WW1 BRITISH COMMONWEALTH ROYAL RED CROSS 1ST CLASS DECORATION MEDAL CASE RARE

Offered is a King George V era Royal Red Cross Order 1st Class in award case of issue.

Royal Red Cross, 1st Class, G.V.R., gilded silver and enamel, with bow riband, in Garrard & Co. case of issue.

The Royal Red Cross is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing. It was established on 27 April 1883 by Queen Victoria. The Royal Red Cross has a single class of Member and it was first awarded to the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale. A second and lower class, Associate, was added during World War I in 1917.  The award is awarded to a fully trained nurse of an officially recognized nursing service, military or civilian, who has shown exceptional devotion and competence in the performance of nursing duties, over a continuous and long period, or who has performed an exceptional act of bravery and devotion at her or his post of duty.  The decoration was conferred exclusively to women until 1976.  Recipients of the Royal Red Cross are entitled to use the post-nominal letters “RRC” or “ARRC” for Members and Associates respectively.