Edward Charles White (1883–1962) was an Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer in formative years of the

New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

and an Australian Imperial Forces officer who saw active service in the

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

and the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Rugby league career

Born in Paddington on 8 May 1883, Eddie White was a with Eastern Suburbs. White played thirty-five matches for the Eastern Suburbs club in the years (1911–13). White was a member of Eastern Suburbs first premiership winning team of

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

who beat

Glebe A glebe (, also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s)) is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved to the church. ...

in a premiership decider. He was a squad member of the sides that took out the RAS shield winning the

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

and

1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...

competitions on a points basis at the end of those regular seasons. Eddie was the Eastern Suburbs club's 53rd player and the older brother of teammate Percy White. His father John White was an early president of the Eastern Suburbs club. White was a New South Wales state representative in rugby league. In his only appearance he scored two tries in a 1912 interstate match against

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

War service

White was already a veteran of the Boer War, when he enlisted for the First World War at age 32 in 1916. He was enlisted as a 2nd lieutenant with the 1st Division Engineers of the

AIF AIF, A.I.F., AiF or aif may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Argumenty i Fakty'' (AiF), a Russian newspaper * Australians in Film (AiF), a Los Angeles-based organisation for the promotion of Australian actors and filmmakers * Aspen Ideas ...

. On 31 October 1917 he embarked from Sydney on board HMAT A14 ''Euripedes'' with the July 1917 reinforcements. He survived the war and was a lieutenant at the time of his demobilisation in 1919. He rose to rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, at HQ Eastern Command Engineers Serve Branch. He was discharged in 1943.

Death

A builder and architect during his working life, Eddie White died at

Saratoga, New South Wales Saratoga is a residential south-eastern village and List of Central Coast suburbs, suburb of the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, located on a peninsula of Brisbane Water and part of the Local ...

on 4 March 1962, age 78. His Death Notice listed him as being a veteran of the Boer War and 1st & 2nd A.I.F. He was cremated at Woronora Cematorium, Sutherland, on 7 March 1962.Sydney Morning Herald ''Death and Funeral Notice'' 05/03/1962 (page 20)

References

Footnotes

Published sources

* Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney *E E Christensen's Rugby League Yearbook {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Eddie Australian rugby league players Sydney Roosters players Year of birth unknown 1883 births 1962 deaths Rugby league players from Sydney Australian military personnel of the Second Boer War Australian military personnel of World War I Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army officers New South Wales rugby league team players Glebe rugby league players Rugby league centres Rugby league wingers 20th-century Australian sportsmen