Draft:Roy Alexander Price
British Army officer and colonial forestry administrator (1916–2008)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Roy Alexander Price CBE MBE (13 September 1916 – 1 February 2008) was a British Royal Engineer, Colonial Service officer, and National Health Service administrator. He served with the 7th Armoured Division ("Desert Rats") during the Western Desert campaign of the Second World War, including a period with the Long Range Desert Group and participation in the airborne landings in Sicily and Italy, and earlier escaped the fall of France via Brest in 1940. After the war he joined the Colonial Service and spent over two decades in Sierra Leone, rising from Forest Engineer in the colonial Forest Department to General Manager of the Forest Industries Corporation in Kenema. He was present during Queen Elizabeth II's royal tour of Sierra Leone in 1961 and received the Queen's Award for Industrial Development in Sierra Leone in 1965. He was appointed MBE in the 1954 Birthday Honours and advanced to CBE in the 1967 Birthday Honours, both confirmed in the London Gazette. He subsequently served with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) before joining St Thomas' Hospital in London in 1970, where he rose to Director of Hotel & Supply Services. On retirement he was made a Freeman of the City of London.
 | Review waiting, please be patient.
This may take 2 months or more, since drafts are reviewed in no specific order. There are 4,280 pending submissions waiting for review.
Where to get help
How to improve a draft
You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Editor resources
Reviewer tools
|
Submission declined on 23 March 2026 by DoubleGrazing (talk). This draft's references do not show that the person meets Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion for people. The draft requires multiple published secondary sources that:
Where to get help
How to improve a draft
You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Editor resources
This draft has been resubmitted and is currently awaiting re-review. |  |
Roy Alexander Price | |
|---|---|
 Roy Alexander Price CBE MBE wearing his honours | |
| Born | 13 September 1916 London, England |
| Died | 1 February 2008 (aged 91) Ilford, Essex, England |
| Education | Cider Park High School; East Ham Technical College |
| Employer(s) | Colonial Service (1947–70); St Thomas' Hospital (1970–83) |
| Known for | General Manager, Forest Industries Corporation, Sierra Leone; Director of Hotel & Supply Services, St Thomas' Hospital |
| Spouse | Emily Jean Price |
| Children | 2 (Joanne; Robert) |
| Awards | CBE (1967) MBE (1954) Sierra Leone Independence Medal (1961) Queen's Award for Industrial Development (1965) Freeman of the City of London |
Early life
Roy Alexander Price was born on 13 September 1916 in London, England. He was educated at Cider Park Primary School and Cider Park High School, and later attended East Ham Technical College, where he developed the practical and mechanical aptitude that would define his career. On leaving school he began an apprenticeship as a cabinet maker with the Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS) at Enfield, completing his training in woodworking machinery, saw doctoring, and tool room work between 1933 and 1937. He then undertook two years of Royal Engineers military service before returning briefly to the CWS at Enfield following the war.
A keen motorcyclist in his youth, Price travelled to work by motorbike, a machine his parents regarded with considerable anxiety. Their concern proved justified when he crashed into a lamp post and had to sell the bike to pay for repairs.
Military service (1939–1946)
Price enlisted in the Royal Engineers on 4 September 1939, the day after Britain's declaration of war on Germany. He served in multiple theatres across six years, his rank fluctuating frequently between Sapper and Sergeant, a common occurrence in specialist units where men were promoted and remustered rapidly according to operational requirements.
France and the Brest evacuation (1939–40)
Price was deployed to France with the British Expeditionary Force in 1939–40. When the German offensive of May 1940 led to the collapse of Allied positions, he was among the troops who could not reach Dunkirk in time. He joined a group of soldiers who made for Brest on the Brittany coast, where they commandeered a fishing vessel. When it broke down at sea they were picked up by a Royal Navy destroyer and towed to safety.
London bomb disposal (1940)
Following his return from France, Price served for several months on bomb disposal duties in London in 1940, before being posted to North Africa later that year. Royal Engineers bomb disposal sections worked under extreme pressure and considerable personal danger to neutralise unexploded German bombs dropped across the capital.
Western Desert and the Desert Rats (1940–43)
Price was subsequently posted to North Africa, where he served with the 7th Armoured Division, the celebrated "Desert Rats", as part of the Eighth Army. He served across the Western Desert campaign from 1940 to 1943. For a period he served with the Long Range Desert Group, the specialist deep-penetration reconnaissance and raiding unit that operated far behind enemy lines across the Libyan desert. He also participated in the Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy in 1943, as the Allies pressed north from North Africa into the European mainland. It was during his North African service that he met and married Emily Jean, with whom he would have two children, Joanne and Robert.
Sicily, Italy and Palestine (1943–46)
Following the North African and Italian campaigns, Price served in Palestine from 1944 to 1946, where he was placed in charge of military sawmills and a woodworking unit at Beit Nabala, a role that put his pre-war woodworking skills to direct use. He was demobilised in 1946 and returned briefly to the Co-operative Wholesale Society at Enfield before applying to the Crown Agents for an overseas colonial posting.
