Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A rare ‘Military Division’ C.B., R.R.C., Order of St. John group of seven awarded to Air Commandant B. M. Ducat-Amos, Princess Mary’s Royal Air Force Nursing Service, who served as Queen’s Honorary Nursing Sister, 1972-78

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, C.B. (Military) Companion’s neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, in Collingwood Lady’s case of issue, on ladies hook suspension; Royal Red Cross, 1st Class (R.R.C.), E.II.R., gold and enamel, reverse officially dated ‘1971’; The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Commander’s (Sister’s) neck badge, silver and enamel, with heraldic beasts in angles; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; General Service 1918-62, 2 clasps, Cyprus, Arabian Peninsula (Flt. Off. B. M. Ducat-Amos. P.M.R.A.F.N.S.) 2nd clasp unofficially attached, as issued, edge bruise; Jubilee 1977, breast awards mounted court-style by Spink & Son Ltd, generally very fine (7) £2,400-£2,800

C.B. London Gazette 15 June 1974.

R.R.C. London Gazette 1 January 1971.

Order of St. John, Commander (Sister) London Gazette 26 February 1976.

Barbara Mary Ducat-Amos was the daughter of Captain D. W. Ducat-Amos, Master Mariner, and was born in February 1921. She was educated at The Abbey School, Reading and St. Thomas’s Hospital, London (The Nightingale Training School), qualifying as a State Registered Nurse in 1943. Ducat-Amos joined Princess Mary’s Royal Air Force Nursing Service in 1944, and served in R.A.F. hospitals in the UK and Aden. She left the service in 1947, and undertook further training in South Africa and South West Africa, before rejoining the P.M.R.A.F.N.S. in 1952.

Ducat-Amos served as a General War and Theatre Sister in R.A.F. hospitals based in the UK, Germany, Cyprus, Aden and Changi (Singapore). She advanced to Matron in 1967, Senior Matron in 1968, and Principal Matron in 1970. Ducat-Amos advanced to Air Commandant, and served as Queen’s Honorary Nursing Sister, 1972-78. She died at Heathland Court Nursing Home, Wimbledon, in January 2008.

For the recipient’s related miniature awards, see Lot 1237.