Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Charles Stewart White
In memory of:
Pilot Officer Charles Stewart White
September 26, 1941
Military Service
J/5330
26
Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
115 Sqdn.
Additional Information
Charles Stewart White was born in Granton, Ontario on 2 May 1915 and moved to St Marys as a young boy with his parents. Son of Charles William and Mary Bessie White, of St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. He was survived by his brother, Leading Aircraftman Carmen Cred White of London and four sisters, Margaret, Linda, Dorine and Pearl Hicks. An enthusiastic militiaman, he joined the Perth Regiment in 1929 at the age of 14. Educated in St Marys, Stewart White was the manager of the St Marys Golf Club when war broke out in 1939. Stewart White was enrolled at London in the RCAF on 23 September 1940. He took his basic training at 2 Manning Depot in Brandon, Manitoba and ground school at 2 Initial Training School in Regina. He then went on to 12 Elementary Flying Training School at Goderich on 3 January 1941 and then 1 Service Flying Training School at Camp Borden on 5 March 1941. Promoted Sergeant 16 May and Pilot Officer the following day, he was sent overseas on 29 May 1941. On arrival in England, Pilot Officer white was immediately sent to an Operational Training Unit where he joined up with his crew and took advanced training on Wellington bombers. On completion of this training, he and his crew were posted to 115 (Bomber) Squadron Royal Air Force. On 25 September 1941, Pilot Officer White and his crew were sent on their first bombing mission to the port of Emden in northern Germany. In the early hours of 26 September 1941, radio operators in England picked up a faint transmission from Pilot Officer White's aircraft reporting one engine on fire. It is thought that the radio signal originated near the Dutch island of Terschilling.
Commemorated on Page 48 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.
Burial Information
RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL
Surrey, United Kingdom
Panel 60.
During the Second World War more than 116,000 men and women of the Air Forces of the British Commonwealth gave their lives in service. More than 17,000 of these were members of the Royal Canadian Air Force, or Canadians serving with the Royal Air Force. Approximately one-third of all who died have no known grave. Of these, 20,450 are commemorated by name on the Runnymede Memorial, which is situated at Englefield Green, near Egham, 32 kilometers by road west of London.
The design of the Runnymede Memorial is original and striking. On the crest of Cooper's Hill, overlooking the Thames, a square tower dominates a cloister, in the centre of which rests the Stone of Remembrance. The cloistered walks terminate in two lookouts, one facing towards Windsor, and the other towards London Airport at Heathrow. The names of the dead are inscribed on the stone reveals of the narrow windows in the cloisters and the lookouts. They include those of 3,050 Canadian airmen. Above the three-arched entrance to the cloister is a great stone eagle with the Royal Air Force motto, Per Ardua ad Astra". On each side is the inscription:
IN THIS CLOISTER ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF TWENTY THOUSAND AIRMEN WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE. THEY DIED FOR FREEDOM IN RAID AND SORTIE OVER THE BRITISH ISLES AND THE LANDS AND SEAS OF NORTHERN AND WESTERN EUROPE
In the tower a vaulted shrine, which provides a quiet place for contemplation, contains illuminated verses by Paul H. Scott."
Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Digital Collection
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Details
Memorial – Pilot Officer Charles Stewart White is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
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Memorial – Pilot Officer Charles Stewart White is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
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Memorial – Father J P Lardie's comments as inscribed on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
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