John Francis Murray White was killed in a Comet* disaster on 8th April, 1954, at the age of 33.
He received his professional training at the Royal School of Mines from 1938 to 1941, gaining a first class Associateship and the B.Sc. degree in mining engineering.
From July to December, 1941, he was employed by John Cochrane and Sons, Ltd., as a surveyor, leaving to join the Royal Air Force as radar navigator. He was taken prisoner in May, 1944, and remained in captivity in Germany until May, 1945. He was demobilized with the rank of flight lieutenant in December, 1945.
Mr. White joined the staff of Roan Antelope Copper Mines, Ltd., in January, 1946, as a junior engineer, working in the sampling, surveying and ventilation departments. In February, 1948, he took up the position of staff surveyor and geologist to the African Land Utilisation and Settlement Board, Nairobi, leaving six months later on his appointment as assistant to the office engineer, Selection Trust, Ltd., London.
He remained at the London office until early in 1953 when he went to Canada as a member of the engineering staff of Selection Trust. He also visited their concerns in South Africa, and at the time of his death was a passenger in the air liner which crashed on the way to Johannesburg.
Mr. White was elected a Student of the Institution in 1940, and was transferred to Associate Membership in 1949.
Vol. 63, Trans IMM 1953-54, p.572
* A de Havilland Comet 1, operating South African Airways Flight 201 from London & Rome to Cairo and Johannesburg, disintegrated in mid-air over the Mediterranean Sea near Naples following fatigue failure, killing all 14 passengers and seven crew.
