Groups and Single Decorations for Gallantry

A particularly fine post-War M.B.E., Second War ‘1941’ A.R.R.C., and rare Red Cross Florence Nightingale Medal group of nine awarded to Lieutenant H. J. Cholmeley, Territorial Army Nursing Service, who served as part of the B.E.F. in France 1940, and was evacuated via Calais having had an eventful escape in an ambulance, 25 May 1940. She went on to serve with distinction in the hostile environments of Malaya and Kenya, before being recognised for her work with children in equally volatile Cyprus during the troubles there The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Civil) Member’s 2nd type breast badge, silver, on lady’s bow riband, in Royal Mint case of issue; Royal Red Cross, 2nd Class (A.R.R.C.), G.VI.R. 1st issue, silver and enamel, reverse dated ‘1941’, on lady’s bow riband; 1939-45 Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Malaya, G.VI.R. (Miss. H. J. Cholmeley.) surname partially officially corrected; Africa General Service 1902-56, 1 clasp, Kenya (H. J. Cholmeley); Voluntary Medical Service Medal, with Additional ‘Geneva Cross’ Award Bar (Miss Helen J. Cholmeley, M.B.E. ARRC. SRN. RSCN.) with the Florence Nightingale Medal, gilt and enamel, reverse engraved ‘Miss Helen Joyce Cholmeley MBE., ARRC., SRN., RSCN. 12 May 1973’, with miniature in case of issue, a number of Red Cross badges, a Territorial Army Nursing Service Badge, a Nurse’s League of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital lapel badge, and riband bar, medals mounted or wear, generally very fine or better (9) £1,200-£1,600 --- M.B.E. London Gazette 13 June 1964: Matron of the Home for Sick Children, Kyrenia, Cyprus. A.R.R.C. London Gazette 1 July 1941. Presented with the Florence Nightingale Medal by the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1973, the recommendation for which states: ‘Miss Cholmeley who is a State Registered Nurse and a Registered Sick Children’s Nurse, took her General Training at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, on completion of which she was appointed Charge Nurse, Theatre, at the hospital. She later became Theatre Sister at Willesden General Hospital and after that Theatre Sister at The London Clinic. In 1939 Miss Cholomeley was mobilised in the Territorial Army Nursing Service and served in France, Mauritius and East Africa until 1945 when she was demobilised with the rank of Sister equivalent to that of a Ward Sister in a General Hospital. On demobilisation she was appointed Associate Royal Red Cross. She then served as Sister with the UNRRA Plastic Surgery Team in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, for 11 months in 1946. From 1947 to 1949 she was Theatre Sister at The London Clinic. After temporary duty as Relief Sister at Freeland House Auxiliary Hospital near Oxford, Miss Cholmeley was selected for service in Transjordan from June 1949 where she served as Theatre Sister and Acting Matron until June 1950 when it became the policy to employ local Palestinians and Jordanians and other contracts were terminated. Whilst awaiting another Overseas posting with the B.R.C.S., Miss Cholmeley worked at the Birmingham and Midland Hospital for Women and also at the King Edward VII Hospital for Officers, London. In April 1952 Miss Cholmeley served as a Field Officer with the B.R.C.S. Team during the emergency in Malaya, returning home in May 1954. She was posted to Kenya during the Mau Mau emergency in August 1954, returning to the UK in October 1956. From December 1956 until April 1957 Miss Cholmeley was posted to the Red Cross Hostel for British Nationals from Egypt following the crisis in Suez. In May 1957 Miss Cholmeley went out to Cyprus as Matron of the Red Cross Home for Sick Children then situated in Saittas. She was largely responsible for organising the move to a new Home in Kyrenia where she remained as Matron until April 1967. From April 1967 until May 1970 Miss Cholmeley was Matron of Queen Alexandra House, Folkestone - a home for elderly retired nurses. As will be seen from her record of service, Miss Cholmeley has served with distinction in many different countries, often in extremely dangerous and difficult circumstances. Her work in Malaya and in Kenya in particular took her to remote areas where she relied only on the reputation of the Red Cross for protection against subversive elements. In Malaya she was responsible for running Clinics in the resettlement villages where she treated thousands of people and, by gaining their respect and confidence, contributed greatly to raising their morale as well as looking after their physical needs. Similarly in Kenya where her work lay mainly among Kikuyu women and children, she helped to build confidence and prepare the way for a return to normal conditions. In Cyprus it is no exaggeration to say that by her outstanding leadership and example Miss Cholmeley was responsible for the Red Cross Children’s Home at Kyrenia becoming known as the happiest place on the island during all the troubles there. It was also a unique institution in that the staff of Greek, Turkish and Armenian Cypriots worked well together in caring for the children who were also drawn from all communities, which was a situation not possible at the time anywhere else in the island. miss Cholmeley and her staff won the admiration of all the various United Nations Forces stationed in Cyprus, as a result of which the Home received invaluable financial support and other services given free by the Forces such as the planning and equipping of the swimming pool and gymnasium for the poliomyelitis and other patients.’ Helen Joyce Cholmeley was born in Hull, Yorkshire in June 1909, and trained as a nurse at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, 1929-33. She enlisted as a Staff Nurse with the Territorial Army Nursing Service in April 1939, and served as a Sister during the Second War stationed at the 17th British General Hospital, Camiers, France, from 9 January 1940. Cholmeley’s personal account of her evacuation from France is held by the National Archives (WO222/2143), in which she states: ‘However that night orders came to move again but in spite of several false alarms we did not go until morning May 23rd. We left the unit and with our Padre and Driver started by ambulance for Dunkirk. Because of a recent air raid we could not get to the docks and were then sent on to Calais, but at Gravelines the bridge had been blocked so we spent some time at a camp until they decided which way we were to go. We were taken round by a smaller bridge and here the roads were very blocked by refugees. There was no boat that day so we went to the H.Q. of the Area Commandant at Calais. The next day we went aboard the City of Christchurch which had come bringing tanks the day before - and the day after reached Southampton on May 25th.’ Cholmeley’s ARRC was invested by the King at Buckingham Palace, 10 February 1942. She was commissioned Lieutenant in February 1951 (with seniority 4 April 1939), and the British Red Cross Society Report for 1954 gives additional details of her service in Kenya: ‘Two teams flew to Kenya in April to work in the forest villages among the resettled women and children of the Kikuyu tribe. Miss Margaret Robinson, S.R.N., and Miss Joan Priest, Welfare Officer, work together at Nyeri. Miss Evelyn Bennett worked principally among the children in a police camp and, later, in Nairobi. Another welfare, Miss Henley Colgate, is at Fort Hall. These teams were reinforced in September by Miss Helen Cholmeley, S.R.N.... Reports indicate that all the teams are doing outstanding work under difficult circumstances. Even in so short a time they have succeeded in gaining the confidence of many of the villagers and being of real service ...