List of Fleet Air Arm Honours and Awards 1939-1945
Distinguished Service Order
(DSO)
awarded to FAA Personnel
  

 
 
Distinguished Service Order





 

TERMS

The order was established for rewarding individual instances of meritorious or distinguished service in war. This is a military order for officers only, and while normally given for service under fire or under conditions equivalent to service in actual combat with the enemy, it was awarded between 1914 and 1916 under circumstances which could not be regarded as under fire. 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-Dispatches. 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. 

BARS

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

RIBBON

The red ribbon is 1.125 inches wide with narrow blue edges. A rosette is worn on the ribbon in undress to signify the award of a bar. 

DATES

The Royal Warrant was published in the London Gazette on 9 November 1886. 

NAMING

Officially unnamed, some recipients have privately had their names engraved on the back of the suspension bar. 

List of Fleet Air Arm CO recipients - DSO & DSC

For information on Fleet Air Arm campaign medal rolls and individual awards contact the relevant Armed Services Medal Offices. 

  • Navy: Ministry of Defence, NPP Acs 3 (b) 4, HMS Centurion, Grange Road, Gosport, Hampshire PO13 9XA, UK
  • Royal Air Force: Ministry of Defence, CS Sec 1d, Room F93, Building 256, HQ RAF PTC, RAF Innsworth, Gloucestershire GL3 1EZ, UK
  • Royal Marines: Ministry of Defence, Drafting and Record Office, Royal Marines, HMS Centurion; Grange Road, Gosport, Hampshire PO13 9XA, UK 
  • Merchant Navy: Maritime & Coastguard Agency, Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG. 
Royal Navy Ministry of Defence Website Royal Navy: Sources of Information. Online information: How to obtain Royal Navy Service Records & Medals

Last Modified: 5 April 2001
 

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