William Andrew White was born on 16 June 1874 in Virginia, USA. While his parents had been enslaved, William White was born and raised in the post-Civil War USA. He came to Canada in 1900, and received a degree in theology from Acadia University. By 1917, he was a Baptist Minister living in Truro, Nova Scotia with his wife, Izie Dora White. He enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 1 February 1917, enrolling as a Chaplain with the No. 2 Construction Battalion.
The No. 2 Construction Battalion was a segregated unit which had been stood up in July 1916. In this unit all of the enlisted men were Black, and all of the officers were white, except for Honorary Captain William White. Ignoring the honorary status attached to his rank (Chaplains were not considered commissioned officers at the time), Captain White was one of very few Black officers serving in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War.
Captain White deployed with the Battalion from Halifax, Nova Scotia on 25 March 1917, arriving in Liverpool, England on 8 April. He deployed with the Construction Battalion to France on 17 May. During the War, Captain White was “always concerned about his soldiers’ well-being.” (ref B) He presided over regular Sunday services, as well as military funerals.
Following the Armistice, Captain White returned to Bramshott, England on 14 December 1918, eventually being posted to Kinmel Park Camp to await the return to Canada. He arrived back in Canada on 12 January 1919. Captain White was discharged due to demobilization from the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 5 February 1919.
After the war, he returned to ministry in Canada and became the pastor of the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church. In the 1930s, he began monthly broadcasts of his church services which could be heard
in Canada and some of the Northern USA. He also established a program to raise funds to establish trade schools at Black churches.
William Andrew White passed away on 9 September 1936 at the age of 62. He is buried at Camp Hill Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is remembered as a leader of the Nova Scotia Black community.
Written by: Sean Maas-Stevens
Edited by: Christopher Mack
References:
A. https://central.bac-lac.canada.ca/.item/?op=pdf&app=CEF&id=B10307-S029
B. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/william-a-white
C. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/185765831/william-andrew-white
D. https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=fonandcol&IdNumber=2004976&q=number%202%20construction%20battalion%20war%20diary&ecopy=e001476563
E. https://valourcanada.ca/military-history-library/rev-william-white/