Percy Rowett White (1888–1918) was an Australian pioneer

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

player. He played in the

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

competition at the time of the code's Australian foundation in 1908, and won a premiership with

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

club in 1912. He later served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and was killed by artillery fire in France in 1918.

Rugby League career

Born in the inner-city Sydney suburb of

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

, White played 89 matches for the

club between 1908 and 1916. He played as a prop forward in East's 14-12 loss to South Sydney in rugby league's first premiership decider in season 1908. He was a squad member of the Easts sides who won premierships in

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

and

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...

, as well as the

City Cup The City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912–1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959. The inaugural city cup was contested ...

-winning sides of 1914, 1915 and 1916. White is recognised as Eastern Suburbs' 23rd player; his teammate Eddie White was his brother, while his father, John White, was one of the club's earliest presidents.

War service and death

White was one of many Australians to serve on the Western Front during the World War I. He was a driver with the 29th Company Australian Army Service Corps, whose base was in the Belgian town of

Loker Loker (also spelt ''Locre'' ) is a small village in the Belgian province of West Flanders, and a part (" deelgemeente") of the municipality of Heuvelland. For the major part of World War I, the city was controlled by the Allied Powers. A field ...

. He was aged 30 when he was hit by an artillery shell at an unknown location in 1918. He died of his wounds on 24 April 1918 at

Villers-Bretonneux Villers-Bretonneux () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Villers-Bretonneux is situated some 19 km due east of Amiens, on the D1029 road and the A29 motorway. Villers-Bretonneux border ...

in northern France. The following article appeared in the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'' under the heading of "War Casualties" on 8 May 1918: White is buried at

Daours Daours () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Daours is situated on the D1 road, on the banks of the river Somme, some east of Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a c ...

Communal Cemetery Extension in France. His name is commemorated on panel 181 in the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving pe ...

.Commemoration detail
Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 27 July 2013.

References

Bibliography

* * Whiticker, Alan and Hudson, Glen (2006). ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players''. Sydney: Gavin Allen Publishing. {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Percy Australian rugby league players Sydney Roosters players Australian military personnel killed in World War I 1918 deaths 1888 births Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league props Date of birth missing Date of death missing