A White Russian
Aircraftsman 1st Class S White Royal Air Force
Sidney White
The Man Sidney White was born on 14th May 1889 in Maidstone, Kent, Son of Henry Elias a Borough Police Officer and Ellen Sharlotte. He was one of three children, Ellen Caroline born in 1894 and Henry James born 1897. By 1901 the family were living at 57 John Street, Maidstone. Ten years later in 1911 they were still at the same address although a note appended to the census by Henry senior, next to Henry juniors name says “Feeble minded from 2 years of age and is at the present time in the Earlswood Asylum, Redhill, Surrey.” Sidney however aged 12 was now at school, and after leaving became a Cabinet Maker. On 23rd August 1917, Sidney aged 28 enlisted into the Royal Naval Air Service, in HMS President II – which was a shore establishment and an accounting base, based at times at Chatham, Crystal Palace, Chingford and Shrewsbury and was extant between 1916 and at least 1947 - as an Air Mechanic II, his official trade being an Aero Rigger. He was described as 5’.6½ “tall, with dark hair, blue eyes and a sallow complexion with a scar over his left eyebrow. His religion was given as Church of England. Following his enlistment Sidney served in His Majesty’s Ships Daedalus from 24th August 1917 until 28th January 1918 (Daedalus was the RNAS Shore establishment now known as RAF Cranwell) and President again from 29th January until 31st March. On 1st April 1918 he transferred into the newly formed Royal Air Force with service number 236178, initially based at Stonehenge he moved to RAF Halton on 11th June 1919. On 4th July 1919, Sidney was posted to the Russian Front, in Murmansk as part of the North Russian Expeditionary Force and RAF Syren Force where he was shipped in HMS Nairana. Following the decision to withdraw allied troops from Russia in March 1920, Sidney had to wait until 20th October 1919 when he was returned to the UK and posted to Donibraith and then Purfleet on 5th January 1920. A month later on 4th February he was transferred to the RAF G Reserve. Whilst serving in North Russia Sidney was Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the oak leaf emblem as well as the 1914-18 British War and Victory Medals. Little extra detail is known of Sidney’s later life except that he died in Maidstone, Kent during the first quarter of 1975 aged 86.
The Story This group of medals were acquired from an old friend Eric Hall, on a part exchange basis for £4.00 on 7th July 1978. They caused some excitement at the time, as there was a photograph album with the medals showing the recipient in Russia. One of the pictures had an ink cross above one of the Airmen and it was believed this may have been S White. Additionally the medals came with a Mention in Despatches emblem, which over the years was never confirmed, even with the onset of internet research and trawling the London Gazette; further research was also limited as there are a lot of S Whites on Ancestry.UK, and no detail found. Before a planned visit to The National Archives on 18th May 2013, it was decided to finally undertake some serious research on S White as he had sat in the collection for 35 years with nothing being done. Within five minutes of arrival, having checked the TNA archives it was established that S White’s first name was Sidney! Within the hour his original World War I Royal Air Force service record was available and gave sufficient information to allow further cross checking on Ancestry.UK, enabling a brief biography of Sidney White to be pieced together, with possible further potential. Crucially, Sidney’s RAF record confirmed he had served in Russia, proving beyond reasonable doubt that the photograph album was his. It also confirmed that he had indeed been awarded a Mention in Despatches, thus fully confirming the provenance of the group. After further painstaking search through the London Gazette and eventually finding the correct combination of words, Sidney's MiD was located there too, and he has the distinction of being the last member of the RAF to be recognised in the London Gazette in connection with the War! An interesting fact is that Sidney died in the first quarter of 1975, and the group only acquired from Eric Hall three years later in 1978, at that time a very ‘recent acquisition’. One wonders if it was possible that Eric had known Sidney or his family, but having passed the medals onto me did not wish to disclose the fact? In any event Sidney’s medals have lain un-researched for 35 years until May 2013, when at last his service and life may be properly recognised. Click here to see Sidney White's Photograph Album.
