SENTENCED TO DEATH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21396, 20 October 1934, Page 2 (Supplement)

SENTENCED TO DEATH

MAN DODGES SINN FEIN DROP OVER HIGH WALL V.C. OF THE GREAT WAR A V.C. of the European War, who was afterwards captured by Sinn Feiners and condemned to death, was recently before the police court at Bromley.. Kent. Ho was Mr. William Alison White, aged 39, a company director, of Beckenham. He was charged with being drunk and incapable of taking care of himself the previous night. " I plead not guilty to being drunk, but guilty of not being able to look after myself," Mr. White said. The case was dismissed on payment of costs, the chairman, Mr. W. A. Waring, advising Mr. White to be very careful what he did in future. Mr. White described his experiences in Ireland when he met with the accident which brought on those " blank periods " at any time. He was in Ireland in 1919 and, after being in the thick of it as the commander of a mobile machine-gun unit, was sentenced to death—if he could be caught—by a Sinn Fein court. One day Mr. White was in a cul-de-sac and apparently surrounded. The only way of escape was over a high wall. He succeeded in scrambling to the top of it and found there was a. 20ft. drop on the other side. He jumped, i hoping for the best, and fell on his head; and though he succeeded in making his way over the mountains to safety, his injury has affected him ever since. As a lieutenant in the Machine-Gun. Corps Mr. White was awarded the V.C. in 1918 and received the decoration from

the King at Buckingham Palace on March 27, 1919. The London Gazette of November 15, 1918, stated that he was awarded the V.C. " for most conspicuous bravery and initiative in attack," and gave the following account of the incident: " When the advance of the infantry was being delayed by an enemy machinegun he rushed the gun position singlehanded, shot the three gunners and captured the gun. Later, in similar circumstances, he attacked a gun, accompanied by two men, but both of the latter were immediately shot down. He went on alone to the gun position and bayoneted or shot the team of five'men and captured the gun. " On a third occasion, when the advance was held up by hostile fire from an enemy position, he collected a small party and rushed the position, inflicting heavy losses on the garrison. " Subsequently, in consolidating the position, by the skilful use of captured enemy and his own machine-guns, ha inflicted severe casualties on the enemy. His example of fearless and unhesitating devotion to duty under circumstances of great personal danger greatly inspired the neighbouring troops and his action had a marked effect on the operations."