Page 18 - Boyd drayton Sellick

Instituted on the 6th September, 1886 by Queen Victoria in a Royal Warrant the Distinguished
Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of
the Commonwealth. The first DSO’s were awarded on 25th November, 1886 for meritorious or
distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically during actual combat
against the enemy. In terms of prestige the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) was regarded as
somewhat lesser than a Victoria Cross and recipients were also entitled to use the post-nominals
letters DSO after their name with each awarded being announced in the London Gazette. The
Distinguished Service Order 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 1st January 1917, commanders and officers in the field were issued guidance stating that the
award was reserved for distinguished conduct under enemy fire. Prior to 1943, the order could be
given only to someone specifically Mentioned in Despatches by the Commander-in-Chief.
During the First World War, 8,981 DSO’s were awarded, each award being announced in The
London Gazette together with its accompanying citation.

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. In September 1942, the
regulations were relaxed to permit the award of the DSO to officers of the Merchant Navy who had
performed acts of gallantry in the presence of the enemy. After a review in 1993 of the gallantry
awards system changes were made to the DSO which is now awarded for “Leadership and
Command” only- theoretically to all ranks (it is not awarded posthumously). It has now been
replaced by the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross as a reward for Gallantry.