White, Arthur Thomas

Colonel Arthur Thomas White CMG - Australian Army Medical Corps

Arthur Thomas White was born on the 27th October 1860 in Devon England to John & Amelia White.

After being educated in England he undertook further medical studies and qualified as a doctor.

As a young man he travelled to Western Australia and set up a medical practice in Fremantle.

On the 18th December 1895 in Fremantle he married May Sophia Elliott and they lived at Canning Road East Fremantle, later moving to Osborne Road. Arthur also had a local medical practice.

They would have five children, John Richard (1896), Walter Percy (1897), Harold Arthur (1899), Edward Francis (1901) and Veronica May (1910).

Doctor White had also been in Army Medical Corps in the Citizens Military Forces. He was a Captain in the Australian Army Medical Corps from 1889 and by 1911 had been appointed as a Lieutenant Colonel.

He enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force early in the war and as a senior serving medial officer in WA was put in charge of the 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital. He embarked for overseas with the 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital from Fremantle aboard HMAT Kyarra (A55) on 14 October 1914.

They arrived in Egypt in November 1914, and the 2nd ASH was originally located at Mena Camp in Egypt in Jan 1915, where it was concerned with the treatment of venereal diseases. They remained in Egypt for the next several months with Lt-Colonel White in command. The 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital moved to East Mudros on the island of Lemnos in June 1915. They would assist with the casualties that were occurring at Gallipoli.

In August 1915 the 2nd ASH was moved to West Mudros and according to the medical history by Colonel Butler, by September and October 1915, the 2nd ASH occupied sixty large marquee-tents, and had 1,200 beds and 25 nursing sisters – “making some 130 Australian nurses now on the island”.

When the Peninsula was evacuated, 2nd ASH was transferred to Egypt, leaving Lemnos on 20 January 1916. They arrived in Alexandria on the 23rd, and entrained for Tel-el Kebir in the Canal Zone.

However Colonel White had been evacuated ill from Mudros in November 1915. Shortly before he was evacuated, Colonel White was seen by a few fellow Fremantle men.

In an oral history held at the Australian War Memorial of William Truran, a soldier in the 16th Battalion from Fremantle, he recalled the moment when the Battalion were on Lemnos Island and having a rest from Gallipoli, when the Battalion walked past the tents of the 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital, when Colonel White and nursing staff were outside the medical tents watching the Battalion march past; William Truran mentioned that the Fremantle members of the Battalion recognised Colonel White, and began waving and hollering out 'Hello Doctor White' as they passed, with the Colonel waving back.

Colonel White was in England until March 1916 when he returned to Egypt to once again take command of the 2nd ASH.

In April 1916 Colonel White left the 2nd ASH and was temporarily ADMS Assistant Director Medical Services of the Australian forces in Egypt and in July 1916 departed for England.

Once in England Colonel Arthur White was appointed as ADMS of the 3rd Australian Division. It would have been a busy time for Colonel White, being the main medical officer for the 3rd Australian Division when they trained on the Salisbury Plains and he would have reported directly to General John Monash.

In November 1917 the 3rd Division left for France as did Colonel White who continued with his role on the Western Front.

He was promoted to Colonel on 8 June 1917 and was then Mentioned in Sir Douglas Haig’s Despatch of 7 November 1917 (MID) for;

distinguished and gallant service and devotion to duty in the field during the period February 26 to 20/21 September 1917. 

Colonel White was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) on 1 January 1918 for;

conspicuous ability and careful preparation in ensuring the marked success of the Division medical services particularly during the Messines Operations. He served with distinction at Gallipoli and in Egypt.

Later that month, he transferred to England and returned to Australia. O the 10th March 1918 Colonel White boarded the Hospital Ship Durham Castle for the journey home to Western Australia.  Arthur arrived back in Fremantle on the 4th May 1918. Arthur White's appointment to the AIF was terminated on 18 May 1918.

In 1921 Arthur and May were living at 'Tor House' Canning Road East Fremantle

Arthur White died on January 2nd 1946 aged 85. He was buried in Fremantle Cemetery plot Anglican MonA 0618.