Jack White was born Jacob Weiss in Leeds on 23 December 1896 into an immigrant Russian Jewish family. After finishing his education, he joined the family business, a waterproofing company.
When the First World War broke out, he returned home from a business trip and volunteered for active service with the King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster). Originally assigned to a battalion destined for France, he was transferred to the 6th (Service) Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) on the death of his father.
The 6th Battalion was attached to the 13th Western Division. Originally ordered to Gallipoli, he remained with the battalion through the Gallipoli campaign. Eventually, he and his unit were ordered to join the Tigris Corps, attempting to relieve the Siege of Kut. After the failure of the relief effort, White's unit participated in the counter-offensive in 1917 He was aged just 20 and a Private when, on 7/8 March 1917 on the Diyala River, Mesopotamia, the following deed took place for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross:
"For most conspicuous bravery and resource. This signaller, during an attempt to cross a river, saw the two pontoons ahead of him come under heavy machine-gun fire, with disastrous results. When his own pontoon had reached midstream, with every man except himself either dead or wounded, finding that he was unable to control the pontoon, Pte White promptly tied a telephone wire to the pontoon, jumped overboard, and towed it to the shore, thereby saving an officer's life and bringing to land the rifles and equipment of the other men in the boat, who were either dead or dying."
After his service, White returned to Broughton and undertook an apprenticeship as a trainee pattern cutter in a local factory. He went on to become General Manager and then owner before fading health forced him to relinquish his interest and he died on 27 November 1949 aged 52. He was buried in Blackley Jewish Cemetery.