Page 350 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
that the men of the RAVC noticed alongside the girls’ ability to pull off a transformation that took them from a daytime look of muddy boots and khaki, to, as the Colonel put it at the time: “When the girls go out in the evenings, made up and dressed to kill or to seriously wound, they look deliciously feminine and quite unbelievably fragile.”
No doubt this was a factor in what was often referred to in the Forces as the ‘bride-slide’ – the wastage of personnel through marriage. This became a worry for Colonel Wilkins who declared that: “... in an average year, 43 per cent of the girls who arrive as grooms depart as brides.”9
Settled in. Posted Out:
Women in Corps roles were proving very successful and between 1967 through to the mid-1980s the female force was making its presence felt and establishing its value. In addition to the WRAC contingent, the female vets and nurses were also making their way in, what had been very much, a man’s world. The roles of women in the Army were evolving.
The year 1967 presented two big landmarks for the WRAC based at the Depot in Melton: they celebrated the completion of their own purpose- built quarters and the first deployment of kennel maids to escort draft dogs to the Far East. This was a step further on from what was happening in Germany where fifteen women from the WRAC – one Sergeant as an IC, three Corporals, two Lance-Corporals and nine Privates10 – worked alongside 1 WDTU RAVC. The success of this combination approach worked well for the Corps, and, in July 1969, a Standing Committee on Army Organisation (WO 163) further endorsed AVRS view that:
“... RAVC should continue to exist as a small group of all ranks, using the maximum number of WRAC in place of male military manpower.”11
In addition to branching out overseas, WRAC personnel continued to be regularly posted to the RAVC Laboratory and Stores in Aldershot where they provided much support looking after working dogs while the RAVC soldiers took part in military exercises and VIP search related taskings.12
Wherever the WRAC were employed the additional ‘manpower’ assisted the smooth running of the operation. In providing the
9 Soldier Magazine dated October 1966.
10 The Journal of The Royal Army Veterinary Corps Volume 39 No 1 Spring 1968.
11 DAVRS Historical Register, 1969.
12 Chiron Calling Edition 19th dated June 1983.
13 DAVRS/16.2.1: Personnel Manpower Career Training.
14 Chiron Calling Issue 9 Article dated October 1992.
much-needed support the women were also showing their worth in their own right. It was, perhaps only a matter of time before a Study was commissioned to look at the post-war role of women in the Army.
Re-Badging to RAVC:
The Crawford Study (1988) looked into the Role of Women in the Army (ROWITA). It re-examined the employment, deployment, and organisation of women in the Service and advocated three principals: a revision of deployment roles, a fuller integration with the WRAC and for that to continue into the foreseeable future.
It took just six years for the Army to take this one giant step forward.
On 1st March 1992 the WRAC were disbanded, and the personnel absorbed into the Adjutant Generals Corps, the Army Medical Services and the RAVC – there were fifty-three WRAC at the Defence Animal Centre (DAC) in 1991.13 All WRAC kennel maids and rider/grooms were rebadged to the RAVC.
The day was celebrated with a parade at the DAC where Brigadier Andrew H Parker Bowles OBE, Director RAVC, accompanied by the Commandant, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Roffey, and WO1 (RSM) Derek Young, formally welcomed fifty-six ex-members of the WRAC on their transfer to the RAVC. Acknowledging, finally, the arrival of the women as part of the Corps, DRAVC presented Corps badges and stable belts to the new members.
This was a landmark event, not only because it was a respectful end of an era for the WRAC, but because it heralded the start of something more historically significant – promotion through the ranks was now open to all – male and female soldiers. It was an open competition and not surprisingly it left one question on the lips of the women who were given those new Corps badges: “When will we have our first RSM, Ma’am?”14
It was goodbye to the WRAC...
The final farewell parade for the WRAC took place in Guildford on 25th March 1992. Creating a clatter of Army boots over the town’s cobbled streets were several members of the DAC’s WRAC: Captain Henderson, Sgt Carol O’Connor, Cpls Di Jones and Sarah Gaut, LCpls Julie Croft and Nicky Pite, Ptes Jane Lindsay, Katie Clyne, Karen Buttle and Caroline Hunter.
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