The North Russian Expeditionary Force
Following the collapse of the Russian war effort in the wake of the Revolution in 1917, the British raised and dispatched a force to Northern Russia, known as the North Russian Expeditionary Force (NREF), under the command of Major General Edmund Ironside. Its purpose was to train a White Russian force in preparation for the creation of a new Eastern Front against the Central Powers, as well as to ensure that large quantities of military supplies shipped there to equip the Russian Army under Tsar Nicholas did not fall into German hands. The NREF numbered 70 officers and 500 enlisted men, and was chosen from men who had volunteered in Britain for "a secret mission and were not told until their ship had left Newcastle where they were headed." The force was broken into two groups - Syren Force (Murmansk) and Elope Force (Archangel) - Murmansk was reached on 24 June 1918, while Elope Force subsequently sailed on to Archangel. Included were nine Australians—three officers and six sergeants—who had been selected by AIF Headquarters in April 1918. All were experienced soldiers, with three having served at Gallipoli as well as in France. Sailing on the SS City of Marseilles on 17 June 1918 the Australians arrived in Murmansk and most were immediately sent out on patrol. Later they were switched to the Archangel section.[ The men were then broken into small advisory groups and attached to White Russian and White Finnish units, being engaged in a range of administrative, instructional and advisory tasks. Due to their isolation, it is difficult to make generalisations about the nature of service experienced by the Australians at this time. Captain P.F. Lohan served in a variety of administrative positions both in Murmansk and Archangel, whilst Sergeant R.L. Graham was commissioned in the field and became railway transport officer on the Archangel-Vologda railway. Several other sergeants were involved in the various training roles, while Captain Allan Brown was attached to the North Russian Rifles based at Onega—a White Russian battalion. On 20 July 1919, like a number of other advisers subsequently, Brown was murdered by his men when they mutinied and went over to the Bolsheviks. Indeed not only were the advisers in danger from the enemy, but also from the men they commanded or advised. While Brown was the only Australian to be killed, there was at least one other major mutiny among the White forces during this period, and several other Australians had narrow escapes. With these incidents becoming increasingly common, and with the ineffectiveness of such a small force in influencing the outcome of the civil war, in March 1919 the decision was made to withdraw the force. As all faith had been lost in the reliability of locally raised units, this could only be safely completed with the provision of a covering force, and until this could be raised the NREF was condemned to endure the harsh Russian winter.
Following the collapse of the Russian war effort in the wake of the Revolution in 1917, the British raised and dispatched a force to Northern Russia, known as the North Russian Expeditionary Force (NREF), under the command of Major General Edmund Ironside. Its purpose was to train a White Russian force in preparation for the creation of a new Eastern Front against the Central Powers, as well as to ensure that large quantities of military supplies shipped there to equip the Russian Army under Tsar Nicholas did not fall into German hands. The NREF numbered 70 officers and 500 enlisted men, and was chosen from men who had volunteered in Britain for "a secret mission and were not told until their ship had left Newcastle where they were headed." The force was broken into two groups - Syren Force (Murmansk) and Elope Force (Archangel) - Murmansk was reached on 24 June 1918, while Elope Force subsequently sailed on to Archangel. Included were nine Australians—three officers and six sergeants—who had been selected by AIF Headquarters in April 1918. All were experienced soldiers, with three having served at Gallipoli as well as in France. Sailing on the SS City of Marseilles on 17 June 1918 the Australians arrived in Murmansk and most were immediately sent out on patrol. Later they were switched to the Archangel section.[ The men were then broken into small advisory groups and attached to White Russian and White Finnish units, being engaged in a range of administrative, instructional and advisory tasks. Due to their isolation, it is difficult to make generalisations about the nature of service experienced by the Australians at this time. Captain P.F. Lohan served in a variety of administrative positions both in Murmansk and Archangel, whilst Sergeant R.L. Graham was commissioned in the field and became railway transport officer on the Archangel-Vologda railway. Several other sergeants were involved in the various training roles, while Captain Allan Brown was attached to the North Russian Rifles based at Onega—a White Russian battalion. On 20 July 1919, like a number of other advisers subsequently, Brown was murdered by his men when they mutinied and went over to the Bolsheviks. Indeed not only were the advisers in danger from the enemy, but also from the men they commanded or advised. While Brown was the only Australian to be killed, there was at least one other major mutiny among the White forces during this period, and several other Australians had narrow escapes. With these incidents becoming increasingly common, and with the ineffectiveness of such a small force in influencing the outcome of the civil war, in March 1919 the decision was made to withdraw the force. As all faith had been lost in the reliability of locally raised units, this could only be safely completed with the provision of a covering force, and until this could be raised the NREF was condemned to endure the harsh Russian winter.
HMS Nairana
HMS Nairana in Dazzle Camouflage circa 1917.
Upon commissioning on 25 August 1917, Nairana was assigned to the Battle Cruiser Force of the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow, carrying four Short Type 184 floatplanes and four Beardmore W.B. III aircraft. She saw little operational use as she was employed for pilot training and ferrying aircraft to ships equipped with flying-off decks. In 1918, she participated in the North Russia Campaign in support of the British intervention in the Russian Civil War. On 1 August, she took part in what was probably the first fully combined air, sea, and land military operation in history, when she and her Campania seaplanes joined Allied ground forces and other ships in driving Bolsheviks out of their fortifications on Modyugski Island at the mouth of the Northern Dvina River in Russia, Nairana using her own guns on the Bolshevik batteries. She and her aircraft then scouted ahead of the Allied force as it proceeded up the channel to Arkhangelsk. The appearance of one of her Campanias over Arkhangelsk caused the Bolshevik troops there to panic and abandon the city. Nairana sustained no damage during the assault on the city. In October, the ship was carrying five Campanias and two Sopwith Babys, although these last two aircraft were replaced by Sopwith Camels in 1919. In June 1919, Nairana ferried a flight of Fairey IIIC floatplanes to Arkhangelsk for use by the Royal Air Force.
Medal Details
- 1914-18 British War Medal: 236178. 1.A.M. S.WHITE. R.A.F.
- Victory Medal: 236178. 1.A.M. S.WHITE. R.A.F.
This page last updated 23 Apr 14