Veronica Ashworth


Dame Veronica Margaret Ashworth, 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.

Early life and education

Ashworth was born on 25 December 1910. She was educated at St Katharine's School, an all-girls independent school in Wantage, Oxfordshire. 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.

Military career

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. During the Second World War, she served in Algiers, Tunisia and Italy, with a mobile field hospital.
Ashworth served as matron of the hospitals at RAF Wroughton and RAF Uxbridge in England, and at RAF Fayid in Egypt. She was awarded a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force on 1 February 1949 with the rank of flight officer. She was promoted to wing officer on 1 January 1958, and to group officer on 1 January 1961. 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. She was promoted to air commandant on 1 September 1963. She stepped down as Matron-in-Chief in 1966, and retired from the Royal Air Force.
In the 1959 Queen's Birthday Honours, Ashworth was appointed a Member of the Royal Red Cross, First Class. She was made an Honorary Nursing Sister to the Queen on 1 September 1963. In the 1964 New Year Honours, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.