Page 59 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
and Dennis Hudson) were warmly welcomed. The ladies of course must never be left out and as always they bravely suffered the continual stream of stories, questions and the inevitable studying of photograph albums. All good for the old brain cells, however!
The Sysonby Knoll proved very comfortable, and the pleasant gardens were ideal for relaxing with afternoon tea, and conveniently near to the DAC. On a wet Tuesday a few bussed into Melton itself, wandering through the Livestock Market (ex-butcher Robin Thorp noticeably impressed with the stock on offer) and taking coffee in the arcade, originally the old Corn Exchange, with memories of many dances.
Our official DAC visit transport arrived promptly at 0915 but we were somewhat taken aback on realizing the cheery driver was none other than RSM Alan Inkpen. He was also to be our tour guide for the day – things had certainly changed a little! After coffee, Alan gave an informative visual presentation of the role of the DAC and commitments of the Corps but the extensive use of abbreviations numbers and letters for the overall layout proved a little daunting! We were then privileged to meet the Commandant, Col Dougie A Macdonald, who chatted about the important work at the ‘sharp end’ and also kindly listened to our comments on the work we did in days past but politely declined our offer to be re-employed in a ‘consultancy capacity’!
The actual tour commenced at a dog training facility at Old Dalby and although very impressed by the dedicated and patient schooling of the young Search dogs we naturally related to the attack work which differed very little to what we practised in Singapore – except that we never undertook loose sleeve attacks! We enjoyed talking to the training staff and our compliments on their work were sincere. Lunch was taken in the Sergeants' Mess after which the hospital and lab, and the various equine sections were visited in turn, including the highly impressive Equitation Centre and the very busy School of Farriery. We concluded our visit by laying a wreath at the lovely new memorial mainly to pay our respects to the Corps although attached to our wreath was a small cross in memory of Geoff Smith (Cpl ‘014’) who had died a few days before. One of our absent members was attending his funeral. We were most appreciative that Colonel Macdonald and some of his staff had made themselves available for the small ceremony. A perfect end to a most enjoyable
42 Chiron Calling dated Summer 2008.
43 Soldier Magazine ‘People’ dated 13th November 1989.
day and we must sincerely thank all at the DAC who organised such a splendid visit for us.
We left with much to think about. New buildings maybe, but without doubt the same spirit and dedication to the work in hand remains, and this is why ex-Vets like us, never forget our time spent in such a great Corps. Our grateful thanks to all, especially to the RSM! Thank you Alan.
Those former RAVC men who attended the camp tour were Dennis Hudson, Ken Livesey, James Newns, Ian Reid, Alf Smith, Robin Thorp and Jock Whitehouse.42
Jamaica
Soldier Magazine best captured the essence of the work of the RAVC in Jamaica with the story of “Sammi” the Springer spaniel:
Sammi joins the Jamaicans
Aldershot based dog trainer WO1 Jon Davies RAVC, has returned to the UK after a month-long working visit to Jamaica where he trained Jamaican Defence Force dogs and handlers. The JDF has a permanent reminder of this visit in the form of Sammi, a Springer spaniel trained to sniff out narcotics. Sammi was to join the JDF’s team of three German Shepherd dogs.
Fifteen drug detection dogs are deployed worldwide with RAVC, RMP and MDP units. All were trained at the Army Dog Training School, Melton Mowbray.43
The RAVC’s footprint – and pawprint – has been planted worldwide. Introducing the capability of the Military Working Animals the Corps led by example and left behind the skills of their trade and the veterinary know-how that inevitably saved many animals’ lives.
Over 1800 Malay, Chinese and Indian soldiers from Malaysia and Singapore LEPs served with distinction alongside British and Commonwealth colleagues in over 100 units of the British Army.
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