WHITE, Joseph L.M. RCAF, CAF, RFC, CMG
WHITE, Lieutenant Joseph Leonard Maries (6 January 1897 – 24 February 1925), DFC*, CdeG(F)
Born in Halifax, he started his military career with the Canadian Machine Gun Corp in August of 1915. He was seconded to the RFC 22 Sept, 1917. The first photo is of interest as it shows him with combination M.G. cap and collars but sporting an RFC wing. Current reports credit him with Victories ranging from 12 to 31, depending on what you read, but probably the number is 12 or 13; typing errors likely being the cause for the variance.
After WWI, he transferred to the new CAF and then to the RCAF. The 2nd photo was reportedly taken in August of 1924; 4 months after the formation of the RCAF, however, he is still wearing his CAF insignia. Capt. White was killed in a training accident at Camp Borden in early 1925.
This post is based on information and photos (which have been tweaked) which were included in a historical recognition poster type display I recently purchased for Capt. White. The display also had a substitute (not named to him) set of his medals illustrated here for the reader’s interest.
His DFC was gazetted only 2 months to the day after it was established by the RAF as an Official award and the bar, a mere 3 months after that. It may be of interest to some to note the earliest DFC's had horizontal stripes rather than the diagonal stripes introduced later in 1919. I assume the DFC is a replica medal.
Corrections or comments most welcome.
Cheers,
Wayne Logus
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