Private George Lawrence Price (Regimental Number: 256265) (15 December 1892 – 11 November 1918) was a Canadian soldier who is traditionally recognized as being the last Commonwealth soldier killed during the First World War.
Early life
He was born in Falmouth, Nova Scotia on December 15, 1892, and raised on Church Street (in what is now Port Williams, Nova Scotia). He lived in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan when he was conscripted on the 15th of October 1917. He served with "A" Company of the 28th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force.
11 November 1918
On 11 November, Price was part of an advance to take the small village of Havré. After an unauthorized crossing of the Canal du Centre into the town of Ville-sur-Haine under German machine gun fire, Pte. Price and his patrol moved toward a row of houses intent on pursuing the machine gunner who had harassed their crossing of the canal. The patrol had entered the house they had thought the shooting had come from, but found the Germans had exited through the back door as they entered the front. They then pursued into the house next door and again found it empty. George Price was fatally shot in the region of his heart by a German sniper as he stepped out of the house into the street, against contrary advice from a house occupant, at 10:58 a.m., November 11, 1918, and died just 2 minutes before the armistice ceasefire that ended the war went into effect at 11:00 a.m.
Memorials
Grave
He is buried in the St Symphorien military cemetery, just southwest of Mons. Coincidentally, St. Sympohorien is also the final resting place of John Parr the first British soldier killed during the Great War.
Memorial Plaque & Marker
In 1968, on the 50th anniversary of his death and the armistice surviving members of his company traveled to Ville-sur-Haine and a memorial plaque was placed onto a wall of a house near the location of his death. It read:
To the memory of Private George Lawrence Price 256265 of the 28th North West Battalion, 6th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 2nd Canadian Division, killed in action near this spot at 10.58 hours, November 11, 1918, the last Canadian soldier to die on the Western Front in the First World War. Erected by his comrades, November 11, 1968.
The house has since been torn down, but the plaque has been placed on a brick and stone monument near the site where the house originally stood, and thus still near the place where he fell.
Bridge
In 1991, the town of Ville-sur-Haine erected a new footbridge across the adjacent canal. A public plebiscite was held and the footbridge was officially named the Price Bridge.
Other
References
- ^ www.webmatters.net First World War site
- ^ Bridger, Goef (2009). The Great War Handbook . Barnsley: Pen & Sword. pp. 182. ISBN 978 1 84415 936 9.
- ^ "November 11, 1918 - The Last Hours, The Last Man". www.nwbattalion.com . http://www.nwbattalion.com/last.html . Retrieved 2008-11-02 .
- ^ (November 11, 1918 - The Last Hours, The Last Man
See also
- George Price's story has been researched and is the topic of a 2003 screenplay (Remembrance: Dr Michael Moss) and a documentary film (First and Last: Director: Matt Gallagher).
- Augustin Trébuchon, last French soldier killed in World War I, 10:45 a.m. 11 November 1918
- George Lawrence Price on Find A Grave
- Private George Lawrence Price, Last Man Killed in WWI
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission article on his grave.
- Wikimapia image of Pte. Price's monument &
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