X-Nico

45 unusual facts about Order of the British Empire


Albert Ernest Sims

Albert Ernest (George) Sims (OBE, RVO), LRAM, ARCM (1896–1981) was a British composer, conductor and music director (Wing Commander) for The Central Band of H.M. Royal Air Force.

Angela Sarkis

Angela Sarkis CBE (b. 1955), was the Chief Executive of the Nurture Group Network, a charitable organisation which promotes and supports the development of specialist support for vulnerable children within mainstream education.

Arthur Samuel Allen

Major General Arthur Samuel "Tubby" Allen CB CBE DSO VD (10 March 1894 – 25 January 1959) was an Australian soldier.

Lesser appointments followed, but in October 1944, Blamey recommended Allen be made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), although Allen was never appointed.

Bertie Clarke

Dr Carlos Bertram (Bertie) Clarke, OBE (7 April 1918, Lakes Folly, Cats Castle, St Michael, Barbados – 14 October 1993, Putney, London, England) was a West Indian cricketer who played in three Tests in 1939.

Bob Roll

Roll continues to enjoy riding road and mountain bicycles for recreation, and is a member of the veteran cable television broadcasting team (along with Phil Liggett, MBE and Paul Sherwen) who serve as road cycling expert-commentators for the NBC Sports Network cable network's coverage of the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, Paris–Roubaix, Tour of California, and other international cycling road races.

Claudia Orange

In 1993 Orange was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), and awarded DCNZM in the 2009 New Year Honours for services to historical research.

Coventry Telegraph

The foundation stone of its previous headquarters at 157 Corporation Street, Coventry, CV1 1FP, was laid by the then proprietor, Lord Iliffe G.B.E, on 21 November 1957.

David Narey

David Narey, MBE (born 12 June 1956 in Dundee) is a former Scottish international footballer, who spent 21 years with Dundee United, coinciding with United's most successful era, under the management of Jim McLean.

Gavin Long

Long was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1953 for his services as editor of the official history.

Gord Reay

Lieutenant General Gordon Reay CMM MBE CD (30 May 1943 – 21 December 2000) was the Chief of the Land Staff of the Canadian Forces.

Jim Leishman

In the Queen's Birthday Honours 2007, Leishman was appointed as a member of the Order of the British Empire for 'services to sport'.

John Bussey

Group Captain John Bussey, OBE (1895-1979) was in charge of Reconnassance for the British Royal Air Force during WWII.

John P. McConnell

His decorations include the Army Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit with three oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Air Medal, and numerous foreign awards, including Commander of the Order of the British Empire and the Legion of Honor - Degree of Commandeur (France).

Laura Ashley

In 1975 Laura turned down the offer of an OBE (she was upset Bernard had not been offered one).

Lawrence Foanaota

In 2009, the Queen of the Solomon Islands, Elizabeth II, appointed him Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for "services to the National Museum and to the community".

May Moss

Alice "May" Moss, CBE (27 April 1869 – 18 July 1948) was an Australian welfare worker and women's rights activist.

Mirosław Vitali

Miroslaw (Mirek) Vitali, OBE (October 5, 1914 in Human, Ukraine – February 19, 1992 in London, England) was a physician specialising in treatment and care of amputees.

In 1986, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), in recognition of his work for wounded British soldiers.

He was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1986 in recognition of his outstanding work helping British servicemen who had lost limbs in World War II.

Missing People

In 1996 Mary Asprey and Janet Newman were honoured for their services to charity with OBEs.

Nirad C. Chaudhuri

In 1992, he was honoured by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom with the title of Commander of Order of the British Empire (CBE).

Pato Kakaraya

Sir Pato Kakaraya, KBE, is a Papua New Guinea politician and Cabinet Minister.

Patsy Adam-Smith

Patricia Jean "Patsy" Adam-Smith AO, OBE (31 May 1924 – 20 September 2001) was an Australian author, historian and servicewoman.

Peter Dimmock

Peter Harold Dimmock CBE, CVO (born 6 December 1920) is a pioneering former sports broadcaster and senior executive of British television during its formative years in the 1950s.

Philip Vian

Despite this, Vian received a personal letter of congratulation from Winston Churchill and he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE).

Ponsonby Britt

Britt eventually supposedly became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and was retained in the cartoon's closing credits as an in-joke.

Quintiles

Quintiles was founded in 1982 by Dennis Gillings, Ph.D., CBE, then a professor of biostatistics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Robert Merrill Lee

General Robert Merrill Lee CBE (April 13, 1909 – June 29, 2003) was the air deputy to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, with the responsibility of assisting SACEUR in developing, training and employing NATO combat forces for the defense of allied Europe.

