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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
Abbott, Ernest Ronald* May 1st, 1913
† May 3rd, 1992

Abel-Smith, Henry* March 8th, 1900
† January 24th, 1993

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Adair, Allan Henry Shafto* November 3rd, 1897
† August 4th, 1988

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Adams, Donovan Guy* February 1st, 1901
† September 3rd, 1963

Agnew, William Gladstone* December 2nd, 1898
† July 12th, 1960

Aitken, John William Maxwell, 2nd Baronet* February 15th, 1910
† May 1st, 1985

Alexander, Harold Rupert Leofric George "Alex"* December 10th, 1891
† June 16th, 1969

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Allan, John Watson "Iain"* May 6th, 1918
† July 9th, 1988

Allard, Jean Victor* June 12th, 1913
† April 23rd, 1996

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Allen, Arthur Samuel "Tubby"* March 10th, 1894
† January 25th, 1959

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Allen, Frederick Fernley Edmund* December 12th, 1912
† June 29th, 2005

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Allen, Robert Swinton* July 24th, 1914
† 1982

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Anderson, Alan Ford* November 21st, 1910
† December 19th, 2002

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Anderson, Desmond Francis* July 5th, 1885
† January 29th, 1967

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Anderson, John Alan† March 23rd, 1965

Anderson, John D'Arcy* September 23rd, 1908
† April 16th, 1988

Anderson, John Thompson McKellar "Jock"* January 12th, 1918
† October 5th, 1943
Plot: VIII Row: A Grave: 44

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Anderson, William Maurice Eyre "Bill"* August 31st, 1908
† December 13th, 1986

Appleyard, John Geoffrey "Geoff"* December 20th, 1916
† July 13th, 1943

Arbuthnott, Robert Keith, 15th Viscount* August 21st, 1897
† December 15th, 1966

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Ardagh, Patrick Augustine* August 30th, 1891
† April 6th, 1944
Plot: 8 Row: A Grave: 15

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Armstrong, John Malet* January 5th, 1900
† December 30th, 1988

Arthur, Wilfred Stanley* December 7th, 1919
† December 23rd, 2000

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Asbeck, van, Thomas Karel, Baron* October 14th, 1899
† October 23rd, 1966

Ashworth, Arthur 'Artie'* May 3rd, 1920
† February 19th, 1994

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Atcherley, David Francis William* January 12th, 1904
† June 8th, 1952

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Auchinleck, Claude John Eyre* June 21st, 1884
† March 23rd, 1981

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Sources