Distinguished Service Order

Distinguished Service Order
Medal of the order
Awarded by United Kingdom and Commonwealth
Type Order (decoration) with one degree
Eligibility members of the armed forces
Awarded for "Distinguished services during active operations against the enemy."[1]
Status Currently awarded
Sovereign Queen Elizabeth II
Grades (w/ post-nominals) Companion
Statistics
Established 6 September 1886
Total inductees Victoria: 1,323
Edward VII: 78
George V: 9,900
George VI: 4,943
Total: 16,244[2]
Precedence
Next (higher) Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire[3]
Next (lower) Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order
Ribbon bar of the order
Major Marie-Edmond Paul Garneau, of the Royal 22e Régiment, with the Distinguished Service Order he received for "gallant and distinguished services in the combined attack on Dieppe" after his investiture at Buckingham Palace in October 1942.[4]

The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth of Nations and British Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.

Creation

Instituted on 6 September 1886 by Queen Victoria in a Royal Warrant published in the The London Gazette on 9 November,[5] the first DSOs awarded were dated 25 November 1886.[6] It is typically awarded to officers ranked major (or its equivalent) or higher, but the honour has sometimes been awarded to especially valorous junior officers. During the First World War, 8,981 DSOs were awarded, each award being announced in The London Gazette.

The order was established for rewarding individual instances of meritorious or distinguished service in war. It was a military order, until recently for officers only, and normally given for service under fire or under conditions equivalent to service in actual combat with the enemy, although it was awarded between 1914 and 1916 under circumstances which could not be regarded as under fire (often to staff officers, which caused resentment among front-line officers). After 1 January 1917, commanders in the field were instructed to recommend this award only for those serving under fire. Prior to 1943, the order could be given only to someone mentioned in despatches. The order is generally given to officers in command, above the rank of captain. A number of more junior officers were awarded the DSO, and this was often regarded as an acknowledgement that the officer had only just missed out on the award of the Victoria Cross.[7] In 1942, the award of the DSO was extended to officers of the Merchant Navy who had performed acts of gallantry while under enemy attack.[8]

Modern era

Since 1993, its award has been restricted solely to distinguished service (i.e. leadership and command by any rank), with the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross being introduced as the second highest award for gallantry. It has, however, despite some very fierce campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, remained an officers-only award and it has yet to be awarded to a non-commissioned rank.[9]

Nomenclature

Recipients of the order are officially known as Companions of the Distinguished Service Order. They are entitled to use the post-nominal letters "DSO". One or more gold medal bars ornamented by the Crown may be issued to DSO holders performing further acts of such leadership which would have merited award of the DSO. The bars are worn as clasps on the medal ribbon of the original award.[9]

Description

Notable recipients

The following received the DSO and three bars (IE received the DSO four times):

See also

References

  1. ↑ Defence Internet|Fact Sheets|Guide to Honours
  2. ↑ Medal Yearbook 2013. Honiton, Devon: Token. 2013. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-908-828-00-2.
  3. ↑ Precedence of the British orders – Website of Burke's Peerage & Gentry
  4. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 35729. p. 4328. 2 October 1942. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
  5. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 25641. pp. 5385–5386. 9 November 1886. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
  6. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 25650. pp. 5975–5976. 9 November 1886. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
  7. 1 2 3 "Orders and Decorations – Distinguished Service Order". Veterans Affairs Canada. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  8. ↑ "British Commonwealth Gallantry, Meritorious and Distinguished Service Awards – Companion of the Distinguished Service Order". New Zealand defence force. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  9. 1 2 3 "Distinguished Service Order". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  10. ↑ "The British (Imperial) Distinguished Service Order". Vietnam veterans association of Australia. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  11. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 31183. p. 2363. 14 February 1919. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
  12. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 36081. p. 3056. 2 July 1943. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  13. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 13510. p. 3185. 8 October 1919. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  14. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 36771. p. 4977. 27 October 1944. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  15. ↑ Bourne, John. "Edward Allan Wood". Centre for First World War Studies. Birmingham, UK: University of Birmingham. Retrieved 25 March 2011.

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