TracesOfWar needs your help! Every euro, pound or dollar you contribute greatly supports the continuation of this website. Go to stiwot.nl and donate!

Distinguished Service Order (DSO)

This Order was instituted on November 9th 1886 by Queen Victoria to reward individuals for meritorious or distinguished service in wartime. This is a military Order for officers only, and while normally given for services under fire or under conditions equivalent to service in actual combat with the enemy, between 1914 and 1916 it was awarded under circumstances which could not be regarded as under fire.

After January 1st 1917, commanders in the field were instructed to recommend this award only for those serving under fire. Many DSO’s were awarded to squadron commanders for a long period of leadership but in some cases it was awarded to junior officers for just one operation.
Prior to 1943, the Order could be awarded only to someone ‘Mentioned in Despatches’. The Order is generally given to officers in command, above the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and awards to ranks below this are usually for a high degree of gallantry just short of deserving the Victoria Cross. The Royal Warrant for this award was published in the London Gazette on November 9th 1886.

A bar is awarded for an act which would have merited the Order in the first place. The bar is plain gold with an Imperial Crown in the centre. The year of conferment is engraved on the reverse of the bar.

The medal is a gold coloured cross and on the obverse, within a wreath of laurel, enamelled green, is the Imperial Crown in gold on a red enamelled ground. On the reverse, within a wreath of laurel, enamelled green, is the Royal Cipher in gold on a red enamelled ground.
The red ribbon is 1.125 inches wide with narrow vertical blue edges.

A rosette is worn in undress uniform to signify the possession of a bar.The award is issued unnamed, but some recipients have privately had their names engraved on the back of the award or suspension bar.

Total issued unto 1983 : 1291, including 113 first bars and 18 second bars.

Grid List
Cabanier, Georges* November 21st, 1906
† October 26th, 1976

more
Cabeldu, Frederick Norman* 1905
† June 12th, 1976

Caldwell, Clive Robertson "Killer"* July 28th, 1911
† August 5th, 1994

more
Callaway, Arthur Henry* 1906
† December 11th, 1941

Callinan, Bernard James* February 2nd, 1913
† July 20th, 1995

Cambridge, Alexander, 1st Earl of Athlone* April 14th, 1874
† January 16th, 1957

more
Cameron, Allan Gordon* May 16th, 1909
† June 8th, 1960

Cammaerts, Francis Charles Albert* June 16th, 1916
† July 3rd, 2006

Campbell, Alister Henry† August 29th, 1945
Plot: O Row: C Grave: 29

Campbell, John Charles "Jock"* January 10th, 1894
† February 26th, 1942
Plot: K Grave: 171

more
Campbell, Lorne MacLaine* July 22nd, 1902
† May 25th, 1991

more
Campling, Eric Frank Knowles* August 1st, 1920
† April 8th, 1944

more
Campling, Richard David† February 15th, 1944
Plot: 9 Row: L Grave: 8-14

Canham, Charles Draper William* January 26th, 1901
† August 21st, 1963

Carew, Thomas Arthur* November 25th, 1919
† February 16th, 2009

Carr, William Greenwood* January 10th, 1901
† January 27th, 1982

Carter, Albert Desbrisay "Nick"* June 2nd, 1892
† May 22nd, 1919
Grave: 63

Carter, Guy LLoyd* 1900
† July 18th, 1944
Plot: VII Row: C Grave: 9

more
Carter, Robert Alfred Copsey* September 15th, 1910
† November 10th, 2012

Cartleton, Frederick Montgomerie* July 21st, 1867
† May 15th, 1922

more
Cartwright, Philip Alexis* August 12th, 1904
† April 27th, 1941
Plot: Column 2 Grave: Panel 44

Cary, Robert Webster* August 18th, 1890
† July 15th, 1967
Plot: 6 Grave: 5695-G

more
Casement, Peter Reginald* May 22nd, 1921
† December 12th, 2016

more
Cass, Edward Earnshaw Eden "Copper"* March 3rd, 1898
† August 31st, 1968

Cassels, Archibald James Halkett* February 28th, 1907
† December 13th, 1996

more
Cazenove, Arnold de Lecisson* September 18th, 1898
† April 2nd, 1969

more
Chadburn, Lloyd Vernon "Chad"* August 21st, 1919
† June 13th, 1944
Plot: V Row: F Grave: 2

Chaplin, John Hugh* June 18th, 1911
† July 16th, 2002

Charles, Edward Francis John "Jack"* February 6th, 1919
† November 5th, 1986

Chateau-Jobert, Pierre, Yvon, Alexandre, Jean* February 3rd, 1912
† December 29th, 2005

more
Chatterton, George James Stewart* 1912
† November 1987

Chatwin, Cecil Athos Newcome* March 10th, 1898
† May 11th, 1974

Chaumet, Guy* January 12th, 1913
† April 19th, 1980

more
Chavasse, Kendal George Fleming* September 28th, 1904
† March 31st, 2001

Checketts, John Milne "Johny"* February 20th, 1912
† April 21st, 2006

more
Cheshire, Geoffrey Leonard* September 7th, 1917
† July 31st, 1992

more
Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode, Philip Walhouse* September 21st, 1869
† July 6th, 1950

more
Chisholm, Roderick Aeneas* November 23rd, 1911
† December 7th, 1994

Churcher, John Bryan* September 9th, 1905
† August 2nd, 1997

Churchill, John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming "Jack"* September 16th, 1906
† March 8th, 1996

