Page 234 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
In 1994, Switzerland was the destination for members of the Corps who were ready to pit their skills against a mainly Swiss Army contingent in the Bellinzona Military Patrol Competition. In the following article by Captain Iain R B Rose RAVC (V), for the winter 1994/95 issue of Chiron Calling, the versatility of the RAVC, even within the confines of a competition, comes to the fore.
Bellinzona – The Second Attempt
The RAVC team competed in the Bellinzona Military Patrol Competition again this year (1994). The competition, postponed from May, was held in Switzerland over the weekend of 22nd – 24th October.
The team comprised Captains Graeme Cooke and Iain Rose – stalwarts of last year’s attempt – and Private Iain Carnegie, a recent transfer from the Infantry, who proved to be an excellent substitute for Farrier Sergeant Ivan Bell who was not available. Able support was provided by Private Daniel Graham who was our primary driver for the overland journey to Bellinzona.
In this third year of the competition, sixty-six teams registered. Mainly they were home teams from the Swiss Army (mainly reservists) but a number came from Italy, Holland, Germany, USA, UK, Russia and the Czech Republic. The competition is designed to assess the military skills of the Swiss Army against foreign soldiers; encourage the spirit of friendship and permit the exchange of ideas between different nationalities. An aim clearly met.
The actual competition took place on Saturday and, after a check that teams were correctly attired in uniform, carrying webbing, and issued with the necessary items of equipment such as tabards, maps, compasses etc, the teams were dispatched at two-minute intervals to navigate the course from one grid reference to the next. At each point there was a task and there were twelve such points in all. Tasks covered were: AFV recognition, Tactical map symbol recognition, Dragon anti-tank weapon simulator, Combat Shooting, a 25-metre pistol shoot, Grenade throwing, Aeroplane recognition, Commando march, Paramedic exercise/Practical First Aid test, a Topographical test and an Atomic-Chemical Test – “survive to fight”.
Overall, the RAVC team finished ninth among the foreign entry, a drop of four places from last year, but the competition distance was greater and so it took double the time – eight hours – to complete. Nevertheless, the venture was successful from the point of raising the profile of the RAVC and demonstrating the versatility of its members. Participation in future events should be encouraged to capitalize on the high calibre of experienced soldiers found within the Corps. This
would doubtless enhance our too-long-concealed- under-a-bushel image.11
As the 1990s drew to a close, the call of Nepal was too much to resist for ten RAVC soldiers who signed-up for Ex HIMALAYAN TIGER. This Exercise made history by being the first to be organised entirely by the Corps. Staff Sergeant Paul Williams shared his experience in the winter 1999/2000 issue of Chiron Calling:
Exercise HIMALAYAN TIGER
Ten RAVC personnel set off from Aldershot on 11th November 1999 bound for the Himalayan region of Nepal. Ex HIMALAYAN TIGER was to be an opportunity of a lifetime for the team.
An 18-day trek from Jiri (1890m) in the lower Himalayan region, through deep-sided valleys covered in dense forest, across vast rivers, and moving upwards onto the famous Sagarmatha National Park, where the vegetation was sparse. It was here that the serious high-level ascent to our final objective – the trekking peak Kala Patthar, at 5,545metres – would begin. Living under canvas, drinking bottled water that still had to be sterilised and eating food provided by Sherpas – it was not for the fainthearted.
The expedition was inspired by WO2 Sid Gillam a keen, avid, and experienced outdoor man and it was the first event of its kind totally organised by the Corps. Captain Richard Pope, OC Expedition, was tasked to raise funds, which he achieved admirably alongside some commercial sponsorship.
A call for volunteers received an excellent response and a pre-training assessment was carried out in April 1999 at Capel-Curig in the Snowdonia National Park. Fifteen hopefuls were all put through their paces. So impressive was the motivation and keenness that all were offered a provisional placing. Unfortunately, military commitments meant four had to opt out and then one suffered an injury and suddenly we were down to ten.
So it was that the Ex HIMALAYAN TIGER team comprised – OC Exped Capt Richard Pope, Exped Leaders, Major Paul Marks, WO2 Sid Gillam, SSgt Paul Williams, Exped medic Cpl Iain Carnegie, with the remainder of the team being Capt Guy Farland (TA Veterinary Officer), Cpls Jay Rowlinson and Andy Strange plus our only female on the team, Pte Ceri Baker. After completing necessary preparations such as vaccinations and visas etc, the expedition team congregated at
11 Chiron Calling dated Winter 1994/1995.
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