General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Sir Cyril Brudenell Bingham White, (23 September 1876 – 13 August 1940), more commonly known as Sir Brudenell White or C. B. B. White, was a senior officer in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...

who served as

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Af ...

from 1920 to 1923 and again from March to August 1940, when he was killed in the Canberra air disaster.

Early life and career

White was born in

St Arnaud, Victoria St Arnaud is a town in the Wimmera region of Victoria, Australia, 244 kilometres north west of the capital Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Northern Grampians local government area. At the , St Arnaud had a population of 2,318. It is named ...

, on 23 September 1876. He joined the colonial militia force in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

in 1896, and served in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

with the

Australian Commonwealth Horse The Australian Commonwealth Horse (ACH) was a mounted infantry unit of the Australian Army formed for service during the Second Boer War in South Africa in 1902 and was the first expeditionary military unit established by the newly formed Common ...

. In 1901 he became a founding member of the new

, and in 1906 was the first Australian officer to attend the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

staff college. In 1912 he returned to Australia and became Director of Military Operations, at a time when

Andrew Fisher Andrew Fisher (29 August 186222 October 1928) was an Australian politician who served three terms as prime minister of Australia – from 1908 to 1909, from 1910 to 1913, and from 1914 to 1915. He was the leader of the Australian Labor Party ...

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

government was expanding Australia's defence capacity.

First World War

When the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out in August 1914, White supervised the first contingents of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) to go the front. At Gallipoli, he was chief of staff to

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Sir William Bridges and then to

William Birdwood Field Marshal William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, (13 September 1865 – 17 May 1951) was a British Army officer. He saw active service in the Second Boer War on the staff of Lord Kitchener. He saw action again in the First World War ...

, gaining the rank of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

. After the evacuation from Gallipoli which he masterminded as "The Silence Ruse", he was Brigadier General, General Staff of

I ANZAC Corps The I ANZAC Corps (First Anzac Corps) was a combined Australian and New Zealand army corps that served during World War I. It was formed in Egypt in February 1916 as part of the reorganisation and expansion of the Australian Imperial Force and ...

in France. In the battle for the Pozières Heights in late July 1916 which ended in failure, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front,

Sir Douglas Haig, found fault with Birdwood and White. White stood up to Haig and pointed out that whatever mistakes had been made, the commander-in-chief had been misinformed in several particulars, which White then specified "in detail, item by item". Haig was so impressed that when he had finished he placed his hand on White's shoulder claiming, "I dare say you're right, young man." During 1917 the value of the Australian troops was being more and more appreciated, but among the troops themselves there was some feeling that they were being too often sacrificed through the mistakes of the higher command. By September White had become convinced that as far as possible piecemeal operations must be avoided, that too great advances should not be attempted, and that there must be a proper use of artillery barrage. These tactics were successfully applied in the Battle of Menin Road on 20 September 1917, and in later thrusts. Early in 1918, White, realizing the difficulties of repatriation at the end of the war, raised the problem of what would have to be done while the men were waiting for shipping. This led to the educational scheme afterwards adopted. In May, Birdwood and White, at the request of General Sir Henry Rawlinson, commander of the British Fourth Army, prepared plans for an offensive but these were shelved in the meanwhile. When Birdwood was given command of the

British Fifth Army The Fifth Army was a field army of the British Army during World War I that formed part of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front between 1916 and 1918. The army originated as the Reserve Corps during the preparations for the Brit ...

, the choice of his successor in command of the

Australian Corps The Australian Corps was a World War I army corps that contained all five Australian infantry divisions serving on the Western Front. It was the largest corps fielded by the British Empire in France. At its peak the Australian Corps numbered 10 ...

lay between Monash and White. Monash was White's senior and, though White's reputation stood very high, it was impossible to pass over so capable and successful an officer as Monash. White was given the important position of Major General, General Staff of Birdwood's army. It was a happy combination, for, though Birdwood was a great leader, he was less interested in organization, and White had a genius for it.

Between the wars

After the war White was appointed

from 1920 until his retirement in 1923. In the same year he was appointed Chairman of the newly constituted Commonwealth Public Service Board, supervising the transfer of departments from Melbourne to the new capital, Canberra. In 1928 he chose not to move to Canberra, declining a further term with the Public Service Board in order to remain close to his home and grazing property "Woodnaggerak" near Buangor, Victoria.

Second World War and death

In 1940, as Australia mobilised the

Second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the name given to the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initia ...

to take part in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, White was recalled to service at the age of 63, promoted to

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

, and re-appointed Chief of the General Staff. The appointment was short-lived, as White was aboard the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

plane that crashed in the Canberra air disaster on 13 August 1940, killing all aboard. Monash described him as "far and away the ablest soldier Australia had ever turned out".

Notes

References

* Derham, Rosemary, "The Silence Ruse", Cliffe Books 1998, *
General Cyril Brudenell Bingham White, KCB, KCMG, KCVO, DSO
Biography at the Australian War Memorial

External links

AIF Project database record
* {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Brudenell 1876 births 1940 deaths Accidental deaths in the Australian Capital Territory Australian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Australian generals Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Australian Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Australian military personnel killed in World War II Australian military personnel of the Second Boer War Australian military personnel of World War I Australian public servants Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley People from St Arnaud Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Australia Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1940 Australian Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from Victoria (Australia) Chiefs of Army (Australia)