GeneralSir Cyril Brudenell Bingham White, KCB, KCMG, KCVO, DSO (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 who served as Chief of the General Staff from 1920 to 1923 and again from March to August 1940, when he was killed in the Canberra air disaster.[1]
Early life and career
Group portrait of officers at the Staff College at Camberley in 1906. White, then a lieutenant, is in the back row, third from the left.
White was born in St Arnaud, Victoria, on 23 September 1876. He joined the colonial militia force in Queensland in 1896, and served in the Second Boer War with the Australian Commonwealth Horse.[2] In 1901 he became a founding member of the new Australian Army, and in 1906 was the first Australian officer to attend the British staff college. In 1912 he returned to Australia and became Director of Military Operations, at a time when Andrew Fisher's Labor government was expanding Australia's defence capacity.
During the operations near Gaba Tepe on 25th April 1915, and subsequently for his distinguished service in co-ordinating staff work, and in reorganisation after the inevitable dislocation and confusion arising from the first landing operations. He displayed exceptional ability.[4]
After the early 1916 evacuation from Gallipoli which he masterminded as "The Silence Ruse", he was Brigadier General, General Staff (BGGS) of I ANZAC Corps in France, arriving there late in March.[1] 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, GeneralSir 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".[1] 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."[1]
Group portrait of 1st Division staff officers at Mena Camp, December 1914. White, then a lieutenant colonel, is in the front row, fourth from the left.
White was promoted to the temporary rank of major general in January 1917.[1] The difficult year of 1917 saw the value of the Australian troops becoming 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.
Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig with his army commanders and their chiefs of staff, November 1918. Major General White is third from left in the back row.
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 choice of his successor in command of the Australian Corps lay between John 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 Chief of the General Staff 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 to take part in the Second World War, White, although doubting himself and believing himself to be "out of date", was nevertheless recalled to service at the age of 63, promoted to general, and re-appointed Chief of the General Staff, after his predecessor, Lieutenant General Ernest Squires, had died in office. Among his first acts in his new position was to recommend Lieutenant General Thomas Blamey to command the Second AIF.[1] In April he urged for Blamey and the 7th Division to join the 6th Division, which was already overseas. In the next few weeks, while the Battle of France was well underway, he recommended that the Second AIF be sent to assist the Allies on the Western Front. "Meanwhile, he grappled with the problems of training and munitions supply".[1]
The length of White's appointment was destined to be short-lived, as the new CGS was aboard the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) plane that crashed in the Canberra air disaster on 13 August 1940, killing all aboard, which included three Federal ministers. "After a service at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, with state and military honours, White was buried in Buangor cemetery. His wife, two daughters and two sons survived him; his estate was sworn for probate at £20,699".[1]
White was highly regarded by many of his generation, with Monash in particular describing him as "far and away the ablest soldier Australia had ever turned out".[5]
Derham, Rosemary, "The Silence Ruse", Cliffe Books 1998, ISBN0-9585369-1-0
Dennis, Peter; et al. (2008). The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History (Second ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press Australia & New Zealand. ISBN978-0-19-551784-2.
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