Page 38 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
Sennelager. It was usual for the event to attract about one hundred competing teams from ten nations, including Hong Kong and Australia. The competition was fierce and the sense of camaraderie strong, making it instrumental in encouraging co-operation and, at the same time, dismantling national barriers.27
From its beginning in 1981, the Canine Biathlon grew from welcoming competitors from six countries to becoming a truly international event, demanding high standards from its participants.28 Victory was, of course, particularly sweet when the winner was home-grown. One such canine character from the DASU in Sennelager was “Satan”, handled by Captain Caroline Keane RAVC. This dog and handler team received the Colonel Commandants Trophy at the ninth Inter- national Canine Biathlon. They were up against entrants from Australia, the USA, European Armies, Police and Customs Units but won through the RAVC handicap event with second and third places being taken by Cpl Richard Chadwick with Taff and Pte Christopher Wilsdon with “Ryan” – all from the RAVC Training Centre.
Dog tales...
Every handler remembers the dogs they met and cared for in their Army career and there are dogs that so many people remember from their time in Sennelager because of their huge personality, and in “Rex’s” case his huge physical presence.
Rex tipped the scales at 110lbs. This was no surprise since he ate 28oz of top-quality meat and 32oz of best biscuit meal every day. Fortunately, for LCpl David Myers of 1 ADTU, Rex’s stay was only temporary as he really belonged to the 63 Squadron RAF Regiment which was stationed in the Falklands: “Unlike the fierce Guard dogs we have here, Rex was a bit of a softie,” said David, a trainer with 1 ADTU, and who was in charge of the dog. “When he arrived here he was a shade overweight so we got cracking with some light exercises and long walks combined with a close watch on his diet.” When the RAF lads returned from the South Atlantic, Rex was in peak condition to resume his role as Squadron mascot and greet them with a welcoming “woof!” which as David Myers was quick to point out, “...is much worse than his bite.”29
The same could not be said about another hero of Sennelager – a very proficient Guard dog named “Pebbles”. In 1990, this dog was the source of the
newspaper headline: Barracks dog foils IRA bombers, because he prevented ‘considerable loss of life’ after disturbing three suspected IRA members caught planting huge bomb outside a barracks in Hanover, West Germany. Pebbles, an Alsatian, and his unarmed civilian handler, who was not named as a matter of safety, challenged the three men who had cut through the wire fence.
They were in the act of planting two packages containing a total of 106lbs of Semtex high explosives next to the wall of an accommodation block at the Postal and Courier Communications Unit (PCCU). The bombers fired three shots at the guard and his dog before running back through the fence and jumping into a stolen car. Army sources said they were delighted to have foiled an attempt to kill members of a soft target unit of the PCCU – the Army’s ‘postmen’, a branch of the Royal Engineers, responsible for the distribution of mail and low security documents. A spokesman for 24 Transport and Movement Regiment told how the dog had drawn his handler’s attention to the intruders and undoubtedly saved the day. Pebbles’ barking and whining began the alert before he took the guard across to the accom- modation block to disturb the terrorists. The spokesman said that the vigilance of the guard and his dog: “...undoubtedly prevented consid- erable death and injury in what would have been a brutal attack.”
Colonel Rust described how the guard shouted a challenge which drew a response of three shots, thankfully all ill-aimed, as the bombers fled. The guard, who is employed by the Army, was joined by an armed civilian guard colleague, and they raised the alarm. About twenty members of the postal unit, who were asleep in the block were evacuated. The whole barracks housed one hundred soldiers. German and British bomb disposal experts made safe the bomb which consisted of two satchels packed with explosives and linked by wire to a timing device. Although the IRA did not claim responsibility for the attack, it fell into a pattern of previous activity by an ‘active service unit’ operating in Europe. Dr Hans Jurgen Forster, spokesman for the West German Chief Public Prosecutors’ Office said: “We are convinced it is an IRA operation.”30
This next story comes under the banner ... ‘does anyone remember?’
It took place during an annual Fit for Role Inspection of the Unit in Sennelager – the
27 Chiron Calling November 1988 BAOR DASU RAVC ‘An Update’ by Colonel Scott C Moffat RAVC. 28 Soldier Magazine ‘Newsline’ dated 18th September 1989.
29 Soldier Magazine ‘Big Rex’ dated 28th January 1985.
30 Newspaper article by Ben Fenton dated 4th May 1990.
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