Page 299 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
The move had no immediate effect on most of the soldiers, but it was a positive that would bode well for the future. Brigadier Andrew Roache wrote that the Agency status was, in his opinion: “...appropriate for a time. It served the DAC well, reflected the Unit’s importance and may have helped our efforts to secure a rebuild. The MOD has moved on, however, and the DAC with it. Recognised as an essential training establishment with a long-term future as a military unit. There is no need for further reviews of the DAC’s status.” The Brigadier went on to conclude, that no talk of the future would be complete without mention of the PFI rebuild at Melton. “Happily, it still moves along, but slowly as discussions involve more detail of provision and cost.”30
PART THREE
“Last one out, close and lock the gate”
It was not until July 2000 that the Minister for Armed Forces instructed the DAC PFI team to proceed to contract. “In other words,” said the Minister, “I am content for you to sort out the finer details and get on with the rebuild.”
This was tremendous news which Brigadier Andrew Roache reflected on in the summer 2000 issue of Chiron Calling when he said that it was time to: “... provide accommodation our people deserve and remove the financial burden that threatened the long-term viability of the Unit, but perhaps as importantly as anything, provide a concrete symbol of the faith that the Army and the Government has in the future role and performance of the Corps.”
In the ‘Director’s View’ it was also acknowl- edged that this latest attempt to secure a rebuild had taken six years; throughout the initial years working towards an agreement in principle and the following years seeing more detailed negotiation. One factor above all that had had been experienced by the Corps, and that had been in its favour, was the support and respect, that existed at the highest levels of Service. The RAVC was without doubt, held in the very highest regard.31
A Fond Farewell
So, finally it happened – the “Melton Rebuild” was about to be built and occupied. The old “Top Camp”, home of the Corps for fifty-six years, was vacated and turned to rubble, and from that phoenix rose some one hundred and twenty domestic dwellings. The old, hutted camp
became a memory, and all physical evidence of its existence erased forever. Military progress dictated it had to be and, finally, on 25th January 2002 some twenty-five or more years after visiting Adjutant General avowed that no soldier should live permanently in a wooden hut – the last hutted camp in permanent occupation by the Army, passed into nothingness.
Although the rebuild had been a promise made long ago, and looked forward to, the air of nostalgia hung heavy over the demise of the “Top Camp”. There is no better way to capture the emotion and memories than in a first-person account. Brigadier Andrew Roache dedicated his ‘Director’s View’ in Chiron Calling of summer 2000 to his ‘Fond Farewell’:
Built in 1938 for the duration of the Second World War, the “Top Camp” gave sterling service well beyond anyone’s expectations and was beloved by many who lived within its confines during their Service. Indeed, it survived some of the permanent brick and concrete accommodation blocks constructed in the great Aldershot rebuild of the 1960’s. If only its walls could have talked, what a story it could have told. The ghosts of the past walked its floors. I am sure I was not alone in recapturing memories of the long past whenever I entered the blocks, the Dining Hall or NAAFI. The memories would carry one along the way.
The ablutions block, stark and open and very communal – no room for modesty here – and the fight for hot water from systems never designed to support the needs of a block of soldiers demanding daily baths or showers. Barrack Rooms, beds twenty for permanent staff but in transit accommodation double bunked to forty – close living and comradeship. Wash, rinse and sterilise outside the dining hall – eating irons and mugs cleaned for the next meal. Portion control at the server – bread, two slices per day, butter occasionally and jam when lucky. Choice – take it or leave it. Not much was ever left! Snacks in the NAAFI served by homely and very dear ladies who were surrogate mums to many a young National Serviceman plucked from his natural habitat into the Corps family. They saw boys come and leave for foreign parts, and men return from demob two years later. They were without realising it, part of unit welfare support and looking back now, the unsung heroes never recognised at the time for the added value they gave to the life of the Unit.
Guard duty and the nightly ritual of Guard Mounting. Parading on the square, always one more than needed just in case. The adjudged best man stood down and relieved of further duty that night. Some paid “Bulling experts” to ensure this success; others paid a
30 Chiron Calling Winter 1998/1999 ‘Directors View’ by Brigadier Andrew H Roache. 31 Chiron Calling Summer 2000 ‘Directors View’ by Brigadier Andrew H Roache.
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