Page 179 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
summer of 1969. A garrison of 5,000 personnel included the RAVC’s Deputy Director Army Veterinary and Remount Services and a Staff Sergeant were already in situ when the first RAVC Operational section was formed in 1973, but for the dogs and handlers deployed during Operation BANNER the ferocity of conflict in NI proved a unique challenge.
The new ADU NI Unit was based at Long Kesh Detention Centre, formerly a World War Two RAF Air Base on the outskirts of Lisburn, nine miles (14km) from Belfast. In use from 1971 – 2000 the site became more widely known as HMP Maze (or, locally, ‘The Maze’) after its official renaming – on 1st March 1976.
The name change coincided with a statement from the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Merlyn Rees, announcing the end of the Special Category Status for convicted paramil- itary-linked prisoners. On that same date, after four years of having the same privileges as those available to internees, ‘internment’ ended. From then on, anyone convicted of “scheduled terrorist offences” was to be housed in one of the eight new ‘H-Blocks’ specially built for the purpose on the Long Kesh site. It was a location that came to be, in media terms at least, a symbol of the Troubles.
As an Operational Unit, ADU NI RAVC would normally have come under the direction of G3 HQ NI, however, due to the OC also having the title Deputy Director Army Veterinary Remount Services (DDAVRS) it fell under G1/G4 HQ NI direction and the first challenge to face the Directorate was the lack of handlers and dogs to meet the high level of demand.
Initially, only 40 dog handlers were available to support the vital role of guarding the internment camp at Long Kesh and Magilligan Prison in County Londonderry which held both Loyalist and Republican prisoners. This shortage situation had been brewing through the 12-months preceding the formation of the Army Dog Unit in NI, as Corps personnel from across the world, were redirected in order to support the RAVC Training Centre where the focus was on producing more highly trained dogs, especially AES dogs and Trackers.
The demand created a problem – the Corps could not deliver enough trainers as guard dog handlers because their skills were needed in training dogs for other commitments. It became obvious that Regimental handlers – referred to as E2 handlers4 – were desperately needed. These
volunteers, who came from all Regiments and Corps, were generally dispatched to the Province for a two-year tour of duty and instructed in Guard Dog handling duties as required at HMP Maze. However, in time, as the ADU NI grew and matured the E2 personnel also graduated for selection to become specialist handlers alongside the RAVC’s own.
During 1973 dog numbers increased to 130 with dogs being active throughout the Province. The dogs took the roles of Guard dogs – normally the German Shepherd – and the normally less aggressive Labrador, often called ‘sniffers’ (much to the irritation of the RAVC), proved themselves perfectly suited to the role of Search dogs. The Bloodhound’s melancholy expression and lethargic lope often belies their strong capability for tracking down human prey. Their extremely keen sense of smell, led to the capture of many IRA suspects during Op BANNER. That exercise alone, without the advantage of a dog, would have tied up more than 100 soldiers.5
DDAVRS, Major Brian Thompson pointed out (in 1973) that one of the most important uses for dogs in Northern Ireland was in the detection of hidden explosives, arms, and ammunition. The search dogs’ activities accounted for tonnes of explosives, dozens of rifles and many thousands of rounds of ammunition being discovered which translated into many military and civilian lives saved. With unswerving accuracy, dogs led disbe- lieving searchers to the most unlikely spots6 and this continued to be the case wherever the dogs were posted for duty.
The dogs were always the source of surprise and sometimes trouble too. The first Officer Commanding the ADU was Captain Gerry Quigley BEM who arrived in late June 1973 from BAOR (the British Army of the Rhine). He was succeeded by Major Bill Berridge RAVC who held the post of OC for three years before departing to the RAVC Training Centre in Melton Mowbray in 1978. Major Berridge had a reputation for being a harsh disciplinarian, something that still lingers in the minds of the new recruits of the day. He once charged a young handler for misappropriating a can of dog food to feed a stray that had wandered (or more likely, had been smuggled) into the camp. On receiving his harsh punishment, the handler was asked if he had anything to say. His reply was “Thank f--- I didn’t take the biscuits!”
The handlers would always do anything for the dogs but outside the Corps opinions surrounding
4 A term used by the Army for personnel who are not employed in their primary military trade.
5 Soldier Magazine February 1973.
6 Ibid.
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