Robert Wesley Colglazier, Jr.

His personal decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Order of the British Empire, French Legion of Honor and French Croix de Guerre.

Robin Duval

On retirement from the BBFC he was made a C.B.E. (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2005 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to the film industry.

Sidney Hobart-Hampden-Mercer-Henderson, 7th Earl of Buckinghamshire

Sidney Carr Hobart-Hampden-Mercer-Henderson, 7th Earl of Buckinghamshire OBE DL (14 March 1860 – 15 January 1930), styled Lord Hobart from 1875 to 1885, was a British Liberal politician.

Simon Richardson

It was announced on 31 December 2008 that Richardson was to be appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours "for services to Disabled Sport".

Specsavers

The co-founder of Specsavers, Mary Perkins, was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in 2007 in recognition of her services to business and the community in Guernsey.

Stephen Weir

Formally adding Stephen as a forename by deed poll in 1960, he was knighted following the completion of his CGS term.

He led his new command during its crossing of the Lamone River and at the end of the year was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his work in Italy.

Subramaniam Ramadorai

Subramanian Ramadorai, CBE ( born 6 October 1945) is the adviser to the Prime Minister of India in the national council on skill development, Government of India.

Theodore J. Conway

Conway’s decorations included the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster; Bronze Star Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters; French Legion of Honor; French Croix de Guerre with Palm; Czechoslovak Military Cross; Polish Golden Cross of Merit with Swords; Order of the British Empire; Order of the Crown of Italy; and the Army Distinguished Service Medal (US).

Theodore McEvoy

Air Chief Marshal Sir Theodore Neuman McEvoy KCB CBE RAF (21 November 1904 – 19 September 1991) was a senior Royal Air Force officer during World War II who held high command in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Tiger Tim Stevens

In 2006 Stevens was awarded the Member of the British Empire (MBE) for his charity work and services to broadcasting in Scotland.

Tom Stott

Tom Cleave Stott CBE (6 June 1899-21 October 1976) spent 37 years as an independent member of the South Australian House of Assembly, serving as Speaker of the House from 1962 to 1965 and 1968 to 1970.

Twyford railway station

In 2005 Norman Topson, the station master for 16 years and local rail worker for 43 years, was awarded an MBE for services to the railway industry and community.

Vic Renalson

Renalson was a finalist in the ABC Sportsman of the Year award in 1968, and became a member of the Order of the British Empire in 1973 for services to sport and the community.

Wentworth D'Arcy Uhr

His grandson, Clive Uhr, would become a noted radiologist and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Will Jessett

Will Jessett CBE is serving as Minister Defence Materiel (BDS-US Command Group) British Defence Staff - US alongside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and other Government Departments collectively serve the interests of Her Majesty’s Government at the British Embassy in Washington DC USA.


Alfred Brian Palmer

Alfred Brian Palmer MBE, DSC (27 March 1899 Redfern, New South Wales – 4 July 1993 Clearwater, Florida) was a Royal Navy Reserve captain and near the end of his career was the commander of the shore base HMS Furneaux in Brisbane.

Anne Lucas

Anne Shirley Lucas CBE (born c. 1951) is an Australian actress, best known for her roles on television as Eve Turner (later Steele) in The Young Doctors and Faye Quin in Prisoner.

Archibald Salvidge

Sir Archibald Tutton James Salvidge KBE PC (5 August 1863 – 11 December 1928) was an English politician, most notable for securing the political dominance of the Conservative Party in Liverpool through the use of the Working Men's Conservative Association (WMCA), earning him the nickname "the king of Liverpool" (by Warden Chilcott, MP for Liverpool Walton).

Ards Forest Park

She was the wife of Lt. Col. Sir Pieter C. van B. Stewart-Bam, Kt., O.B.E., a South African soldier, politician and businessman whom she married in 1910.

Chris Houlding

During 2004-5 he completed a course in conducting at the RNCM to gain further experience under the watchful eye of Mark Elder CBE.

Claude Aurelius Elliott

Sir Claude Aurelius Elliott OBE, MA, (27 July 1888 - 21 November 1973) was Head Master of Eton College at Windsor in Berkshire, and was later Provost at the same school.

Donald Buttress

Donald Reeve Buttress, LVO, OBE is an English architect based in St Albans, Hertfordshire.

Dorothy Garrod

Dorothy Annie Elizabeth Garrod CBE, FBA (5 May 1892 – 18 December 1968) was a British archaeologist who was the first woman to hold an Oxbridge chair, partly through her pioneering work on the Palaeolithic period.

Edwin Herbert, Baron Tangley

Invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, he was created Baron Tangley, of Blackheath in the County of Surrey on 22 January 1964.

