WHAT AN INCREDIBLE STORY:

On 7 March 1917, in Mesopotamia, now Iraq, Private Jack White of the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment was mid-river under heavy fire. His pontoon was riddled with bullets. By the time it reached the Diyala’s centre, he was the only man left unwounded. With the boat drifting towards enemy fire, he seized a copper telephone wire, tied it around himself, and plunged into the water, towing the wounded and their weapons to safety. 

For this act of bravery, Jack White received the Victoria Cross, the highest honour for gallantry in the British Army. That moment of courage became the foundation of everything we stand for. Today, we call it Copper & Courage.

After the war, Jack returned to Manchester. He began an apprenticeship as a pattern cutter in his local raincoat factory, rising to general manager and later sole owner.

By the 1930s, the soldier who had once crossed a river under fire now commanded one of the city’s great coat makers.

Though he died young, his values endured: resilience, integrity, and a belief in doing things the right way, not the easy way.