Geoffrey White was born in Bromley in Kent on 2 July 1886, the son of William Henry and Alice White. He joined the Royal Navy in May 1901.

He joined submarines as a Lieutenant in January 1909 and, in May 1909, was appointed to HMS B7 as First Lieutenant. His first command appointment followed, in July 1911, with an appointment to HMS A4. Command of C27 followed, after which, in April 1914, he went to the battleship HMS MONARCH for his ‘big ship time’.

White returned to submarines in 1915 and took command of HMS D6 in May 1916 and then of HMS E14 in August 1916. In January 1918, E14 was transferred from Corfu to the Dardanelles, in an attempt to locate and sink the Turkish (ex-German) battlecruiser GOEBEN. The subsequent action earned White the Victoria Cross posthumously. His citation reads:

For most conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty as Commanding Officer of H.M. Submarine “E 14” on the 28th of January, 1918.

“E 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 “E 14” turned back. At about 8.45 a.m. on 28 January a torpedo was fired from “E 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. “E 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, “E 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.

This was the fourth submarine Victoria Cross of the First World War in the Dardanelles area and the second Victoria Cross for Commanding Officers of E14. Geoffrey White is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial on Panel 28.