remembers Philip Riley visiting Newport, Monmouthshire circa May 1945, in uniform, shortly before his returning to NZ after WW2.

Known addresses:

44 Holmwood Road, Brooklyn, Wellington.

Hastwells via Eketahuna.

Lived at Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand from January 1935 until his death in 1960.

Extract from his letter to REW of 15 Jun 1939:

"We have a Labour Government here & a sorry mess they have made of the thing. "The sky's the limit," they said & my eye they have made it so. They have just about bankrupted our little N.Z. You will note that our finance minister Mr W Nash is at present in England. You'll know about the Import Restrictions & I hope the ones at Home sit on him good & hard. Short hours, high wages, high prices, high taxation, Social Security Schemes, Import Restrictions, unproductive Public Works etc etc. God's truth we are in a mess."

Headstone in Paraparaumu Cemetery:

IN LOVING MEMORY OF

IDA WHITE [NEE SCADDEN]

DIED 13 4 59 AGED 80 YEARS

ALSO HER BELOVED HUSBAND

ALFRED THOMAS WHITE

DIED 6 3 60 AGED 81 YEARS

11/2005 CAPTAIN WORLD WAR I

MAJOR HOME GUARD WORLD WAR II

"TOGETHER WITH THE LORD"

http://www3.sympatico.ca/rupertlt/willmettf/pafn16.htm#498