Churchill, Peter Morland* January 14th, 1909
† May 1st, 1972

Churchill, Walter Myers* November 24th, 1907
† August 28th, 1942

Clark, Percy William* November 19th, 1888
† February 15th, 1943

Clarke, Andrew Board Stephenson† July 23rd, 1943
Plot: III Row: c Grave: 34

Clayton, Patrick Andrew* April 16th, 1896
† March 17th, 1962

Cleaver, Richard Frank Wharton* April 9th, 1920
† October 1st, 1953

Clostermann, Pierre* February 28th, 1921
† March 22nd, 2006

more
Clouët des Pesruches, Jean-François* March 31st, 1918
† December 11th, 1957

more
Clouston, Arthur Edmund* April 7th, 1908
† January 1st, 1984

more
Cochrane, Alfred William Gordon* October 10th, 1916
† October 29th, 1994

more
Cochrane, James Aikman "Peter"* May 12th, 1919
† December 5th, 2015

Coldwell-Horsfall, John Henry* February 21st, 1915
† December 18th, 2006

Coleman, Cyril Frederick Charles* April 16th, 1903
† June 17th, 1974

Coleman, Rowan Corry* June 22nd, 1915
† September 21st, 1996

Coleman, Sir, Cyril Frederick Charles* April 16th, 1903
† June 17th, 1974

Coles, William Edward* July 26th, 1913
† June 7th, 1979

Collier, John David Drought* November 10th, 1916
† November 2000

Colonna d'Istria, Paulin* July 27th, 1905
† June 4th, 1982

more
Colville, Edward Charles* September 1st, 1905
† January 10th, 1982

Combe, John Frederick Boyce* August 1st, 1895
† July 12th, 1967

more
Common, Lawrence Andrew* March 31st, 1889
† April 6th, 1953

Coningham, Arthur "Mary"* January 19th, 1895
† January 29th, 1948

more
Constable-Maxwell, Michael Hugh* June 3rd, 1917
† August 2000

Conus, Adrien* January 6th, 1901
† September 1st, 1947

more
Cooper, Alfred Duff, 1st Viscount Norwich* February 22nd, 1890
† June 1st, 1954

Cork, Richard John* April 4th, 1917
† April 14th, 1944
Plot: 2 Row: C Grave: 9

Corniglion-Molinier, Edouard* January 23rd, 1898
† May 9th, 1963

more
Cory, George Norton* December 26th, 1874
† November 17th, 1968

more
Cota, Norman Daniel "Dutch"* May 30th, 1893
† October 4th, 1971
Plot: X Row: M Grave: 287

more
Coulson, Stafford Pulleine* July 6th, 1916
† April 29th, 2007

Courage, Rafe Edward* June 22nd, 1902

more
Cox, William Reginald* June 13th, 1905
† June 12th, 1988

Cracknell, Douglas Aubrey* December 9th, 1909
† 1979

more
Cranswick, Alec Panton* September 7th, 1919
† July 5th, 1944
Plot: 16 Row: 13 Grave: 16

Crawford-Compton, William Vernon* March 2nd, 1915
† January 2nd, 1988

more
Creasy, George Elvey* October 13th, 1895
† October 31st, 1972

more
Crépin, Jean* September 1st, 1908
† May 4th, 1996

more
Crerar, Henry Duncan Graham "Harry"* April 28th, 1888
† April 1st, 1965

more
Crew, Edward Dixon* December 24th, 1917
† August 18th, 2002

more
Crocker, John Tredinnick* January 4th, 1896
† March 9th, 1963

more
Crombie, John Harvey Forbes* February 16th, 1900
† August 31st, 1972

Crooks, Leslie† August 18th, 1943
Plot: 7 Row: Z Grave: 11-13

Cross, Kenneth Brian Boyd "Bing"* October 4th, 1911
† June 18th, 2003

more
Cross, Philip Louis Ulrich* May 1st, 1917
† October 4th, 2013

Crossley, Michael Nicholson "Red Knight"* May 29th, 1912
† September 1987

Crouch, Cecil Bernard* November 26th, 1909
† March 14th, 1943

Crouch, Ronald Lionel* July 14th, 1916
† June 26th, 1945
Plot: IV Row: A Grave: 8

Cruddas, Ralph Cyril* 1900
† 1979

Culliford, Stanley George* March 18th, 1920
† March 18th, 2020

Cunningham, Andrew Browne, 1st Viscount Cunningh* January 7th, 1883
† June 12th, 1963

more
Cunningham, Douglas Gordon "Ben"* 1908
† July 18th, 1992

Cunningham, John "Cat's Eyes"* July 27th, 1917
† July 21st, 2002

more
Currant, Christopher Frederick "Bunny"* December 14th, 1911
† March 12th, 2006

more
Currey, Edmund Neville Vincent* October 1st, 1906
† May 2nd, 1998

Currie, Ryves Alexander Mark* June 18th, 1875
† March 30th, 1920
Plot: 8 Row: A Grave: 7

more
Curtis, Berwick* October 9th, 1876
† May 9th, 1965

more
Curtis, Henry Osborne "Squeak"* November 18th, 1888
† January 28th, 1964

more
Czernin, Manfred Maria Edmund Ralph Beckett* January 18th, 1918
† October 9th, 1962

more

Sources