Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 137 William A. White 1874 - 1936 Born in Virginia to former slaves, William A. White came to Nova Scotia in 1899 to study at Acadia University. After graduating, he became a minister at Zion Baptist Church in Truro. Prior to joining the No. 2 Construction Battalion at Truro in 1917, White was an active voice against racial discrimination in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was a trail blazer. During the Great War, he was one of the few Black officers in the Canadian Army, and its only Black Chaplain. White returned to Halifax after the war, where he became the pastor of Cornwallis Street Baptist Church. He died of cancer in 1936. White is remembered fondly within the African Nova Scotian community as an inspirational and dedicated figure in the fight for racial tolerance and equality. Joseph White 1897 - 1925 Joseph Leonard Maries White was born in Halifax and grew up in the Old Town Clock on Citadel Hill, in which his father was the caretaker. His father, William “Gunner” White, served in the Royal Artillery before joining the Halifax police. A student at Dalhousie University, the 18-year-old White enlisted with the Canadian Machine Gun Corps. Injured in battle, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps and had a decorated career in the world’s first air war. This ace fighter pilot was honoured for his “bravery and dash in action,” downing at least 22 enemy aircraft. White retired as a Captain in No. 65 Squadron. Tragically, as a member of the newly-formed Royal Canadian Air Force he died in a mid-air collision in 1925. Image: White Family Image: Norman Franks continued ... continued ...
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