Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Second War M.B.E. group of seven awarded to Sister Jean Rankin, Serbian Relief Fund, who served as a trained nurse at the Fund’s first hospital in Skopje, and later devoted her life and work to the Anglo-Serbian Children’s Home

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Civil) Member’s 2nd type, lady’s shoulder badge, silver, on lady’s bow riband; British War and Victory Medals (J. Rankin.); Serbia, Kingdom, Order of St. Sava, Fourth Class, lady’s shoulder badge, silver-gilt and enamel, Bishop in green robes, gilding almost all rubbed; Medal for Zeal, bronze-gilt; Order of the Red Cross, silver and enamel, with crown suspension, crown suspension detached but present; Cross of Charity, 1912 issue, gilt and enamel; together the related miniature for the M.B.E., generally very fine and better (7) £1,000-£1,400

M.B.E. London Gazette, 1 January 1946: Miss Jean Sawyer Rankin, British subject resident in Yugoslavia.

Miss Jean Sawyers Rankin, a native of Edinburgh, was an early member of the Serbian Relief Fund, a charity set up in 1914 to provide humanitarian relief to Serbia. She was amongst the first to volunteer to go to Serbia during the Great War, where she served with Lady Paget as a trained nurse in the Fund’s hospital in Skopje, from 1 April 1915 to 10 August 1920, assisting both soldiers and civilians throughout the war and afterwards.

As the Fund’s work came to an end in 1921, the committee invested its remaining funds into a purpose-built orphanage, which, after substantial building work, became the Anglo-Serbian Children’s Home. Its inauguration on 7 November 1926 was a national event, attended by Prince Paul and Princess Olga, government and church officials, British envoys and guests, alongside delegates of the Church of England and the Serbian Relief Fund. It was funded mainly by a proportion of the interest earned from the Fund’s final investment, alongside other donations.

Miss Rankin, alongside her friend Florence Maw, were responsible for the upbringing of the children, with a focus on discipline, practical training and traditional moral values. Children were bought up in the Orthodox tradition with both Serbian and British religious holidays being observed. Depending on the children’s potential and ability, they were directed towards apprenticeships, the army, engineering, nursing, commerce, teaching, law or religion.

During the Second World War Ranking lived a precarious life under German occupation, and it was a struggle to keep the children safe, not least with the Gestapo taking possession of the home until 1944, when the children were allowed to return. The post-War communist regime sought to undermine the home’s strong link with the Orthodox Church, which it saw as a threat to its attempt to impose their own ethos and values. These pressures lead to both Rankin and Maw’s resignations and the hand over of the home to the local authorities, after which they both retired on modest state pensions to a cottage in Dubrovnik. For her services in Serbia, she was awarded the Order of St. Sava on 9 October 1920; the Order of the Red Cross on 28 February 1921; and the Medal for Zeal on 30 May 1926.

Miss Rankin died in Dubrovnik on 18 December 1952, a few months before Florence Maw. In 1954, upon the initiative of a former staff member at the home, the local Orthodox Church erected a marble plaque with the following inscription: ‘To the Glory of God and in memory of Florence Maw and Jean Rankin who devoted their lives to the service of the children of Serbia, 1915-47.’

Sold with the original award certificates for the Orders of St. Sava, Medal for Zeal, a Serbian Relief Fund Certificate of Gratitude, original photographs of the recipient, the recipient’s death announcement notice, an original card King’s message to the Children of the Empire, a copy of The Quality of Mercy by Monica Krippner, with indexed reference to the recipient, and copied research.