Page 351 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
The following day a practice parade led to a service at Guildford Cathedral attended by Her Majesty the Queen and the Queen Mother and HRH the Duchess of Kent who conducted the inspection with Brigadier Ramsey. Although the rain held off all day, at a Beating of Retreat, which commenced at 1800 hours, the heavens finally opened threatening to dampen the impressive firework display that marked the end of a very emotive ceremony.
Tired, cold, and no doubt ready for a hot meal, the women returned to the warmth of Melton Mowbray to reminisce about the old days in the WRAC and take a look to the future. The rebadging gave each one of the women far better career opportunities and, in many ways, the Army’s decision reflected how the status of women was evolving in society at large in the 1990s.
For the women it was an open door to participate in all of the Army activities that had previously been denied them. One of those activities was the annual Royal Tournament, which in 1992 featured, for the first time, an all-woman display team.
The Army Women’s Services Display Team devised a breath-taking series of stunts involving motorcycles, cross country vehicles, horses, and dogs. Army dog ‘Duke’ hitched a lift from his minder Pte Caroline Hunter who cared for seven dogs at the DAC. According to Caroline, Duke showed the most promise as a ‘performer’, as she recalled: “It took about two months to train Duke to stand still on the motorcycle and for my shoulders to get used to him, as he’s quite a heavy dog!”15
Firsts for the Women:
The rest of the 1990s witnessed a substantial shift for women in the RAVC. So many ‘firsts’ were entered into the Corps history by female members of the Corps in the years immediately following the disbandment of the WRAC.
Corporal Angela Rimmer joined the WRAC in 1980 and became the first female promoted to a senior NCO rank – Substantive Sergeant – alongside her RAVC male colleagues.16 Cpl Rimmer didn’t finish there, as she went on to become the first female RQMS in 1 DASU during the early 1990s and, after a very successful career in the RAVC, she remained a key component of the DATR where she held the position of MT Manager for the DATR fleet of vehicles. Angie also became the first female to bear the RAVC Standard at the re-dedication of the Corps War Memorial at
15 Soldier Magazine dated August 1992.
16 Chiron Calling, Winter 1993/94.
17 Chiron Calling, Winter 2002/03.
18 ‘A wider range – the female Perspective’ Chiron Calling, Winter 1993/94.
the DAC on 28th September 2002.17
Following the disbandment of the WRAC,
Cpl Ellie Walton was the first RAVC female AES handler in the Corps and on her first operational search, assisting the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) located a SA80 rifle that had been lost by a male soldier on exercise on the Salisbury Plain Training Area. As a LCpl, Ellie completed her Specialist Dog Handler Course in 1991 becoming one of the first females to do so. At the time she was in awe of her fellow students who, being men, were destined to be posted to Northern Ireland. Ellie, being a female handler, knew that she would not be allowed to join them, but an 18 month posting to the RAVC Support Group in Aldershot led to her attachment to the ADU NI RAVC during April 1992. Assessed and licensed she went operational on the streets of NI with her dog “Kodak”.
There, despite the policy in NI at the time being that female personnel could not be armed, Ellie and Kodak provided indispensable search effort in 8 Inf Bde TAOR during the 1992 General Election campaign and as part of Londonderry’s 8 Inf Bde Specialist Dog Section. This was an unques- tionable achievement for LCpl Ellie Walton as the only female search handler in Northern Ireland at the time.18
In terms of the RAVC veterinary team, the new freedom of movement for women in the Army also created a number of ‘firsts’ that had a massive impact on the Corps and its success at home and overseas.
Colonel Julia Kneale MBE RAVC was the first female veterinary surgeon to take up a posting. In many respects her career exemplifies the journey of women in the military and the reflection of that movement in wider society.
Colonel Kneale was part of the last intake of quotas or controlled entry into veterinary training at university and her first attempt to enrol with the RAVC in 1978 when she was rejected on the grounds that, at that time, female veterinary surgeons were not accepted into the military. Her chance came in 1978 when she was finally accepted on a three-year Short Service Commission. Her first posting was to be at Melton Mowbray.
The post of Junior Officer was a lonely role but, as Julia made the post her own and she gained the acceptance and the respect of the soldiers of the Corps, Melton became her home for two
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