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Colonel Commandant QARANCInformation about the rank of Colonel Commandant of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps with the names, dates, ranks and awards of the present and past Colonels Commandants: The Colonel Commandant (CC) of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps is a retired senior officer of the Corps who is appointed by HM The Queen. The title Colonel Commandant dates back to the period 1922 to 1928 when this name was used as a rank for Commonwealth militaries. It is now used as the title for Officers who hold the honorary appointment within a corps or regiment of the British Army. The equivalent rank is now Brigadier, those many QA Colonels have filled this role. The Colonel Commandant does not have to have been the Director of Army Nursing Services during his or her military career. The first QA Colonel Commandant not to have been a retired Director Army Nursing Services (DANS) and Matron-in-Chief (Army) was Colonel Joan Orford in 1974 who was a chief nursing tutor upon her retirement (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S)  by Juliet Piggott).
The current serving Colonel Commandant automatically becomes the trustee of the QA Association by dint of her appointment. Below are the QA's who have become Colonels Commandants with their rank and nursing, civil and military awards: Present Colonel Commandant of the QARANCBrigadier Jane Mary Arigho, (CBE, Royal Red Cross), retired, is the current C in C of the QA's. She was appointed to the position on the 30 November 2005. Brigadier Arigho was the Director of Army Nursing Services (DANS) until her retirement in 1999. Help Needed: Qaranc.co.uk would like to add a page about the QA lanyard but need some help. Can anyone please help with a photo of the lanyard on the uniform and a photo of just the lanyard? It would also be helpful if anyone can give some tips on how to site and fit the lanyard. Please use the e-mail address on the contact page. Thank you! Sisters In Arms: British Army Nurses Tell Their Story Sisters In Arms: British Army Nurses Tell Their Story  by Nicola Tyrer is an account of the QAs during the two World Wars. It includes first hand accounts of the Queen Alexandra nurses who were in the dressing stations, casualty clearing stations and field hospitals of Dunkirk, D Day, the fall of Singapore and many more locations where the QAIMNS served.
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Sisters In Arms: British Army Nurses Tell Their Story is also available as a talking book read by the actress Barbara Flynn and Sian Thomas. Buy Now. 
View More British Army Nursing Books - with free delivery available. Previous Colonels Commandants of the QARANCColonel Iona Mary Leith-Macgregor (RRC) 1 April 2000 Colonel Margaret Mary Slattery (RRC) 1 October 1995 Colonel Diana Geraldine Mary Anderson (RRC) 1 August 1992 (Biography Below) Colonel Valerie Joy Smith (RRC) 31 July 1987 Colonel Kathleen Grimshaw (RRC) 31 July 1981 Brigadier Helen S Cattanach (CB, RRC) 30 June 1978 Colonel Joan Marion Orford (RRC) 31 July 1974 Brigadier Dame Margot Turner (OBE, RRC) 31 July 1969 Brigadier Dame Barbara Cozens (DBE, RRC) ? Dame Monica Johnson Golding (DBE, RRC) 31 July 1961 Brigadier Dame Helen S. Gillespie (DBE, RRC) 31 July 1956 Dame Anne Thomson (DBE, RRC) 12 December 1954 Dame Louisa J. Wilkinson (DBE, RRC) 1 February 1949 Prior to the rank title change of 1950 the Colonel Commandant was known as the Controller Commandment (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott).
Another page of interest if the QAIMNS (Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service) Matrons In Chief. The photo below is of Col Valerie Smith Colonel Commandant of the QAs in 1987. The photograph was taken at her retirement at the QATC. 
Colonel D G M Anderson Colonel Diana Geraldine Mary Anderson RRC OStJ was appointed Colonel Commandant of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps on the 1 August 1992. She was born in Portsmouth on the 29 January 1935. Her nurse training started in 1952 at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford. After qualifying as a general nurse Diana Anderson trained as a midwife at Freedom Fields Hospital in Plymouth and the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester. In February 1958 Diana Anderson joined the QARANC as a Nursing Officer where she worked as a midwife in many military hospitals. Captain Anderson was awarded the ARRC in 1967. In 1968 she trained as a Midwife Teacher. Once qualified she joined the tutorial staff at the Louise Margaret Maternity Hospital in Aldershot. She was an examiner of the Central Midwives Board. In 1981 Lt Col Anderson was awarded the Royal Red Cross Medal. When promoted to Colonel she became the Matron of the QEMH Woolwich and other administration posts followed which included Deputy Medical Nursing at Headquarters BAOR and her final posting was as Commandant of the QA Centre at the Royal Pavilion in Aldershot. She was remembered for restoring the grounds of the Royal Pavilion after the storms of the late 1980s. Upon retiring Colonel D G M Anderson was appointed the Colonel Commandant of the QAs. She was affectionately nicknamed Andy by her friends and loved sailing and tennis. The obituary of Colonel Anderson appeared in Vol 11 No 2 of The Gazette of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Association and was written by Brigadier (Retd) J M Field CBE RRC and Colonel (Retd) R L Johnson RRC . A British Army Nurse In the Korean War A newly published book about the QARANC is 
A British Army Nurse In the Korean War
by Elizabeth Jilly McNair. QA Sister McNair saw active service in Korea and Japan and this book is based on her letters home and photographs she took during her 18 months
spent nursing at the British Commonwealth General Hospital in Kure, Japan and the British Commonwealth Zone Medical Unit in Seoul, Korea.
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If you would like to contribute to this page, suggest changes or inclusions to this website or would like to send me a photograph then please e-mail me. The photos and pictures on this page have been kindly sent to us for inclusion on this page. If you would like to contribute photographs then please contact us. Findextrawork 
Since leaving the QA's we have done an assortment of self employed work and jobs, some which only take an hour a week, others have been full time. We
have written about these at our other website Findextrawork at
www.findextrawork.co.uk
where we share the information for free to help others with information and resources about earning more money.
Visit Findextrawork for more information.
For the official Army QARANC webpage please go to www.army.mod.uk/qaranc/index.html For the QARANC Association website please go to http://www.army.mod.uk/qaranc/qaranc_assn/index.htm |
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