Page 330 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
amputations, partial splenic torsion, gastric foreign body removal, an oral tumour requiring cryosurgery and an idiopathic haemopericardium.
As you can see from the above outline the Services Veterinary Hospital is a busy establishment with a wide variety of activities taking place. We try to provide the highest standards of veterinary care for the animals for which we are responsible, and are always looking for ways to improve our service.38
1996... The Royal Visit: 200th Anniversary Visit by Her Majesty The Queen
Her Majesty The Queen visited the RAVC at Melton Mowbray on 28th June 1996.
After a wet start to the day the weather had consid- erably improved by the time Her Majesty arrived at 2.30 pm. The radiance of The Queen’s smile and obvious enjoyment of the visit, more than compensated for the indifferent weather. The visit to the Defence Animal Centre, although part of a day spent in Leicestershire, arose from a request by the Director, Brigadier Paul Jepson, that Her Majesty visit the Corps in the 200th anniversary year of the Army Veterinary Service. Although prior commitments prevented Her Majesty visiting on John Shipp Day (25th June) we were delighted that it was possible for it to take place during the same week.
In a very tight Royal programme, only 90 minutes was allocated to the visit. It meant that Her Majesty’s tour of the DAC facilities was confined to the Equine and Veterinary Divisions with the Canine Division presentation taking place on the 14-acre field between the two. On arrival Her Majesty released a pigeon which carried a message relating to the occasion back to the Sandringham loft. Old Comrade Dennis Sanders, after speaking to The Queen about his charitable work with “Stephanie” a pigeon given to him from the Royal loft three years ago, was given permission to release pigeons carrying messages for the five Corps Units.
This was possibly the first occasion that a carrier pigeon had been released from a military unit since the last war and certainly the first released by the monarch in such circumstances. The Queen seemed amused when the first pigeon paused to consider the situation before taking flight – after some encouragement from the Director – but having been shown the way, the flight of five required no assistance in taking to the air in style.
The Commandant, Colonel Andrew Roache, then presented Captain Richard Lyne who briefed Her Majesty on the work of the Equine Division. A number of horses and riders were shown in various circum- stances to illustrate the work. Although he had only
38 Chiron Calling dated Summer 1995 by Major Neil C Smith RAVC.
been in post as OC for four weeks, Capt Lyne is no stranger to the Division. While touring the Division, Her Majesty opened the new outdoor menage, unveiled a plaque to commemorate the occasion and spoke to many of the staff encountered en route.
Entering the School of Farriery, Her Majesty was briefed by WO2 (FSM) Ivan Bell on the work and role of Army farriers. This included a discourse on the historic development of the horseshoe and, in particular, the influence that General Fitzwygram had with the “Fitzwygram” shoe. The Queen also watched some practical work being carried out by a student at the anvil and on a hoof.
At the Veterinary Hospital Her Majesty was first introduced to Lieutenant Colonel Peter Koder, the Senior RAVC TA Officer and learned something of the role of the RAVC TA Officer Pool. Major David White then escorted HerMajestyonatouroftheVeterinaryHospitalfacilities. In the Canine Treatment Room, Captain John Birrell (attached from South Africa) explained the system of identifying Service dogs using a coded microchip lodged subcutaneously and demonstrated the decoding device and, in Equine Dressing Shed, Captain Jo Holmes was using the ultra-sonic scanning equipment and explained the purpose of the investigation. Walking through the lines Her Majesty spoke to a number of personnel and having seen the Equine Operating Theatre, passed into the 14 Acre field to be met by Captain Les Kelly, the Dog School Training Officer.
Captain Kelly explained how dogs are trained whilst Her Majesty watched personnel and dogs of the Canine Division demonstrating various aspects of deployment of Protection and Detection dogs. The Queen showed considerable interest and asked a number of questions about procurement and selection etc. On conclusion of the Canine presentation and nearing the time for departure, the Regimental Secretary and the RSM, WO1 Roy Thornton, were presented and Her Majesty left the 14 Acre field passing by the assembled Unit families, stopping frequently to speak to them.
On the approach to the Royal car, Canine personnel had lined up and, again, Her Majesty stopped to speak to many including the Search dogs. At the end of the line The Queen immediately recognised Sgt Trish Clegg, whose father is Head Keeper at Sandringham, and spoke to her for several minutes.
Before taking leave of Her Majesty, the Colonel Commandant, Major General Johnny Hall OBE, asked The Queen to accept a gift to commemorate the visit and a Chiron statuette was graciously accepted. This was one of ten specially commissioned commemorative pieces for the bicentenary year.
As Her Majesty departed by car for Melton Mowbray town centre, where thousands had gathered to greet her,
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