Colonial Service in Sierra Leone (1947–1970)
After the war, Price applied to the Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administrations for a forestry posting overseas. He joined the Colonial Service in 1947 as a Forest Utilisation Engineer posted to West Africa, the beginning of a Sierra Leone career that would last over two decades and span the territory's transition from Crown Colony to independent republic.
Forest Department: Forest Engineer (1947–61)
Price arrived in Sierra Leone in 1947 as Production Manager in the Forest Industries Department, progressing through the positions of Forest Engineer, Utilisation Officer, and Works Manager. He held a First Class Certificate from the School of Military Engineering and a First Class Certificate in Wood Work Machinery, Sawmill Engineering, Saw Doctoring and Stores Control. The Forest Department's work covered the management and commercial use of Sierra Leone's tropical forests, including sawmills, joinery mills, timber logging, and the production of plywood and particle board. The Eastern Province, centred on Kenema, was the heart of this industry.
His service was recognised in the 1954 Birthday Honours, when he was appointed MBE, the London Gazette recording his position as "Forest Engineer, Forest Department, Sierra Leone."[1]
Forest Industries Corporation: General Manager (1961–70)
Following Sierra Leone's independence on 27 April 1961, Price received the Sierra Leone Independence Medal, awarded to those serving in Sierra Leone at independence on 27 April 1961. He was subsequently appointed General Manager of the Forest Industries Corporation, based in Kenema, Eastern Province, the state body charged with the commercial development of the new nation's timber resources. The Corporation employed over 1,000 people and was engaged across all branches of timber and wood-working industries.[2] As General Manager, Price oversaw the full operation: industrial production, marketing, staffing, labour relations, government liaison, and financial management.
Between 1959 and 1969, Price was also seconded to the Ministry of Overseas Development (Goods and Services Division) as General Manager of a State Corporation.
The Queen's Visit (1961) and Queen's Award for Industrial Development (1965)
In November and December 1961, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, undertook a royal tour of West Africa that included Sierra Leone shortly after its independence. Price, as a senior official in Sierra Leone's Forest Industries, was present during the visit, which the family recorded as a career highlight.
In 1965, Price received the Queen's Award for Industrial Development in Sierra Leone, a formal recognition of the Forest Industries Corporation's contribution to the economic development of the newly independent state under his leadership.
His service as General Manager was recognised in the 1967 Birthday Honours, when he was advanced to CBE, the London Gazette recording his position as "General Manager, Forest Industries Corporation, Kenema, Eastern Province."[3][4]
United Nations FAO (1969–70)
In 1969–70, Price served with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations on Special Overseas Projects, drawing on his long experience in tropical forestry. He left Sierra Leone permanently in 1970 to return to the United Kingdom.
St Thomas' Hospital (1970–1983)
Price joined St Thomas' Hospital, one of London's most historic teaching hospitals, situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite the Palace of Westminster, in July 1970 as Residence Manager. He was promoted in April 1975 to Assistant to the Director of Hotel & Supplies, and in December 1976 to the position of Director of Hotel & Supply Services, the senior management role responsible for all non-clinical supply, hospitality, and facilities operations. His curriculum vitae notes that there had been "not one day's sickness in thirteen years, three months", a record of exceptional dedication throughout his tenure. He held the designations F.I.W.M. (Fellow of the Institute of Works Managers) and F.E., C.F.A. (Forest Engineer, Colonial Forest Association).
On retirement, Price was appointed a Freeman of the City of London.
Honours and recognition
| Year | Award | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| 1954 | MBE (Civil Division) | "Forest Engineer, Forest Department, Sierra Leone"[5] |
| 1961 | Sierra Leone Independence Medal | Awarded at Sierra Leone's independence, 27 April 1961[6] |
| 1965 | Queen's Award for Industrial Development | Forest Industries Corporation, Sierra Leone |
| 1967 | CBE (Civil Division) | "General Manager, Forest Industries Corporation, Kenema, Eastern Province"[7] |
| c. 1983 | Freeman of the City of London | On retirement from St Thomas' Hospital |
Personal life
Roy Price married Emily Jean during his wartime service in North Africa, and they had two children, Joanne and Robert. The family home in later life was at Gants Hill, Ilford, Essex.
Beyond his professional life, Price was a man of considerable creative talent. He could draw, design, and build items of furniture and decorative carvings, and in his later years took up marquetry, the craft of creating decorative patterns from different wood veneers. He was also a keen cricketer and took an active interest in interior decoration.
In Sierra Leone, Price contributed beyond his professional role: he served as a member of the Board of Governors of Kenema Secondary School, a Committee Member of the Red Cross Society, President of the Kenema Sports Club, and a Committee Member of Kenema Children's Hospital.
Price died on 1 February 2008, aged 91. His Service of Thanksgiving was held at Forest Park Crematorium, Ilford, on 11 February 2008.
- Reliable sources include: reputable newspapers, magazines, academic journals, and books from respected publishers.
- Unacceptable sources include: personal blogs, social media, predatory publishers, most tabloids, and websites where anyone can contribute.
Replace any unreliable sources with high-quality sources. If you cannot find a reliable source for the material, it should be removed.