IDENTIFIERS ----------- id: 141592 accession number: CM.1495-2009 DATE AUDIT ---------- created: Saturday 6 August 2011 updated: Monday 25 March 2024 DESCRIPTIVE DATA ---------------- object type: The Distinguished Service Order was instituted by Queen Victoria in 1886, to reward individual instances of meritorious or distinguished service in war, usually under fire--resentment among front-line troops over awards to staff officers during the Great War led this to be made official policy in 1917. Until 1943 only those mentioned in despatches were eligible. The medal is still awarded for outstanding military command or leadership. This medal is unnamed, but belonged to 2nd Lieutenant John Mitchell of the Royal Air Force, with whose other medals Lester Watson acquired it. As the bulk of these decorations were earnt in service in the 1919-1920 campaigns in South Russia, it is likely that Mitchell's DSO was earned there too, perhaps for the same exploit for which he was awarded membership of the Russian Order of Saint George. Although the catalogue of the Watson Collection considers this medal part of its Group 7, the medals of that group are not physically attached and so have been treated separately here. Nonetheless it was as a group that Lester Watson purchased them, from the London dealers Baldwin in 1928. title: Distinguished Service Order NOTES ----- type: history note value: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, bt Baldwin 1928 LICENSING --------- text license status: CC0 image license status: CC-BY-NC-SA OWNERSHIP --------- instutition: The Fitzwilliam Museum department: Coins and Medals collection: Lester Watson Collection creditline: Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009 STABLE URL ---------- url: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141592 TECHNIQUES ---------- struck CATEGORIES ------ category: medal DATING ------ creation date: 1916 - 1935 creation date earliest: 1916 creation date latest: 1935 CREATORS -------- maker: London maker: George V (1910-36) maker: Britain maker: GvR DIMENSIONS ---------- dimension: Diameter units: mm value: 41.3 dimension: Weight units: g value: 32.09 CITATIONS -------- Medal Yearbook 2001 British and other Campaign and Gallantry Medals From the Collection of Lester Watson (d. 1959) --- IMAGES surrogate: large format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0365a_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 156 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0365a_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 156 pixels surrogate: original format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0365a_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 156 pixels surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0365a_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 156 pixels surrogate: large format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0365a_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 158 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0365a_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 158 pixels surrogate: original format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0365a_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 158 pixels surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0365a_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 158 pixels