Jack White (trade unionist)
| Jack White | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 22 May 1879 Broughshane, County Antrim, Ireland |
| Died | 1946 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Allegiance |
British Army Irish Republican Brotherhood Irish Citizens Army Irish Volunteers Irish Republican Army Red Cross Republican Congress |
| Years of service | 1897 - 1937 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Battles/wars |
Boer War Dublin Lockout Easter Rising Irish War of Independence Spanish Civil War |
| Awards |
 Distinguished Service Order
|
Captain James Robert "Jack" White DSO (22 May 1879 –1946) was one of the co-founders of the Irish Citizen Army. He was originally a statist but later converted to socialist anarchist in the 1930s.
Jack White was born on 22 May 1879, at Whitehall, Broughshane, County Antrim to Anglican parents. An only son, he initially followed in the footsteps of his father, Field Marshal Sir George Stuart White, being educated at Winchester College, and later at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. At the age of eighteen, White saw service with the 1st Gordon Highlanders in the Boer War in South Africa. He was decorated with the Distinguished Service Order, The London Gazette of 2 July 1901 in its DSO citation reporting:
James Robert White, Lieutenant, The Gordon Highlanders. For having, when taken prisoner, owing to mistaking advancing Boers for British troops, and stripped, escaped from custody and run six miles, warning Colonel de Lisle, and advancing with him to the relief of Major Sladen's force.
White started to develop a dislike for the British ruling classes while in South Africa. It is said that at the battle of Doornkop he was one of the first to go over the top. Looking back, he saw one 17-year-old youth shivering with fright in the trench. An officer cried "shoot him". White is said to have aimed his pistol at the officer and replied, "Do so, and I'll shoot you".
Between 1901 and 1905, he served as aide-de-camp to his father, who was then Governor of Gibraltar, and it was here that he met Mercedes Mosley, the daughter of a Gibraltar business family and a Roman Catholic. Despite family objections on both sides, the couple married. White continued his military service in India and Scotland.
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