Page 198 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
adjacent to NHST, simply tossed a coffee jar bomb, (comprising the necessary components to initiate the high explosives and metal fragmentation contained within), down between the handlers and their dogs. Geordie O’Neil, who was due to retire from the Army six months later, was killed instantly. Darren Swift received life changing injuries but continues to this day to lead a full and rewarding life, despite the loss of his legs. Their dogs, Blue and Troy, were badly injured but later made a full recovery.
This had been a well-planned attack on the handlers that Bank Holiday, the Mk 15 improvised grenade was a hand thrown fragmentation grenade contained typically in a coffee jar made of glass, used first in early May 1991, and was used in several hundred attacks on Security Forces. A larger form was made from a sweet jar, but this type of device was found to be too heavy to be thrown accurately, there was a danger though they could be dropped from above on vehicles or personnel. One of the most sinister factors of the Troubles, for any soldier, was the terrorist’s preference for ordinary household objects to transform into deadly weapons.
As with many other operations it was with great sadness that the Corps announced the death of LCpl John Murphy, who regrettably took his own life in the Province in early January 2007. John’s smiling face and good natured humour has been sorely missed by his family and all those that knew and worked in the company of him.
On the 15th November 2000, members of the Army Dog Unit, past and present, gathered once again, this time at HMP Maze. After 27 years of providing essential security support to the Prison Service, the ADU prepared to lower its flag for the final time. Many of the prisoners those convicted of acts of terrorism had been released under the NI Peace Agreement, brokered as part of the Good Friday Agreement, and it was under the same terms that The Maze was ordered to close. Whether the dog handlers knew it as Long Kesh Detention Centre, Kesh, HMP Maze, or the ‘H-Blocks’, their time on duty provided a secure and impenetrable ring around the complex where they patrolled for hours upon hours in all winds and weathers during the dead of the night and in dense fog that often blanketed the complex. It was, without doubt, a memorable experience.
Veterans may recall their tour with a certain ‘rainy’ fondness and at a time when friendships were forged in a raw environment where the
challenges were made bearable only because they shared a great camaraderie. This close teamwork was clearly displayed often recalled in terms of Op TODBER (known more familiarly to the soldiers as ‘Op Todger’), patrolling for hours upon hours in all winds and weathers during the dead of the night and dense fog that often blanketed the complex. Only those who have served there will recall what it was truly like, those walls – and the feeling, ironically, unlike the prisoners, of being safer inside than out.
Operation BANNER: Zero Hour
On the wind down to an inevitable ending there was a flash of something to celebrate when, after nearly three years of planning, designing and endless discussion, the first sod of earth for the new kennels in Ballykelly was eventually turned in early March 2004. This was an incredible 22 months after Major Mark Morrison RAVC had submitted a Statement of Need to the powers that be at HQNI. A write-up in the Spring 2005 issue of Chiron Calling, expressed everyone’s relief at seeing “...the contractors finally being put to work’. Its celebratory tone also reflected the eternal truth that, as with so many things in the military, the staffing process to ensure all checks and balances are duly completed takes a long time. All ADU NI personnel agreed that it was good to see the state- of-the-art kennels, finally occupied by their hard working, well-deserving dogs.
Formally opened to a bit of a fanfare on 13th December the same year, Major Matt Sheriff RAVC invited 8th Infantry Brigade Commander, Brigadier Gordon (Late RWF) to ‘cut the ribbon’ and say a few words. The Brigadier took the opportunity to remark on the high standard of care provided by the new kennels and was quick to praise the work of ADU NI RAVC within his Brigade TAOR, and the wider Province.41 Recognition was also given to the accom- plishments of Major Morrison, Major Melissa Bowerman, and Major Matt Sherriff, together with the invaluable assistance of their staff. Only three years later, after so much hard work and planning, the new kennels closed with the departure of the Unit from NI.
Regretfully, the wonderful kennels became home to only a few solitary spiders. The modular design facilitated their transfer to North Luffenham, but sadly this did not materialise. Equally, the fantastic soldier accommodation that was ear marked for Kinnegar Army base did not relocate. The tiny window for celebration was firmly shut and it
41 Chiron Calling Article Spring 2005.
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