Career
Educated at Bradfield College, He was 31 years old, and a lieutenant-Commander in the Royal Navy during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the Venture capital.
On 28 January 1918 in the Dardanelles, Turkey, Lieutenant-Commander White, commanding British submarine East.14 was under instructions to find the German battlecruiser Goeben, which was reported to be aground. She was not found, however, and East.14 turned back. Then came the following sequence of events, for which White was posthumously awarded the Venture capital on 24 May 1919:
Admiralty, South.W., 24th May, 1919.
Lieutenant-Commander Geoffrey Saxton White, Registered Nurse
Foreign most conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty as Commanding Officer of Her Majesty Submarine "East 14" on the 28th of January, 1918.
"East 14" left Mudros on the 27th of January under instructions to force the Narrows and attack the "Goeben" which was reported aground off Nagara Point after being damaged during her sortie from the Dardanelles. The latter vessel was not found and "East 14" turned back.
At about 8.45 a.m. on 28 January a torpedo was fired from "East 14" at an enemy ship. 11 seconds after the torpedo left the tube a heavy explosion took place, caused all lights to go out, and sprang the fore hatch.
Leaking badly the boat was blown to 15 feet, and at once a heavy fire came from the forts, but the hull was not hit.
"East 14" then dived and proceeded on her way out. Soon afterwards the boat became out of control, and as the air supply was nearly exhausted, Lieutenant-Commander White decided to run the risk of proceeding on the surface. Heavy fire was immediately opened from both sides, and, after running the gauntlet for half-an-hour, being steered from below, "East 14" was so badly damaged that Lieutenant-Commander White turned towards the shore in order to give the crew a chance of being saved.
He remained on deck the whole time himself until he was killed by a shell.
White"s body was not recovered at the time, and he has no known grave. He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.