Page 100 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
the Island were used for racing and the owners entirely money orientated. The farriers had to convince them that good farriery and horse management was beneficial and consequently, they would have a better chance of winning races if their horses were in good health and well shod.
Students were soon seen adopting the basic principles of good shoeing and soon the instructors were confident in introducing corrective shoeing techniques. Ballerina syndrome and laminitis were common problems seen daily, although rarely seen in the British Army.28
During 1998 an AES handler, Cpl Martin Pashley RAVC, was tasked by JOCC to liaise and assist the SBA Police in an SBA Police CYPOL search for firearms, explosives and drugs at Tranchoni village. On arrival at the location the handlers were asked to carry out a search of the waste ground adjacent to the target’s address. As MWD “Charlie” began his search he gave a positive indication on some wood and rubble and the handler noticed what he thought was a plastic bag. The Police were alerted to where Charlie had also shown interest and further investigations revealed three blocks of Cannabis herb, weighing a total of 3 Kgs, a quantity of live rounds and two blocks of TNT with a number of slow burning fuses. It was decided by the SBA Police that a further detailed search must be conducted and as a consequence a vast amount of munitions and other drugs were recovered from various hides.29
Being called upon to operate on a lion, the VO in Cyprus in late 1998 was happy to step up. Performing a large hernia operation on a rather large lion was a welcome alternative from the norm of treating Service dogs, family pets and horses. When “Sultan” a mature lion living in a Cypriot zoo needed treatment, the Unit was asked to assist a colleague from the London based charity Born Free. Army VT Cpl Jason Barnes played a crucial part in the proceedings by anaes- thetising the beast after the London vet had knocked it out with a tranquilliser dart. Most of the surgery was performed by the CDASU vet, who also provided the equipment and drugs. Once inside, a melon sized hernia, and two other growths that had been troubling Sultan for some time were removed. And then after restoring the lion to full health, the team was asked to treat one of the zoo’s bears who had a rusted tether-ring in
28 Chiron Calling Summer 1997.
29 CDASU/J3/2 letter dated 23rd March 1998.
30 Extracted from Soldier Magazine dated December 1998. 31 Soldier Magazine dated October 1999.
its nose. The ring was removed and the bear given a manicure and pedicure and a thorough all-over body examination. All in a day’s work for the CDASU veterinary staff.30
The Cyprus community embraced the RAVC and in return the soldiers wanted to feed back to their neighbours. In They Must be Barking from Soldier Magazine in 1999, a fundraising idea took to the road:
Members of CDASU RAVC were given a great send off from four-legged friends Charlie, Jerome and Bess as they prepared to cycle round the Greek holiday island of Rhodes. On the five-day expedition SSgt Paul Williams, Sgt Tam Nicol and Cpl Robert Hart and three others raised money to help two Cyprus-based animal charities build kennels.31
The only problem the team encountered was that Rhodes was much smaller than anyone anticipated so the budding cyclists spent the time going around the island several times instead of just once. While raising money for the two animal charities the men were furthering their cycling, navigation and leadership skills by pedalling the circumference of the Island as many times as possible during the five-day expedition. Already the pre-training had been intensive with many miles covered cycling in and around the Troodos Mountain range to ensure the team were super fit for the challenge.
The 2001 Foot and Mouth (FMD) outbreak in the UK had a direct impact on activities in Cyprus. The closure of all UK training areas meant an increase in training sessions being undertaken overseas. RAVC TA Officers visited Cyprus providing Locum cover which gave them a chance to see how a really small Unit with such diverse operational commitments works. The All Island Working Dog Trials was due to be organised by the RAF but due to the burden placed on them that year they cancelled, so CDASU stepped in and organised the event, with a skeleton staff. With judges coming from the UK all Sections, except the RAF, entered teams. This included the SBA Police units from Episkopi and Dhekelia, the Security Force Police from Epi and Dhekelia, the RLC and JS Support Unit at Ayios Nikolaos. Held over two varying climatic days, the man work took place on a hot sunny day, the second day saw obedience and agility being conducted in the Sports Stadium at Happy Valley, with plenty of spectators surviving
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