Major-General, The Reverend Denis Price CB,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(28 October 1908 – 19 March 1966) was the principal military architect in charge of Combined Operations for Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia. After serving in WWII under the Supreme Allied Commander for South East Asia, Price became Head of the BSSO British Services Security Organisation, MI5's regional office for Germany.Nigel West, the A-Z of British Intelligence, Scarecrow Press, pp.69-70. He later served as Chief of Staff, British Defence Staff in

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from 1959 to 1962. Prior to his death, he was ordained into the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

in the United States. Recent publication of classified documents held by the British Government indicate that Price and Louis Mountbatten maintained a close working relationship, partnering for decades to build a series of international intelligence networks for the British Government.

Early life

Denis Walter Price was born in

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and educated at Blundell's School in Tiverton, Caius College at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

and the Royal Military Academy in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

. He was commissioned into the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

on 31 January 1929.

Army career

Price's military appointments are as follows: *38th Field Company (1932–34) *Training Battalion, Chatham (1934–36) *Employed by the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

on survey work (1936–38) *Company officer

Royal Military College Royal Military College may refer to: ;Australia * Royal Military College, Duntroon, Campbell, Australian Capital Territory ;Canada * Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario * Royal Military College Saint-Jean, Saint-Jean, Quebec ;Mala ...

(1938–39) *Deputy Acting Quartermaster General, Royal Marine Division (1941) *GSOI at Combined Operations Headquarters and tour of duty in the United States (1942–1943) *Head of Combined Operations Staff at the Headquarters, Supreme Allied Command South East Asia (1944–1945) *Commander, 41 Indian Beach Group (1945) *Chief Royal Engineer,

5th Indian Division The 5th Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II that fought in several theatres of war and was nicknamed the "Ball of Fire". It was one of the few Allied divisions to fight against three differe ...

and Force 110 (sent to restore order in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

). *GSOI, Military Intelligence Branch, War Office (1947) *Brigadier, Far East Land Forces *Commander, British Services Security Organisation (1956–1958) *Chief of Staff, British Defence Staffs in Washington (1959–1962) Price was created Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1945 and Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath in 1961.

British Services Security Organisation

Denis Price was the first Head of the British Services Security Organisation (BSSO), a division of MI5. The BSSO originated in March 1954 as the new name for the existing British Forces Security Unit. In 1959, the Joint Intelligence Committee sought to reduce the cost of running BSSO. MI5 recommended an internal restructuring and a bigger role for itself. BSSO subsequently acquired a civilian rather than a military head for the first time. Staff numbers were reduced from 480 to 322 and some duties were passed to the German intelligence services. The Americans took over funding of the BSSO comint station at Hanover. In 1961, BSSO came under command of the C-in-C Germany, downgrading the priority of tasks from London.The Joint Intelligence Committee and the German Question, 1947-61, Simon Case, Queen Mary, University of London, PhD thesis, p.239.

Ministry

On leaving the army Price moved to United States and after a course of studies was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

into the

. His studies were interrupted by the illness from which he later died, but in spite of this he served as a Minister at

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Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

for the two years before his death. His funeral was held at High Bridge Presbyterian Church in Virginia. In 1951, Price married Audrey de Beaufort, heiress to the

Holbech Holbech is a Germanic name, meaning "the low brook" or "the brook in the ravine or hollow". Notable people with the surname include: * Holbech family, owners of Farnborough Hall * Charles Holbech, Archdeacon of Coventry from 1873 to 1887 * David Ho ...

family of

Farnborough Hall Farnborough Hall is a country house in Warwickshire, England near to the town of Banbury, (). Owned by the National Trust, but administered by the Holbech family; the house is a Grade I listed building. History Ambrose Holbech acquired the F ...

. de Beaufort's paternal family owned one of the largest banking empires in European history. Because of a marriage settlement agreement, Marjorie de Beaufort owned Farnborough Hall with William Henrik de Beaufort. The marriage of Price and de Beaufort created an international political dynasty.

References

Sources

*Obituary of Maj-Gen. D. W. Price, The Times, 23 March 1966 (pg. 14; Issue 56587; col F) *Copy of a letter from ord Louis Mountbattento Major General R.E.Laycock informing him that a party has been sent from SEAC to Britain for Operation Overlord, 2 May 1944. Broadlands archives. MS62/MB/1/C/51/19. University of Southampton Special Collections, University of Southampton, University Road, Southampton, SO17 1BJ. {{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Denis 1908 births 1966 deaths People educated at Blundell's School Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Royal Engineers officers British Army personnel of World War II Companions of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America ministers British Army major generals People from Kandy Sri Lankan people of British descent 20th-century American clergy