Sir Thomas Walter White, was an Australian politician and pilot in the First World War. In 1914 he became one of the first airmen trained for the Australian Flying Corps (AFC), and the following year he was among the first AFC members to see action when he was deployed to the Middle East with the Mesopotamian Half Flight. After carrying out several missions behind Turkish lines, he was captured in November 1915 but escaped in July 1918. White was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and twice mentioned in despatches for his war service. He married Vera Deakin, a Red Cross worker and daughter of former Australian prime minister Alfred Deakin, in 1920.

Vera Deakin White, also known as Lady White, was an Australian humanitarian known for her long involvement with the Australian Red Cross. In 1915, aged 23, she established the Australian Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau to assist the families of soldiers. The bureau, initially based in Cairo and later in London, responded to thousands of requests for information during the First World War.