Page 312 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
of five RAVC and five WRAC personnel for perfor- mances at military tattoos in Northern Ireland, Liverpool and Birmingham was an incredibly ambitious venture, but one which was hoped to indelibly identify the Corps’ leading role in the preparation of war dogs. It was a sign of the times that there was a consideration surrounding the WRAC members leaving the Service to marry. It was recorded that ‘the girls selected to take part’ had to give a solemn oath not to get married before October. The popularity of the Kennel Maid and Groom trade amongst the WRAC recruits made it increasingly obvious how high a regard their roles were held in as the WRAC strength grew. There was wishful thinking on the part of some of the older inhabitants, that the swelling numbers meant possible postings to FARELF.
The Sgts' Mess reported the installation of sliding panels between the dining and television rooms, a lot more room was now available and this was especially useful on dinner nights.10 This was all part of a larger refurb that adopted a contemporary design which according to some was: ‘... most pleasing to the eye...though the diced ceiling took a little time to get accustomed to, especially on the way to the bar’.
While the Remount Depot saw the contractors move in to conduct a large scale drainage project, the Veterinary Hospital never had a dull moment over a full six-months dealing with equine influenza, pseudo strangles, ringworm, canine distemper and kennel cough in addition to the normal run of cases. They were also faced with the unusual cases too, including the case of canker in a horse’s hind foot and a case of a ruptured stomach also in a horse, not forgetting that a laryngeal ventriculectomy had been performed on several horses.
The War Dog Training School team – then comprising eight RAVC and six WRAC members – were about to depart on their tour of Military Tattoos – after making preliminary appearances in front of large audiences at a number of locations including the York Youth Rally. Once again, the School provided the facilities for the Dog Trials and appeared to satisfy the customers. Interest- ingly, the demonstrations showing the value of a security dog – portrayed in a highly topical pay grab – aroused interested members of the Civil Police who were there as spectators.11
The Depot has been a familiar sight on the Melton landscape, but another nostalgic part of
10 The Journal of The Royal Army Veterinary Corps Volume 36 No 1 Spring 1965.
11 The Journal of The Royal Army Veterinary Corps 36 No 2 Autumn 1965.
12 The Journal of The Royal Army Veterinary Corps Volume 37 No1 Spring 1966.
the local scene was, in 1965, fast disappearing the ‘Welby pyramid’. The pyramid was a mound of waste slag from the local steel works at Howell, a challenge for some personnel from the ‘Vet Camp’ to try and scramble to the very top, the heap being so tall, it was claimed it could be seen 15 miles away.
The silhouette against the evening sky backed by a setting sun, diminished daily under the incisors of bulldozers, to become hard core for the M1 and other major roadworks: ‘A blot on the landscape you might say, but how it will be missed, particularly, one suspects, by those of the hunting fraternity, who, when out of touch, only had to point the ‘ors’s head towards it, knowing full well they would end up near home’. It was one more familiar site that was disappearing as the new ideas and design took root. All were subject to many discussions, conferences and a great deal of bumph, all detailing the plans for the rebuild. All were guaranteed to receive daily comment and criticism. Maybe the feeling that with all things new there comes a need to hold on to something from the past, the Depot was particularly pleased to welcome Major Denys Danby who gave the Unit a lecture on The Origins of The War Dog Training School and also presented the Commandant with a collar worn by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s’ war dog. The collar was later presented to the RAVC Museum.
1966... In this year, the RAVC added some addi- tional ‘firsts’ to its history.
When the Equitation wing reported on its 19th Equitation Instructors Course, they made special mention of the first Nigerian Officer to attend.
Welcoming the RAF Dog Flight, Debden in November caused considerable excitement in the School but they couldn’t help being disappointed that the visitors were unwilling to demonstrate the RAF pattern baiting suit. Not prepared to leave it there, the School hoped to send a party to visit Debden to see how the other half of the Service trained their dogs. Sharing knowledge was a recurring theme in the Journals and in 1966 the WDTS also had visitors from the Metropolitan Police who showed particular interest in the Specialist dogs. And, while the Veterinary Hospital outlined the number of trades test completed and personnel on the move, they were also occupied working on an outbreak of ringworm.12
The following personal account that featured in the RAVC Journal in the spring of 1966 is very
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