
Charles Basil Price, CB, DSO, DCM, VD, CD
Born December 12, 1890. Died February 15, 1975.
Lived at 64 Forden Crescent, Westmount, QC.
Major-General Charles Basil Price (1889-1975) was a highly distinguished Canadian soldier, affectionately known as the “Father of the R.M.R.”. His military career began in 1905 with the Victoria Rifles, and at the outbreak of World War I, he joined the 14th Battalion CEF. Price famously exemplified selflessness by voluntarily stepping down from Sergeant-Major to Colour-Sergeant, allowing a more experienced regular soldier, J.M. Stephenson, to assume the Regimental Sergeant-Major role.
His wartime valor was recognized with the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) in April 1915 for a courageous night patrol in Belgium, shortly after which he was commissioned as a Lieutenant. Price was wounded three times during the war, steadily rising through the ranks to Major and Second-in-Command. He earned the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his gallant leadership during the critical Canal du Nord operations in September 1918, where he commanded the Battalion despite being wounded for a third time.
After the war, Price became the first peacetime Commanding Officer of The Royal Montreal Regiment (1920-1924), a position he held again from 1927-1929. He was instrumental in securing the RMR’s armoury in Westmount, serving as Secretary of the “Armoury Association”. This association, under the leadership of Honorary Colonel Brig.-General W. O. H. Dodds and Lieutenant-Colonel Price, initiated a campaign to secure an armoury, which resulted in the City of Westmount leasing land on St. Catherine Street for 99 years at an annual rental of $1.00. The completed building was formally opened on December 28, 1925. As a civilian, he became managing director of Elmhurst Dairy. In January 1931 he became an alderman in Westmount.
At the start of World War II he was a Brigadier General and led the 3rd Brigade overseas in 1939 at the outbreak of war. He was later promoted to Major-General, commanding the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, and upon retiring from military service in 1943 he served as the Overseas Commissioner for the Canadian Red Cross Society for the duration of the war.
Price was later appointed Honorary Colonel of The Royal Montreal Regiment on August 6, 1943, a charge he did not relinquish until December 31, 1957. In this capacity, he received distinguished visitors like Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein and the Governor General of Canada, Viscount Alexander of Tunis, at the Armoury.
His extensive service was further recognized with the Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) and the Canadian Forces Decoration (CD). He also served as Dominion President of the Canadian Legion in the 1950s. Price’s legacy within the RMR is honored by a dedicated memorial plaque and the “Price Badge,” worn by the current Regimental Sergeant-Major.