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Air Commandant Dame Veronica Margaret Ashworth, DBE, RRC (25 December 1910 – 12 January 1977) was a British nurse, midwife, and Royal Air Force officer. From 1963 to 1966, she served as Matron-in-Chief of Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service.[1][2]
Dame Veronica Ashworth | |
|---|---|
Wing Officer Ashworth in the 1960s | |
| Born | 25 December 1910 |
| Died | 12 January 1977 (aged 66) |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1936–1966 |
| Rank | Air Commandant |
| Commands | Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (1963–66) |
| Battles / wars | Second World War |
| Awards | Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire Royal Red Cross |
Ashworth was born on 25 December 1910.[1] She was educated at St Katharine's School, an all-girls private school in Wantage, Oxfordshire.[2] She trained as a nurse at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London from 1930, becoming a state registered nurse in 1934, and then moved to Leeds Maternity Hospital, becoming a state certified midwife in 1935.[1]
Ashworth joined the Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service in 1936, and after training was appointed to the permanent service on 1 April 1937.[3] During the Second World War, she served in Algiers, Tunisia and Italy, with a mobile field hospital.[2]
Ashworth served as matron of the hospitals at RAF Wroughton and RAF Uxbridge in England, and at RAF Fayid in Egypt.[2] She was awarded a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force on 1 February 1949 with the rank of flight officer.[4] She was promoted to wing officer on 1 January 1958,[5] awarded the Royal Red Cross in the 1959 Queen's Birthday Honours,[6] and made group officer on 1 January 1961.[7] On 4 August 1963, she was appointed Matron-in-Chief of the Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service and made an acting air commandant.[8] She was promoted to air commandant and made an Honorary Nursing Sister to the Queen on 1 September 1963,[9][10] and appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1964 New Year Honours.[11] She stepped down as Matron-in-Chief in 1966, and retired from the Royal Air Force.[1]
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