Page 55 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
the Army had held its final parade and many had already left as the decision had been taken much earlier to fly wives and children off the Island. For many the toil of packing and loading supplies, stores and equipment was to go into reverse.26
The closure of almost two centuries of dramatic history finally took place on 1st April 1979 in an exchange of 21 gun salutes as the last British Servicemen sailed out of Grand Harbour.
In Libya, by 1966, the movement of dogs and soldiers from Tripoli was complete. A Guard dog section had been re-established in Benghazi, while at El Adem the numbers were increased all of which meant that the Staff Captain (Veterinary and Remount) continued to visit Libya also because the RAF Dog Section remained based at RAF Idris Airfield. The dogs and handlers who landed by LST into Benghazi harbour had been subjected to high winds and rough seas for three days before they could enter. The dogs and Staff Sergeant Ron Padley fared well but not, by all accounts, the handlers.27 SSgt Padley not only proved that he had good sea legs for the voyage; he had already proven his worth in post having gained his promotion in Tripoli.
Military Working Dogs had landed in Libya in the early 1960s due to a rash of thefts.
From the middle-months of 1963 the British Forces camp at Pilastrino in Tobruk, had experienced theft of stores and equipment. In order to rectify this problem – under the auspices of Exercise TRIPLE WEST – four Guard and one Tracker dogs were posted from 3 WDTU RAVC Cyprus along with four handlers from the RMP and LCpl Brian W McGuinness RAVC who was responsible for Tracker dog, “Rebel”.
The Section sailed on the Empire Grebe arriving at Tobruk on Monday 26th August 1963. Following a short stay at RAF El Adem they proceeded to the camp at Pilastrino arriving three days later. Almost immediately LCpl McGuinness had problems relating to the issue of fresh meat for the dogs and made solving the problem his priority. He also quickly assessed the patrol area which was complicated by the camp being split into two areas – one being accommodation and admin- istration buildings and the other taking in the stores, garages and a vehicle park where the thefts were taking place. This situation was further complicated by the presence of an unused road running through the centre of everything.
Once more the weather came into play. Unfor-
tunately, the prevailing wind blew from the west through the accommodation area and through to the stores making it difficult for the dogs to scent, making them more reliant on noise and movement. Over the short time that the team were on site they experienced a number of attempted break-ins including one where a gang of several men attempted to lure LCpl McGuinness away but it was just one more failed attempt with no arrests. One of the major reasons why the intruders were rarely apprehended was that the Dog Section personnel were under strict orders not to let the dogs off the leash so there was never an opportunity to chase the trespassers down. The offenders were able to slip away into the desert under the cover of darkness and seek shelter in the numerous settlements dotted around the camp.
However, there were successes – as a memo from 1964 reflected: “Lance Corporal McGuinness and Rebel did have an element of success in tracking an intruder for 2.5 miles to a clearly indicated accommodation site but the local police refused to follow it up by entering the accommodation to investigate. It was a short Exercise with the Section leaving Libya on the LST Empire Petrel on 27th October bound for Cyprus. In the words of Major J A Gibb, Deputy Assistant Provost Marshall RMP,theExerciseprovedthat:‘...ingeneralterms the dogs were undoubtedly successful. Their very presence was a deterrent to the local Muslim populace. It is strongly recommended that war dogs be included in the ORBAT for any similar Operations.”28
Meanwhile, SSgt Padley was about to leave Benghazi and it was reported that he would be sorely missed as he had done much to get the Cyrenaica Dog Section off to an excellent start. [Cyrenaica was an administrative unit that included all of eastern Libya from 1927 until 1963.]29
The Provost Section in El Adem had little time for relaxation when it instituted a “pound” for donkeys straying in to the camp. Within no time at all the telephone line was blocked by callers reporting stray donkeys, both real and imaginary, from every corner of the camp. The RAF Police had no option but to turn to the local expert – Sgt Ted Parsons – for advice, but it was clear to everyone that even with Ted involved the subject of the donkeys wasn’t going to end in the sandy wastes of Libya. Colonel Harris was overheard asking Major Gordon Wilder: “know anything about
26 Soldier Magazine ‘Move out of Malta’ dated May 1972.
27 The Journal of The Royal Army Veterinary Corps Volume 37 No 1 Spring 1966.
28 Memo, G (Trg) HQ Southern Command DAPM 17/64 dated January 1964 in A/BR 25/D. War Dogs. Exercise TAC Dog Troop. 29 The Journal of The Royal Army Veterinary Corps Volume 37 No 2 Autumn 1966.
47