Page 155 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
hundred personnel with one hundred dogs. In 1993, the Gripper Team, dogs and handlers, especially those trained in riot control, were also disbanded.
One piece of good news came in the 1993 New Year Honours List announcing that Cpl Tsang Moon Cheun was to receive the British Empire Medal for his continued and valuable service with the Border Detachment. But it was one piece of good news to hold onto very tightly because almost everyone was feeling the planned drawdown picking-up pace.
In the withdrawal of British Troops from the Colony, a further sixty soldiers were declared redundant and by October 1994 the Unit was scheduled to be absorbed into the HKMSC Defence Unit with a much reduced establishment of fifty-six personnel – comprising one UK RAVC Officer as OC and VO, one WO2 as a 2IC and CSM, one UK RAVC Dog Trainer SSgt, fifty-two HKMSC Soldiers rank ranged WO2 to Pte, one civilian clerk and forty Guard dogs.38
Except for the Drugs dogs, all specialist dog resources were to be lost, and the task of the Guard dogs was to provide security for the much reduced military real estate at Stonecutters Island, Sek Kong Garrison, Casino Lines and the Stores Depot at Blackdown Barracks.
By virtue of the Treaty, the need to withdraw from Hong Kong was not a surprise, neither was it a sudden and dramatic axing of personnel, something that other sectors of the British Forces were facing. Nevertheless, there was sadness and, dare I say it, a reluctance to pack-up and leave such an excellent and efficient Corps Unit and the long-established friendships with our Hong Kong soldiers who proudly wore our badge and served us so loyally. To see and feel this vibrant community run into a twilight existence was, to say the least, difficult.
During the Year of the Dog in 1994, the Unit maintained its responsibility for training handlers for the disciplined Services and the Gurkha Reserve Unit from Brunei. Many community relations projects were completed, although commitments to that side of the Unit’s life in the Colony had to sensibly tail-off with the exception of the popular kennel visits.
The Hong Kong Services Saddle Club was rented out to a private consortium and all who had anything to do with the Saddle Club will breathe a sigh of relief, not least this writer (then WO2 Chris Ham), who had the tedious task of maintaining the Club’s non-public Service Funds Accounts. The most important assets of the Unit
– its dogs – were live cast to reduce the scale of the Unit. The specialist dogs were taken on by their handlers, the younger dogs were gifted into the good hands of the Hong Kong Correctional Services Department and some of the Guard dogs were donated to civilian security firms.
On schedule, the HK DASU was subsumed into HQ and Depot HKMSC on 2nd October 1994 – the RAVC Unit commanded by Lt Col James Southward OBE and also Captain Damien Bush RAVC, who was very much the Officer Commanding DASU. The Unit still provided the daily business of canine support, despite the loss of many of the familiar barracks such as Perowne, Blackdown and Gallipoli. The closure of the RMP, ADP and CSOS Dog Sections meant that the Unit’s commitments had changed and was only then providing cover at just four locations.
Captain Damien Bush RAVC, as well as being an accomplished Officer Commanding and a vet, was also an artist and before his departure from Hong Kong he produced a large oil painting – a montage of the HKMSC at work. The wonderful painting, which was on display at the National Army Museum, depicted every Arm of the HKMSC including a RAVC dog handler patrolling a perimeter fence line, as well as a Sweep dog team following illegal immigrants through the swamps on the Hong Kong – Sino Border.
The sad fact that exists with any drawdown of Forces is the reduction of personnel. The drawdown in Hong Kong resulted in over seven- ty-seven DASU soldiers being made redundant. Most adjusted very well to civilian life. Several had passed out as best recruits with either the Police or Correctional Services, which was attributed to the high standards of the DASU. Despite the reduction in manpower, the Unit still won the Inspectors Cup Football Competition, much to the dismay of the larger units!
Ironically, the Unit was still receiving Commen- dations for its work in 1994 – although not necessarily for catching illegal immigrants. In November that year, LCpl Ng Ka Kit apprehended a thief who had attacked a diamond salesman. The company salesman was returning to his Office in Queens Road, Central District when he was attacked by three assailants, one of them armed with a knife. The victim was assaulted and robbed of several packets of diamonds, valued at half a million HK dollars. On recovering from the assault, the victim gave chase but one of the
38 Depot HKMSC ORBAT dated 30th September 1993.
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