George Christopher White Able Seaman HMS Whirlwind (D30), Royal Navy Service Number: C/SS 8126 Date of Birth: May 10, 1900 Place of Birth: West Ham, London, England Enlistment: June 15, 1939 (Chatham, England) Date of Death: July 5, 1940 Age: 40 Memorial: Chatham Naval Memorial, England, United Kingdom Reference: 36, 2 George was the son of William Henry White (b. 1874) and Minnie Emma (Sanders) White (b. 1876), and the husband of Ada Eliza (Chapman) White (1899-1990), of Melville Cove, Halifax Co., Nova Scotia. George served at sea with the Royal Navy during the First World War, serving from May 15, 1918, until May 15, 1923. He served on HMS Centurion, a King George V-class dreadnought battleship, the Ceres (D59), a C-class light cruiser, and HMS Hecla, a destroyer depot ship. He began and ended his WWI service at HMS Pembroke, the naval shore establishment (barracks) in Chatham, England. George and Ada were married June 5, 1926, at Christ Church in South Hackney in London, England. In the Second World War, George was killed July 5, 1940, when HMS Whirlwind was sunk by German submarine U-34 in the North Atlantic Ocean southwest of Ireland. At 1826 hours on July 5, 1940, HMS Whirlwind (D 30) was hit underneath the bridge by one G7e torpedo from U-34 about 120 miles west of Land’s End. The U-boat had spotted the destroyer at 1530 hours and missed her with two torpedoes at 1713 hours. The ship immediately lost her forepart while the rest remained afloat and was later scuttled by HMS Westcott (D 47) after picking up the survivors. 56 crew members were lost, and one died of wounds the following day. Commonwealth War Graves Commission