Barbara Cozens

Brigadier Dame Florence Barbara Cozens, DBE, RRC, DStJ (24 December 1906 – 18 July 1995) was a British military nurse and nursing administrator.

Dame Barbara Cozens
Born(1906-12-24)24 December 1906
Darjeeling, British India
Died18 July 1995(1995-07-18) (aged 88)
Canterbury, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1933–1964
RankBrigadier
Commands heldQueen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (1960–64)
Army Nursing Corps Training Centre (1955–58)
Battles/warsSecond World War
AwardsDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Royal Red Cross
Dame of the Order of St John of Jerusalem

Nursing career

Born in Darjeeling, India, Cozens received her training and education to become a nurse at the Victoria Hospital for Children, Chelsea, and at St Thomas' Hospital in Stangate, Lambeth, finishing her training in 1933.[1] She joined Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) on 3 August 1933 with the rank of staff nurse,[2] and was posted to Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot, and later to India for five years. In India, and later in Palestine and Egypt, she nursed military personnel, later returning to England. During the Second World War Cozens served in the United Kingdom and overseas,[1] and was awarded the Associate of the Royal Red Cross in 1943.[3]

Cozens was promoted from senior sister to junior commander on 1 February 1949.[4] She was appointed Commandant of the Army Nursing Corps Training Centre, Aldershot in 1955, awarded the Royal Red Cross in the 1958 New Year Honours,[5] and served as Assistant Director of Army Nursing Services Eastern Command from 1958. Cozens was appointed Matron-in-Chief/Director of Army Nursing Services from 1960.[1] On 23 July that year she was appointed Honorary Nursing Sister to The Queen.[6] She was appointed a Commander of the Order of St John of Jerusalem July 1961,[7] and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1963 New Year Honours.[8] Cozens relinquished her appointment as Matron-in-Chief on 27 July 1964,[9] and retired from the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps on 24 August.[10]

Cozens served as Chief Nursing Officer to the St John Ambulance Brigade in 1965–1966,[1] and was appointed Colonel Commandant of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps on 31 July 1966.[11] On 24 December 1966, having attained the age limit, she ceased to belong to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers, but retained the rank of brigadier.[12] Her tenure as Colonel Commandant expired on 31 July 1969.[13] She was advanced to a Dame of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in June 1971.[14]

Personal life

Never married, she retired to Canterbury, where she died in 1995, aged 88.[1]

References
  1. Machray, Jill (5 September 1995). "Obituary: Dame Barbara Cozens". Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  2. "No. 34025". The London Gazette. 20 February 1934. p. 1155.
  3. "No. 36033". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 May 1943. p. 2451.
  4. "No. 38545". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 February 1949. p. 990.
  5. "No. 41268". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1957. p. 34.
  6. "No. 42114". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 August 1960. p. 5515.
  7. "No. 42409". The London Gazette. 11 July 1961. p. 5106.
  8. "No. 42870". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1962. p. 6.
  9. "No. 43391". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 July 1964. p. 6397.
  10. "No. 43417". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 August 1964. p. 7256.
  11. "No. 44069". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 July 1966. p. 8609.
  12. "No. 44205". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1966. p. 6.
  13. "No. 44910". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 August 1969. p. 8025.
  14. "No. 45398". The London Gazette. 15 June 1971. p. 6324.
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