The Last British Empire Casualty: George Lawrence Price, November 11, 1918, 10.58 am

[Northern_Piper]

George Price was a Canadian farm boy, originally from Nova Scotia, who moved west and settled in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

In 1917 he was conscripted into the 28th Battalion, nicknamed the Nor’Westers.

On November 11, he was part of a small group pushing into the area around Mons. They were aware of the upcoming Armistice.

Their advance flanked a small group of Germans, who appeared to have been preparing a building as a strong point. The Germans retreated.

Price stepped out of the building and was shot in the chest by a sniper.

He died at 10.58 am, two minutes short of the Armistice coming into effect.

He is buried in the same cemetery as the first British soldier who was killed, in August 1914, as well as the last British soldier killed in the War, shortly before Price was killed.

Price was 25 years old.

God rest their souls.

[Kropotkin]

As you note, Price didn’t volunteer, though he could have in the preceding years of the war. He was conscripted after serving a short sentence for stealing some belongings from his landlady, claiming she owed him money, which she may well have. He offered to “volunteer” to avoid a prison sentence. The judge refused, and when he got out, Price was conscripted and sent off to fight and die. If he hadn’t been nabbed for the theft, he would likely have continued to avoid military service and lived to a ripe old age. Bad luck for him.