Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

An Order of St John group of four awarded to Divisional Superintendent A. G. Ryder, Caterham St John Ambulance Brigade

The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Serving Brother’s breast badge, silver and enamels, the reverse engraved ‘Sopt. A. G. Ryder, Caterham Division S.J.A.B. 24th July 1942’; Defence Medal; Coronation 1937; Service Medal of the Order of St John, silver, straight bar suspension with four additional service bars (16814 D/Supt. A. G. Ryder. Caterham Div. No. 8 Dis. S.J.A.B. 1937) mounted for display, very fine (4) £140-£180

Order of St John, Serving Brother, London Gazette 1 January 1943.

Alfred George Ryder was born on 27 June 1901, and joined the Caterham Division of the St John Ambulance Division as a Private on 12 December 1922, and was promoted to Corporal in February 1927. At this time Superintendent ‘Riley and his enthusiastic band did not of course possess motor (or even horse) ambulances. When they were notified of an illness or accident, two men would leave the Ambulance Station pushing between them a wheeled litter. This was a strange looking trolley which supported a stretcher covered with something like a pram hood and running on solid wheels. At that time the Caterham and District Hospital was the nearest General Hospital and admitted accident cases. Normally there was no resident physician, but a local G.P. was called in to give whatever treatment was necessary.

This means of transport survived until 1928 when the first motor ambulance was obtained. The move was precipitated by an accident where a girl was knocked down and quite seriously injured in War Coppice Road. George Ryder and Mr Smith were called out and ran pushing the litter all the mile and a half - uphill nearly all the way - only to find that when they arrived a passing car had taken the casualty away.’ (A copied typescript history of the Caterham Division, included with the Lot, refers.)

George Ryder was promoted to Ambulance Officer in June 1933, and became Divisional Superintendent of the Caterham Division in May 1934. Ryder was in charge of the A.R.P. Ambulance Section during the 1939-45 War. Headquartered at the Ambulance Station at the beginning of the war, he later moved his H.Q. to Waterdene. When the A.R.P. became Civil Defence, Ryder continued to run this after the war until his death. In 1947, the Surrey Ambulance Service was formed and some St John Stations were to become part of the Service, George Ryder being one of them, a position he held until his death in February 1962.

Sold with an extensive file of research including several copied photographs.