Charles Basil Price

Major-General Charles Basil Price was a Canadian Army officer who served in both of the world wars.

Early life

He joined the Victoria Rifles of Canada in 1905 and received an officer's commission in 1914. Soon after, he responded to the outbreak of World War I by resigning his commission to join the Royal Montreal Regiment as a company sergeant-major. He became a commissioned officer again through a series of promotions.

As a major in the Royal Montreal Regiment, he received the Distinguished Service Order and the Distinguished Conduct Medal. The citation for his DSO, awarded for his actions during Canada's Hundred Days, reads:
He married Marjorie Trenholme on 23 August 1915. The couple raised six children: Marjorie, Lyall, Helen, Ann, Isabel, and John. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and took command of the Royal Montreal Regiment until his retirement on 31 December 1929. As a civilian, he became managing director of Elmhurst Dairy. In January 1931 he became an alderman in Westmount.
In 1939 he was President of the Brome Lake Boating Club at Knowlton, Quebec.

He re-enlisted and was posted to the United Kingdom. As a major-general, he commanded the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division from 14 March 1941 until 7 September 1942, when he became the Overseas Commissioner of the Canadian Red Cross Society. In that post, which he held until the war ended, he strove to ensure that all Allied prisoners of war received equal benefits, including one large Red Cross parcel per month containing the best food available. In 1944 he joined John Bracken's team as the Progressive Conservative candidate in Saint-Antoine—Westmount, and lost to the Liberal incumbent Douglas Charles Abbott by just 60 votes in the 1945 federal election. Later he retired and moved to Knowlton.