- page -
http://www.cdu.edu.au/cdupress
Go Back >> List of Entries
Walker who later, as a Lieutenant, was responsible for purchasing horses in Katherine for the North Australia
Observer Unit.
Upon the outbreak of the Second World War White served with the rank of Major and in 1942 eagerly took the
opportunity of operational service with the North Australia Observer Unit that was then being raised. The 2/lst North
Australia Observer Unit (NAOU), AIF, was a ‘phantom’ unit of the Second Australian Imperial Force, specially
formed to deal with the immense problem of reconnaissance and surveillance across the north of Australia. It was
raised in the space of twelve weeks to watch for and report any enemy landings between Yampi Sound in Western
Australia and Normanton in Queensland.
Max White was recommended to W E H Stanner to be his Second-in-Command; as Stanner held the rank of
Major, White was required to revert to the rank of Captain to take this appointment, which he willingly did, being
appointed to the unit on 30 June 1942. Despite the approach of his 50th birthday, he soon proved himself to be a
father figure for the men, someone they would turn to for leadership and guidance. Former members of the NAOU
have described him as slow spoken, laconic, dedicated and unflappable, reliable in an emergency, the type to get
in and do a job without drawing attention to himself or seeking praise. It was recorded that White became one
of the most respected members of the unit. Lieutenant Alan Walker, who had served under White in the pre-war
24th Light Horse, referred to him affectionately in his correspondence as ‘old Max’. Theo (‘Tip’) Carty recalled,
‘he was always referred to as ‘Cappy’ White, even after he became Major again. It was not a case of disrespect;
it was affection and admiration’.
On 24 July 1942, White led a small advance party from Sydney to Katherine, via Adelaide, to select a site for
the NAOU’s Headquarters and to commence the construction of facilities, arriving there on 10 August. The site
chosen was to the west of Katherine along the road to Kununurra, near what is now the turnoff to the Low Level
Reserve; a little further west from the NAOU’s Headquarters was the site of the 121st Australian General Hospital,
now the site of Norwest Meats. White and Stanner then travelled widely across the NAOU’s Area of Operations to
site sub-unit headquarters and outposts. The maps of the region were so poor and lacking in detail that they often
had to send out patrols—on foot, on horseback and on improvised rafts—to explore the country and add to their
knowledge. As well as personally visiting his men in the field, White often led patrols himself; on one patrol in
1943 in the Gunn Point region close to the Vernon Islands, White and two Privates located an abandoned Japanese
receiving set near a smouldering fire, confirming reports of enemy activity in coastal areas.
Late in 1942, White shouldered the responsibility of developing the unit’s ability to act offensively, while
Stanner was under pressure to divide the unit into two independent companies. Although perhaps attracted by
the prospect of his own operational command, it is indicative of White’s loyalty to Stanner that they presented a
united front to the Deputy Chief of the General Staff to keep the NAOU intact. As the Japanese threat diminished,
Stanner was posted to Land Headquarters and consequently White, again attaining his Majority on 1 September
1943, was appointed Commanding Officer of the NAOU on 23 December 1943. Most of the men took leave prior
to being transferred to other units but some 206 volunteers stayed on with White. The Headquarters was moved
to Manton Dam, and Observation Posts were still manned under harsh conditions but only the occasional horse
patrol was deployed.
Stanner and White had hoped the NAOU would be sent to wage a guerilla campaign on Timor, but all suggestions
of overseas service were discounted by the Army and, as 1944 neared an end, Max White began closing down the
unit. The horses were sold and the donkeys shot, and men posted out. On 20 January 1945, the unit Headquarters
was shut down and the men then moved south to Wallgrove, west of Newcastle, New South Wales, to await the
disbanding of the unit. White himself left the NAOU on 27 March 1945 and within weeks, the North Australia
Observer Unit (with a final strength of 9 officers and 157 other ranks) was disbanded.
White retired to Glen Royal and died in the Moree District Hospital on 27 July 1966 at the age of 71 after
a lengthy illness. He was accorded full military honours at his funeral and an RSL service was conducted, with
members of Gravesend and Moree sub-branches in attendance. An obituary in the local paper remarked of White’s
AIF service in the Northern Territory: ‘It was during the years he served with the Second AIF that many district
men, to whom Max White had been no more than a retiring and quiet dispositioned man of the land, learnt to know
and appreciate him for the gentleman, good soldier and exemplary officer he was. Without exception, the men
who served under him regarded him as someone under whom they considered it a privilege to serve’. Stanner paid
him the highest compliment by referring to him as a ‘gallant, skilful soldier’ and remarking ‘he became my guide,
counsellor and older brother all in one when we were in the field’.
Defence Force Journal, 14: 15–30 (1979); NAOU War Diary, 1942–45 (NORFORCE Museum); Private G T Roddick, Unpublished NAOU
Diary (1943); A Vane, The Surveillance of Northern Australia, 1942; A Walker personal papers provided by Mrs J Hobbs and Mr B Walker;
R & H Walker, Curtin’s Cowboys, 1986; M White, personal papers provided by Mrs J Scholefield; L Wigmore, Australia in the War of
1939–45 Volume IV: The Japanese Thrust, 1968; personal correspondence and interviews with NAOU veterans including Captain T V Carty
(retd), B Hickingbottom, H Thomas, Dr A Vane and A Woodbury.
PAUL ROSENZWEIG, Vol 3.
WHITTAKER, AMY ISABEL: see CONWAY, AMY ISABEL
WHITTLE, HAROLD HERBERT (1885–1955), police officer, town and shire clerk, overseer of works, builder
of roads and bridges, was born on 11 February 1885 at Laura, an agricultural town in South Australia. Harold was
the child of Alexander J T Whittle and his wife Esther, nee Branford. A J T Whittle, father of Harold, served as a
Councillor when the Corporation of Laura was formed in 1882. An active townsman, he was Manager of Laura
Brewing Company at that time. Another municipal occupation was District Clerk of Snowtown from 1905 until