Page 311 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
popular. Battle dress and denims are out and gladly forgotten.”
1964... Once more the WDTS was passing through a difficult period regarding its workforce. Un- expected moves of Dog Trainers to Cyprus and Borneo had reduced the School’s strength to half a dozen men. It was now that the training of the WRAC Kennel Maids began to pay dividends.
The women’s assistance in continuation training had been a tremendous asset and they relieved the dwindled-down training staff enabling those left to carry out other important duties. The Civil Police made frequent calls requesting the School’s Trackers – oddly enough generally at weekends or in the early hours of the morning. In one instance a Tracker dog, during a very dark night, tracked and found a missing girl under a hedgerow. The child was a full two miles away from the farm house from where she had disappeared.
The Remount Depot and Veterinary Hospital continued to function much as they had done. A note was added to the records later in the year saying that ‘the usual visitors joined us for the hunting season and the total horse strength was reported as about two hundred’. Luckily, the weather was milder that year so few events were abandoned due to the frost. Activities on the farm side of things took advantage of this too, so essential repairs to the fencing and hedging were completed as planned. New horse shelters were promised which enabled staff to use even the most exposed paddocks in the winter months. One of the shelters was ear-marked for a dual purpose; coming in useful when, as it was put: “... the School’s VIP visitors could take shelter from Melton’s icy blast when watching demonstra- tions!”
Change...was a word so very commonly used during this period of the Corps’ history and there was no escape from the need to adapt. A SNCO who was training a ride of WRAC found it difficult to amend normal riding school terms. According to the Journal entry: He was often heard to shout: “Dress by the right hand, man,” and the pretty blonde or brunette on the right would sometimes blush.8
A period of change was reflected on the Melton Mowbray landscape too as a wide open space was there as a reminder of where the Officers Mess once stood before it was gutted by fire in March. Despite the prompt action of Depot staff and the local Fire Brigade, the building and a number of
8 The Journal of The Royal Army Veterinary Corps Volume 35 No 1 Spring 1964.
9 The Journal of The Royal Army Veterinary Corps Volume 35 No 2 Autumn 1964.
paintings were lost but, thankfully there was no loss of life and most of the ‘silver’ was saved. The fire happening just before the impending visit of HRH The Princess Royal, presented a major problem. However, with commendable speed, ‘the men from the Ministry’ provided a smaller, but all agreed, a more comfortable Mess in the wing adjacent to the tennis court.
Events in the show ring were impressive with the RAVC continuing to fly the flag with Sgt Jim Crawford proving successful at several shows. Down the hill, the WDTS, despite the ‘Trainer drain’ drafted ninety-seven dogs and the order books remained full. The Veterinary Hospital was kept busy with a flush of catarrh and adenitis in new remounts and an outbreak of distemper in intake dogs. Everyone was at full stretch including the Remount Depot having nearly one hundred acres of hay harvested without a spot of rain. Two Sergeants had practically become attached to the tractor and attempted to speak knowledgably about things such as sprockets, string bale tension and other former mysteries.
There was one disappointment, after a hard period of training for the Royal Tournament and the horses hitting form, and that was the outbreak of an infectious disease that forced the Depot to withdraw from the competition. But the chance of success did not elude the School of Farriery; the exceptional performance gaining the School second place in the National Hunters Farriery Competition.9
1965... ‘A new vet as OC at the War Dog Training School found his office very cold but his seat hot’.
The Journal recorded:
The current cry of ‘all change’ leads one to wonder whether this is Melton Mowbray or Crewe, amidst a welter of postings. Despite this, the Depot reported a successful Corps Weekend held in August with the usual farriery competition and this year a new venture, the Army Guard Dog Trials open to all UK Units holding Guard dogs, with the Challenge Cup being presented by Messrs. Petfoods. The long Equitation course was again well subscribed, and the Commandant kept a weather eye on the remounts, it was suspected he was shrewdly assessing their hunting potential.
Clearly the battles fought to get started on the new dogs’ cookhouse were worthy of a few lines in the Journal and the excitement surrounding the laying of the foundations was likely connected with the intensive training programme that was also under way. Preparing a demonstration team
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