Page 400 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
1970s and ‘80s continued to be trained in all aspects of equine matters. Recruits were required to complete an intensive six-week long Recruit Riding course which was then followed by a further six weeks Pack Transport Training. This culminated in a Pass Out Ride and, for the later course, a final Exercise being held at Kibworth Ranges, located to the north of Market Harborough. There the Pack animals, laden with supplies and kit for the RAVC recruits and their instructors, walked to the ranges and all remained overnight with the young soldiers caring for their charges, before returning the next day by horse boxes to the RAVC Training Centre.
The Falklands War (2nd April – 14th June 1982):
In 1983, the use of Pack Horse Transport had a revival, unexpectedly, in the Falkland Islands after the invasion, on 2nd April 1982, by Argentinean forces following the short war. The ruling military junta of Argentina had claimed the sovereignty of the Islands for many years and falsely thought that the UK would not mount a military campaign to retake them. However, the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, had other thoughts and sent a Task Force of warships and personnel to reclaim the archipelago in the South Atlantic, over 8,000 miles away from British shores.
Sergeant Graham (‘Taff ’) Carter RAVC, a notable equitation instructor and Pack horse transport specialist, was dispatched rapidly from the RAVC Training Centre to the Falklands, travelling from RAF Brize Norton to Ascension Island, via Dakar in Senegal by VC 10, followed by a further flight aboard a Wessex helicopter onto the SS Uganda. The Uganda was a British steamship built in the early 1950s and served in the war in several roles notably a hospital ship, troop carrier and a stores ship. The old war horse saw out her career in the Falklands conflict.
After a voyage of nine days, the Steam Ship dropped her anchor on Monday 25th April 1983 and Graham Carter disembarked at Port Stanley, the Capital on the East Island, the largest of the islands.
On arrival he was greeted by Major Graham Cooksley RAVC, the Force Veterinary Officer who had made some of the early preparations for the trial prior to the arrival of the ‘expert’. Taff Carter was introduced to many Officers who were directed to observe the potential of the Pack Horse trial. After the necessary introductions, the equine expert was flown to Kelly’s Garden at San
Carlos the location for the trial.17 San Carlos – a small settlement on the north western edge of the island, and south of the port – was where the first bridgehead in the war was set up. The location was ‘affectionately’ known as “bomb alley”, owing to the high number of low-flying aircraft belonging to the Argentine Air Force that attacked the UK Task Force ships anchored in the waters.
Initially, eight suitable animals were identified for use from the San Carlos Settlement and Port San Carlos areas. These animals were leased along with stabling and paddocks to the Ministry of Defence, with fodder and tack being ordered in advance from the UK and timed to arrive in the Falklands ready for the trial to commence,18 which it did in May. The aim of the Falkland Pack Horse trial was defined as follows:
“To evaluate the use of pack horses for transporting resupply material to sites which are either inaccessible to vehicles or are only reached with great difficulty.”19
The problem was that the majority of the Rapier missile sites were situated on the two ridges either side of San Carlos – the deep water anchorage for UK vessels. There were twelve sites; two were known as the low sites and were easily reached by Land Rovers. The remaining sites could not be reached by vehicles until the BV206 Snow Cats were introduced, also in May 1983.
The Air Defence batteries had to be frequently resupplied with much needed combat supplies from the tracked Snow Cats as opposed to expensive helicopter flights. However, after only three months, the Snow Cats were plagued with constant mechanical failures and underlying problems due to their overuse and the shortfall of other effective motor transport, coupled with the notorious inclement weather, which curtailed the use of military helicopters. In contrast to the limitations of the technology, Pack horses have the ability to keep going for hours on a bag of oats, and more importantly perhaps, can work in very strong winds and the sort of weather that will prevent helicopters from flying at all. The idea behind the renewed interest in animal transport in the Falklands conflict remained because of a continuing need to re-supply scattered units, in all weathers – at reasonable cost.
All of these factors made the success of the Pack Horse trial critical.
The trial concentrated on the Eastern ridge, on the three highest sites, and the Pack horses were the preferred and most reliable method to reach
17 TC/A 10012 RAVC dated 9th November 1983 – Covering letter re Pack Horse Trial April – September 1983 by Sergeant Graham Carter RAVC. 18 Ibid.
19 Ibid.
392