Private Jack White V.C.

Jack White was a true English gentleman and military hero. He was also a founding father of the Manchester factory that now manufactures in his name.

Born in Leeds in 1896, he was only 18 years old when he signed up to the King’s Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster). He was deployed to Gallipoli where he endured fierce fighting in the failed Anglo-French effort to capture Constantinople. The unit was then ordered to assist in the relief of British forces under siege in the town of Kut, a few hundred miles south of Baghdad.

During this effort, the unit attempted to cross the Dialah River, but within minutes came under attack from heavy gunfire with disastrous results. Being the only one neither injured or dead, Private Jack White V.C spun into action tying a telephone wire to his boat, jumping overboard and towing it back to shore. Not only did he save the lives of some of his countryman he also saved valuable pieces of equipment.

On 27 June 1917, Private Jack White V.C. was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious honour that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Private Jack White continued in active service until the end of the war, when he returned to Manchester and began an apprenticeship as a trainee pattern cutter in the local factory. He went on to become General Manager and then Owner before fading health forced him to relinquish his interest and he passed away in 1949 aged 52.

Little could he have realised that one day, the very same factory he had worked in all those years ago would now, under the watchful eye and stewardship of his great-grandchildren, be manufacturing a line of carefully crafted garments, inspired by the heroics and military style of himself, Private Jack White V.C.