Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Dame Cecilie Monica Golding, ( Johnson; 6 August 1902 – 6 June 1997) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

nurse and nursing administrator who rose to Colonel Commandant, Matron-in-Chief and Director of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC).Obituary
Independent.co.uk; accessed 25 April 2016.

Nursing career

Golding began her nursing career at the Royal Surrey County Hospital,

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, in 1922. Three years later she relocated to

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

for midwifery training. During Christmas 1939, she found herself in Northern France as Matron of No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station. Following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Golding served in India as Principal Matron, the last sister of the

Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC; known as ''the QAs'') is the nursing branch of the British Army Army Medical Services, Medical Services. History Although an "official" nursing service was not established until 1881, the corp ...

to serve there. In 1950 was served in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

as Matron for Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC). As Director of Army Nursing Services, she represented the corps on many great occasions, but one of her proudest moments was attending a dinner offered by the army to Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

after her accession to the throne in 1952. It had been more than a century since a banquet of such military magnitude had been held. Present were most members of the Royal Family, and more than 100 generals. She supervised the design of a new QA mess dress and it was worn for the first time on this evening. During her term of office she witnessed the marriage of the Colonel-in-Chief, Princess Margaret and the opening of the new QARANC Training Centre in Aldershot. Golding was appointed a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1958, and retired in 1960.

Personal life

She married

the Rev Harry Golding,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1961; they were married until his death in 1969. Golding had two daughters to whom she was stepmother. Dame Monica Johnson Golding died in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

on 6 June 1997, aged 94.

References

External links

QARANC biodata
{{DEFAULTSORT:Golding, Monica 1902 births 1997 deaths British Army personnel of World War II British nursing administrators Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire People from Chiswick