Page 120 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
Officers were brought under the directions of the newly formed Army Veterinary Department. In the same year the Army Veterinary School in Aldershot was founded: the event is commem- orated on a wooden plaque in the entrance hall of Fitzwygram House which reads: “This ‘School’ was founded through the representations of James Collins Esq, principal Veterinary Surgeon to the Forces and Major General Sir Frederick Fitzwygram, Bart FRCVS commanding the Cavalry Brigade, Aldershot, 1st June 1880”. Major General Fitzwygram was a published authority on farriery and care of horses. Fitzwygram House was purpose built, designed with laboratories, library and teaching and demonstration rooms. Its realisation paralleled developments at, what was by then, the Royal Veterinary College, built on the present-day site of the college’s Camden Town campus, which during the same period, the 1890s, and transformed itself from an infirmary into a research and teaching establishment with lecture and dissecting room. However, little of the original fabric of the Royal Veterinary College on Royal College Street, Camden, survives, having been largely rebuilt in the mid-1930s.
The building associated with the Army Veterinary School seems to fall into two phases of construction.FitzwygramHouseitselfpost-dates the four ancillary buildings which provided stabling and storage – the earliest of which are identified as the Infirmary Stables on the 1874 Ordnance Survey map. These are shown set within a trapezoidal enclosure and are on a different alignment to Fitzwygram House, which was completed by December 1899.
In 1903 the Army Veterinary Corps was formed to unit a nearly all Veterinary Officers under one badge, and to provide a trained soldier support base. In 1918 King George V conferred the title ‘Royal’ on the Corps in recognition of the enormous contribution it made in World War 1. Fitzwygram House and its surrounding buildings at Aldershot remained in use by the RAVC until 2013 when 101 Military Working Dog Squadron RAVC moved to its new location at Puckridge Barracks in Aldershot, before moving to its present location at North Luffenham.45
It was...the End of an Era at Fitzwygram House, as the following article in Chiron Calling in the autumn of 2013 confirmed:
The New Year heralds a new residence at Puckridge Barracks for 101 Military Working Dog Squadron. The RAVC remained located at Fitzwygram House.
45 Chiron Calling ‘Fitzwygram House – Aldershot’ Spring 2016.
46 Chiron Calling ‘End of an Era at Fitzwygram House’ Autumn 2013. 47 Chiron Calling ‘Royal Visit to Puckridge Barracks’ Autumn 2013.
Various vaccinations were developed at the Labora- tories. Mallein, the testing agent for Glanders, was developed by the RAVC and produced in laboratories until the early 1970s. Rinderpest in India was also brought under complete control by the AVS as result of a work conducted in these laboratories. As the building’s equestrian purposes came to an end, working dogs moved in to take over, and 101 Military Working Dog Squadron has remained there under various titles since. The grounds and the buildings have now been sold for redevelopment whilst preserving them in line with their Grade II listed status.
101 MWD Sqn moved to new purpose-built facilities at Puckridge Barracks, also in Aldershot, early in 2013.46
Royal Visit to Puckridge Barracks
It was by all accounts, a perfect day
for the visit from the Colonel in Chief
RAVC, HRH The Princess Royal, on
Tuesday 5th February 2013. Her
Royal Highness visited 101 MWD
Sqn RAVC to open the new Unit which had just moved from Fitzwygram House. Amongst those gathering to meet the royal guest were the Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Dame Mary Fagan DCVO and the Honorary Colonel Commandant RAVC, Brigadier Tom Ogilvie-Graham. Other guests included Aspire Services Civilian Contractors who were involved in the new build, and 60 serving members of 1 MWD Regt RAVC. HRH enjoyed meeting the handlers and MWD on parade and a curry lunch was enjoyed by all, following the Colonel in Chief ’s departure.47
The TRF worn by all 101 Logistic Brigade personnel – The ‘Blackadder’ after the famous BBC TV series of the same name.
The ongoing demand for MWDs to support Operations necessitated the addition of further kennels and facilities at the Unit’s new home and so a green field site on the outskirts of Aldershot Puckridge was selected. A bowl in the landscape was created to house 101 Sqn with offices, classrooms, storage areas, forty-five kennels and a veterinary facility. The need was so great that all
Puckridge kennel complex.
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