Page 23 - Chiron Spring 2020
P. 23

 SE25160 Pte Leonard Moon AVC
Maj Drew Tootal RAVC
 We seem to live our lives at a hectic pace nowadays. The next meeting, the next deadline, got to make that appointment – our lives are spent rushing from one thing to the next. Every once in a while, something happens which makes us really stop, think, and reflect.
Just such a thing happened when a letter was received at the DATR from the Rev (Retd) John Moon. Now 96, and born and bred in rural Lincolnshire, Rev Moon had missed the horrors of the First World War. His father SE25160 Pte Leonard Moon, however, had not and being accustomed to working in the rural environment and with horses, he was enlisted into the Army Veterinary Corps in 1917, serving in several locations including France until his discharge in 1918.
The subject of Rev Moon’s letter was to donate the personal effects of his father into the care of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps and so on 22 Jul three personnel from DATR drove to Lincolnshire with MWD Mick in tow. While the predominant function of the AVC was to care for horses during WW1, it was felt that meeting one of today’s Military Working Animals might be a nice surprise.
Among the effects of Pte Moon were his British and Victory medals, a silver cigarette case given to him by members of a local village (even though he never smoked!), and his veterans war badge he received for being honourably discharged due to injury. In the picture of him taken in uniform he can be seen to have lost a finger. An intensely private man, whenever questioned about how he had lost it, it was “cutting up turnips on the farm”. For his injuries he was given a war pension of 40 shillings per week.
Also within his belongings were his military spurs which, on close examination, had small French coins instead of rowels. These were dated 1917 and 1918 and are thought to be 10 centime pieces.
A freshly bathed MWD Mick waiting to meet Rev Moon!
Maybe it was frontline fashion, maybe Pte Moon was an accomplished horseman and didn’t need pointed spurs? We will likely never know but it was certainly an interesting finding.
Many of the records surrounding Pte Moon’s service were lost during the Blitz,
Many of the records surrounding Pte Moon’s service were lost during the Blitz, but these few precious items remain
but these few precious items remain. They have been gifted to the Museum of Military Medicine where they will be properly catalogued. This done, it is hoped that many of the items will be returned on loan
to the DATR and to the Melton Carnegie museum where they can be seen and appreciated by future generations.
Pte Moon was very reluctant to talk about his service, but Rev Moon clearly remembers him shouting out in his sleep “The Bombs, the Bombs!!”. We can only imagine the experiences he had, but what struck me most when receiving that initial letter was that without these stories, history is just that – history. It risks losing its meaning and relevance unless it comes with stories like the ones associated with Pte Moon. If we lose that connection with the past, then we risk losing the lessons from it to our detriment. It was our great privilege to meet Rev Moon, and I hope that all reading this will take a moment to reflect about the past, and maybe think about the events of today that will make the stories of the future.
    LCpl Howorth, MWD Mick, Rev John Moon and Maj Tootal
MWD Mick behaving impeccably
 CHIRON CALLING 23


















































































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