Page 37 - Chiron Autumn 2017

Letters to the Editor...
Dear Sir,
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the work you do with “Chiron Calling” and to let you know what a pleasure it is to receive my copy regularly in the post.
At 94 years of age, I have many wonderful memories of my experiences serving in the ‘Vet’s during WW2.
After volunteering in 1942 at the age of 17 and initially joining the West Yorkshire Regiment, I was “claimed” into the RAVC by one of my two elder brothers already serving.
Doncaster Field Hospital introduced me to working with horses. My C.O. upon learning I had never been on a horse, soon had me riding bareback down the straight mile of Doncaster racecourse. Using a surcingle I quickly progressed to cantering and galloping before ever using a saddle. Our 300 or so horses came mostly from the plains of Canada and were ‘broken’ somewhere in southern England before we got them. Each one of us had 6 horses to muck out, water, feed and exercise daily. A brief move down to Osmaston where the RAVC had its re-mount depot HQ was followed by a trip up to Scappa Flow to join a convoy which I later learned was bound for the Middle East, via the Cape. With the constant threat of u-boat attacks, the voyage was far from uneventful. One particular stormy night a rogue wave hit our ship (S.S. Sibajack) and burst open the loading doors. With the deluge of sea water rushing in and injuring many, we thought we had been torpedoed!
We arrived in Port Tu c (Tew k) and as part of 6 MVCS moved down to Birhasan
in Palestine. Alexandria was next and a trip aboard a French destroyer to join the effort in Italy. While the U.S. 5th army fought up the west side of the country, we joined our 8th. Army 46th. Div. and moved up the east side.
In one of the lighter moments of my wartime experiences, I remember coming under German shell re in one village while sitting in a circle of 6 colleagues. Instinctively we all ducked rapidly forward......my helmeted head colliding with my sergeant’s unprotected head and knocking him silly! He wasn’t amused!
We moved up to Cesa de Campano to supply the troops trying to take Monte Casino. The ‘vets’ did what they did best there using mules in the hills, mostly at night to re-supply. Not too long after that, while rounding up wild mules in the countryside on a scorching hot day, I remember being approached by an Italian farmer. “La Guerra e nita” he yelled. “Bellissimo!”
Duty continued for a while in Palma Nova, Northern Italy, looking after horses, mules and German P.O.W.s before eventual discharge at Melton Mowbray.
The RAVC was a very different entity all those years ago, with the emphasis on equine, rather than canine management which we have now.
To this day, I’m proud of my service with the ‘Vets’ and the wonderful opportunities which came along with it.
“Chiron Calling” magazine is a great connection with past and present for me.
Keep up the good work!
Pvt Richard Anthony (Tony) Hughes Doncaster
Good morning Abby,
Hope all is well with the Corps.
I stumbled across the picture above while looking through some
WW1 photos on the website. Maybe one of our readers might
recognise this photo?
Kind regards to all Major Steve Leavis
BOOK REVIEW
Forgotten Men: The Australian Army Veterinary Corps 1909-1946 by Michael Tyquin, Australia: Big Sky Publishing, 2011
Dr. Tyquin is a serving member of the Australian Army Reserve which he joined as medical assistant with the 4/19th Prince of Wales Light Horse. Of cial historian of the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Queensland’s Centre for Military and Veteran’s Health.
Forgotten Men is a detailed but very readable account of the signi cant contribution, from inception to dissolution, to the Australian Army of the AAVC in two world wars. One of the army’s smallest and least recognised corps, its humble beginnings and quiet work in the background belie the magnitude of the crucial role of the Corps to the combat effectiveness of the Australian Army. Supporting wartime operations and dealing with logistical issues never envisaged before 1915.
CHIRON CALLING 35