Page 26 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
the sick and wounded animals caught up in the fighting. Yes, the efforts were crude and ‘ad hoc’, essentially because the Depots were inadequately manned but they did amount to a significant improvement on anything that had gone before. In fact, the care of the horses and mules was such that it was commented on, in positive terms, by the Commander-in Chief, Sir Robert Napier.
Aldershot – 1880 and beyond
In 1880 the Army Veterinary School was created at Aldershot. Its remit – to instruct combatant officers in the care and management of army animals, basic veterinary first aid and the guidelines to apply when selecting remounts. The School also trained probationary Veterinary Officers in military duties; instructing them on the most common diseases (with an emphasis on tropical diseases) and conditions that affected army animals. The teaching also included the Farriers attached to regiments. They received instruction as Veterinary Hospital Assistants.4
By 1881, the formation of the Army Veterinary Department followed the abolition of the regimental system of employing veterinary surgeons – the one exception being the Household Cavalry. From this point on, all Army Veterinary Surgeons were to wear the same uniform and be placed on the same list.5 A decade later, the civilian title of Principal Veterinary Surgeon was altered to that of Director General Army Veterinary Department and with it came a sense of progress and a feeling that the more enlightened voices were being heard. This was supported by the War Establishment of 1888 deeming it necessary to have one Sick Horse Hospital located to the rear of each Corps.
Sadly, a decade later, in 1898, the Army Field Establishments reversed every positive step by simply and decisively removing the provision for the care of sick and wounded animals on the battlefield.
One small saving grace to emerge from this negative intervention was the consolidation of the rules surrounding the provision of remounts. This came into effect with the outbreak of the Anglo Boer War (1899 – 1902) but the changes meant that care of the sick and wounded horses was, more or less, left to the men on the ground. Broadly speaking, what was instigated in 1888 was put into effect but the Sick Horse Hospital was also to
double as a Remount Depot – a decision that was to prove disastrous. The terrible reality was that healthy remounts were mixed with the diseased and the sick.
To compound the problem, there was a severe lack of qualified personnel. Employing civilian veterinary surgeons who had no military experience only resulted in reversing the animal welfare situation on the battlefield to the horrors witnessed by the British Army in campaigns fought a hundred years before.6 The Boer War was a debacle with only semblances of veterinary organ- isation available at first. As the war progressed an injection of funding made it possible to acquire local horse stock which proved to be an important turn for the better and once put into practice and improved what was a completely dire situation. It was estimated that 67% of horses and 35% of mules perished during the war.7
Demands for Change Ahead of World War One
Post Boer War pressure from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, politicians, animal welfare campaigners and outraged members of the public forced changes in the AVS. Popular literature of the time, such as Anna Sewell’s novel, Black Beauty, published in 1877, presented a truth about the poor treatment of war horses that first shocked then rallied people to attack the government and the military to raise the standards of equine welfare. It was a loud and clear call that could not be ignored.
This impetus resulted in the granting of a Royal Warrant on 5th October 1903 and the creation of an Army Veterinary Corps, comprised of NCOs and soldiers to be employed specifically on veterinary duties. Simultaneously, pay and conditions were improved for the Officers of the AVS. In March 1906, more measures were introduced to improve the Service including the amalgamation of the Army Veterinary Department and the Army Veterinary Corps to become one dedicated organ- isation – the Army Veterinary Corps (AVC). For the first time, the British Army then had a fully integrated veterinary service comprising Officers and soldiers to provide professional care to the military’s animals. The beginnings of the evolution of the Territorial Force Veterinary Service, through the Haldane Reforms, were also put in place and Veterinary Hospitals were established at Aldershot, Bulford, Woolwich and the Curragh
4 Ibid. p.170.
5 Ibid. p. 174.
6 Ibid. pp. 202-203.
7 The History of The Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1919 – 1961 by Brigadier Clabby OBE MRCVS, 1963, J A Allen and Co.
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