Page 395 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
CHAPTER 23
Pack Transport: Past and Present: Walk, March!
Over the centuries, the British Army has utilised the horse and the mule alongside many other species of animals in the logistics role, including camels, donkeys, elephants, reindeer, and yak – to name the most obvious.
During the 1920s and ‘30s the unrelenting advent of mechanisation of the Army led to the majority of Units that had depended on the horse – the armoured and artillery regiments along with the Royal Army Service Corps – to disband or substantially reduce their equine numbers. However, the use of Pack Transport still had relevance as was evidenced in the Italian and Burma campaigns of the Second World War.
The idea of using Pack Transport in 21st Century warfare was, to some, a non-starter, but others held a strong belief that this capability still had a part to play in modern conflict. And, if that was to become a reality then only the Royal Army Veterinary Corps had the knowledge and skills to handle the technical challenges together with the training and organisation of the personnel required to ensure good animal care.
Either way, the RAVC was always in the frame as the experts.
Trials to avoid errors:
In the 1960s, Lieutenant Colonel Harry W Bishop, MRCVS RAVC, produced the article: Transport Animals – Extemporization for Modern Warfare in which he wrote:
Some trials have been held in Far East Land Forces (FARELF) in Singapore, to assess pony potential in a jungle terrain. The valuation of the results proved difficult due to the divergent standpoint of many of the reviewing assessors.
An appreciation of the possible military need for such ponies is given and an argument is developed to stress the importance of not being complacent on the matter, of realizing the technical and manpower diffi- culties and of facing the fact that, if and when the need arise, the responsibility could only but be passed to the Royal Army Veterinary Corps to co-ordinate and organise. Accordingly, no chance should ever be missed of examining and understanding the many pieces of equipment developed by practical animal peoples
throughout the world.
A trial has been carried out in the Malayan Jungle to
assess the potentiality of the type of pony that could be impressed in South East Asia. The results are illumi- nating. Difficulty has however been found in agreeing the findings as the assessment of utility is dependent upon the particular viewpoint of the assessor. In illus- tration, a gunner will base his opinion upon operational conditions very different from those of the infanteer. Further, staff and field opinions are apt to be diamet- rically opposed since the staff opinion is based upon conventional teachings (i.e., hilly terrains, where jungle and/or enemy limit mechanical/air transportation, etc.), whilst the field conception is founded not infrequently upon a single instance where ponies proved abundantly their worth.
It is clear from the foregoing that prejudice or protagonism play an important role in a given judgement. How then is it possible to establish an impartial assessment for incorporation into a training syllabus? The author is inclined to feel the impartiality on such an issue is beyond human capability.
This position of uncertainty places a severe responsi- bility upon the RAVC – all ranks require to be competent operators in both conventional and extemporised AT roles, yet the opportunity for gaining experience will progressively get more limited as mechanization becomes super-mechanization.
Lieutenant Colonel Harry Bishop continues to express that...
In the normal event, animals will only be moved to operational areas for animal transportation purposes when conventional utility is established beyond all doubt in the staff mind. He believes firmly that operational situations approximating to the Italian and Burma campaigns will require support, at least in part; by animal transportation even if it means moving animals to the area for service. The necessity for a small highly trained AT cadre in the Army appears accordingly irrefutable.
On the other hand, it appears equally certain that situations will develop when availability of AT would be a valuable adjunct in support of mechanical trans- portation, if a source of burden animals was available for impressment in the operational area. Borneo Operations have illustrated the need for extemporised methods of
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