Page 285 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
CHAPTER 18
Melton Mowbray: Leaning to Home
“More than once the Corps has peered into the abyss and only with wise guidance, fast footwork and astute direction did we step back and regroup.”1 [Brigadier Andrew Warde]
For a military estate that was never given a for- mal Barrack name the Melton Mowbray site has been the focus of much controversy, jealousy, threatened take overs, broken promises, and hard-fought victories. For well over a century the spread of over 300 acres of land in Leicester- shire has cradled the people and the animals that have served alongside the British Armed Forces in conflicts worldwide. Through all those years, the land still remained under threat like a stag stalked by relentless hunters. But all attempts to cull it failed for one reason: it is the place the RAVC calls home.
All those who have proudly served on the Melton site take its soil in their veins and with that, a passion to defend it to the end.
PART – ONE
Army Remount Depot Number 3
In 1887 the Army Remount Service was set up to ensure the uniformity and suitability of the horses purchased for use by the Army, and to provide their training, but it wasn’t until 1905, when Arthur Balfour ’s Conservative government purchased the present DAC site for utilisation by the Remount Service, that the Army first took ownership of the Melton Mowbray site. On 1st June 1903 the site was formally designated Remount Depot Number 3.
It was done as part of an extensive ‘after action’ review following the Boer War (1899 – 1902) and in that review Melton was utilised as a holding and convalescence depot for Cavalry Regiments embarked on overseas expeditionary operations. The role of Remount Depot for horses continued after the First World War (1914 – 1918), despite extensive demobilisation and reductions in animal numbers.
The mechanisation of the British Army during the 1930s reduced the Army’s need for horses
through the Second World War (1939 – 1945), although mules were still used extensively as pack animals in rough terrain, particularly in Burma and Italy. The switch that took place at the outbreak of World War Two was a decline in the use of horses and an emphasis on the utilisation of dogs.
Military Working Dogs moved to Melton Mowbray formally in 1946 when it became the de facto ‘home of the RAVC’. This tied in with the re-location of other elements of the service during the 1940s.
The Old HQ camp site on Elmhurst Avenue was built in 1939 as part of the Governments policy to build militia camps in the UK. Later it was used for the Airborne Division as part of the Arnhem plan, and the RAVC depot moved from Doncaster racecourse in 1942 following bombing, where it had temporarily been relocated as a war measure. The RAVC Hospital moved there in 1945 following extensive bombing in Aldershot during World War Two. In 1941 the Army Veterinary Services (AVC) assumed responsibility for the Remount Services, therefore inheriting the Melton Mowbray location. All of this was in place by the time the dogs arrived. The Army Dog Training School (ADTS), under RAVC control, was absorbed into the centre in 1947, the dogs’ kennelling being located in the old equine isolation stables.
During the World Wars the AVC and RAVC were substantial in manpower numbers providing a vital service to the Army, most notably with the horses during World War One. As said previously, the Army’s mechanisation during the interwar period led to a decline in the use of horses and mules and, although dogs were used in the trenches on the Western Front, their contribution at that time, compared to later conflicts, was negligible. Naturally, the decline in the need for
1 Comment by Brigadier Andrew Warde Chiron Calling, Winter 2001/2002 – Directors View.
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