Eric Gardner Turner

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1975 and was knighted in 1981.

Geoffrey Rhodes Bromet

Air Vice Marshal Sir Geoffrey Rhodes Bromet KBE CB DSO, DL (28 August 1891 – 16 November 1983) was an Air Vice Marshal during World War II and a former Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man.

Gerard Basset

Gerard Francis Claude Basset OBE, MS, MW, MBA, is the owner with his wife, Nina, of Hotel Terravina, a New Forest Hotel near Southampton in Hampshire, United Kingdom.

Greg Haddrick

Haddrick is the younger child and only son of actor Ron Haddrick AM MBE.

Harold Wilson bibliography

James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, PC (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was one of the most prominent British politicians of the 20th century.

Henry A. Schade

Additionally, the Government of Great Britain made Schade an Honorary Officer of the Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Jim Leighton

James "Jim" Leighton MBE (born 24 July 1958 in Johnstone, Renfrewshire) is a Scottish former football goalkeeper.

John Greig

Greig was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on 15 November 1977.

John Moores, Jr.

His older sister Betty Suenson-Taylor, The Dowager Lady Grantchester, who married her husband Kenneth Bent Suenson-Taylor, 2nd Baron Grantchester, his younger brother Sir Peter Moores, CBE, DL and younger sister Janitha Moores.

Landis Gores

By the time he completed active duty he had been awarded both the Legion of Merit and the Order of the British Empire.

Margaret Stones

Elsie Margaret Stones AM, MBE (born 28 August 1920 at Colac, Victoria) is an Australian botanical illustrator.

Margaret Winifred Vowles

Edward Oscar Pearce (12/9/1885 - 31/8/1963) awarded an Order of the British Empire (military) in 1919 whilst a Captain (acting Major) in the Royal Engineers.

Max Crawford

Crawford was awarded an OBE in 1971 and was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters by the University of Melbourne in 1988.

Muhammad Faiyaz Ali Khan

Nawab Sir Muhammad Faiyaz Ali Khan Bahadur, the Nawab of Pahasu, GBE, KCSI, KCIE, KCVO, MBE; (1851–1922) was a member of Governor General' Council of the United Provinces and Member of the Legislative council of United Provinces.

Neil Cossons

Sir Neil Cossons OBE FSA FMA FRGS (born 15 January 1939) is Pro-Provost and Chairman of Council of the Royal College of Art, of which he has been a Governor since 1989.

Niall FitzGerald

Niall FitzGerald, KBE (born 13 September 1945 in County Sligo) is an Irish businessman.

Ralph Allwood

Ralph Allwood, MBE (born 1950) was the Precentor and Director of Music at Eton College in the UK until September 2011.

Rob Kell

John Robert ("Rob") Kell, CBE (1902 - 1983) was an English civil engineer with particular expertise in the field of heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

Rosalinde Hurley

Dame Rosalinde Hurley, Mrs. Gortvai, DBE, FRC, FRCPath, FRCOG (30 December 1929 – 30 June 2004) was knighted by the British government for her services to medicine, science and law.

Roy Kettle

Leroy Richard Arthur "Roy" Kettle OBE (born 1949) is a retired United Kingdom civil servant who, among many other achievements, was one of the principal architects of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

Samuel Herbert Wilson

Brigadier General Sir Samuel Herbert Wilson, GCMG, KCB, KBE (1873-1950) was a British colonial administrator who served as Governor of Trinidad and Tobago between 1921 and 1924.

Sibyl Hathaway

On the 400th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth I's grant of charter to Sark's first seigneur, Hellier de Carteret, Hathaway was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire at the Buckingham Palace.

Single-wire earth return

Lloyd Mandeno OBE (1888-1973) fully developed SWER in New Zealand around 1925 for rural electrification.

Stokes mortar

The Stokes mortar was a British trench mortar invented by Sir Wilfred Stokes KBE that was issued to the British, Commonwealth and U.S. armies, as well as the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (CEP), during the latter half of the First World War.

Tuʻipelehake

From a non-traditional side, he was honoured with the CBE.

War Widows Association of Great Britain

In the 2003 New Year Honours, Mary Brailsford of Chesterfield, Derbyshire was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) "for services to the War Widows Association of Great Britain".

Wilfrid Foster

Major Wilfrid Lionel Foster CBE DSO (2 December 1874 – 22 March 1958) was an English cricketer: a right-handed batsman who played for Worcestershire County Cricket Club in their early years in first-class cricket.

William J. McCormack

He is the son of a British Colonial Police colonel who was decorated with an MBE by the King for his work with prison reform and children's polio.