Page 61 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
the counter action against internal rebellion in Kenya in the early 1950s or Borneo from 1962 to 1966. Alternatively, their involvement could have been in the prevention and deterrence operation against external aggression in Malaysia 1963 – 1966 or aiding friendly fire power.
The RAVC’s involvement in the Far East centred on the use of Patrol and Tracker dogs who worked to great effect, despite the Corps presence being relatively compact comprising one operational unit – the Operational Dog Section Borneo – of RAVC personnel and approximately eighteen MWDs.2
Writing decades later, it is true to say that very few members of the RAVC have served in such a difficult environment.
The Jungle Warrior:
Borneo is a large inland country, approximately three times the size of Great Britain. It is situated in South-East Asia, within the Malay/Indonesian Archipelago. In 1962 approximately 75% of Borneo was controlled by Indonesia, the remaining 25% was controlled by the British, and divided into three distinct colonies: Sarawak, Sabah, and the Sultanate of Brunei. The 1000 mile border is protected by dense rainforest, capped by a high tree-top canopy and packed in thick secondary jungle. Vast mountain ranges, mangrove swamps and fast flowing rivers, dominate the island.
The conflicts were fought in the jungle and the villages but it was in the villages that the engagement followed a robust hearts and minds strategy. British Forces played the insurgents at their own game – living out in the jungle for weeks and weeks, winning the trust of the locals they had met until the jungle belonged to our Forces as much as the indigenous people – the Ibans, or Dayaks, the sons of Borneo’s tribal head-hunters. In the Borneo conflict, convincing the local populace was vital because without the indigenous peoples’ support no amount of weaponry, skill or tactics was going to win against the insurgents.
The Indonesian confrontations were a military success because the ruling government and senior British Officers understood the value, and the power of that hearts and minds approach. The aim for all front-line troops was to gain the confidence of the local tribal groups while, at the same time operating small patrols along the whole 1000-mile border. In 1961, the island of Borneo was divided into four separates states – Kalimantan, comprising four Indonesian Provinces, was
located in the south of the island. In the North, separated from Kalimantan by a border some 1000 miles long, was the Sultanate of Brunei (a British Protectorate) and two colonies of the United Kingdom namely British North Borneo (later renamed Sabah) and Sarawak. Troops living in the jungle with the locals were creating an invaluable role for themselves by providing the indigenous tribes with protection and simple medical aid, including antibiotics, which were lifesavers in that desperately dangerous environment.
The sheer physical demands of the climate and terrain required the very highest standards of soldiering skills and jungle craft which included sound navigational skills, field craft, marks- manship, watermanship, silence, concealment, camouflage, alertness, weapon handling, tactical awareness and above all personal discipline. It was known that jungle warriors must always be prepared and maintain both mental and physical fitness.
Those who lacked the right mental attitude would fail as surely as those who were physically unprepared. Combining all these factors with the need to look after a dog in a saturated tropical rainforest for many days in succession, it is easy to see why the task could never be one for the faint hearted or anyone lacking self-discipline and resilience.
Threats came from all directions. It could have been the enemy, but truth was, the entire environment was against the handler. Trees or deadfalls were a constant hazard. The range of foliage was less than friendly, and many trees and bushes sprouting sharp barbs are capable of inflicting severe pain on unsuspecting victims especially anyone who was unfortunate enough to slip down the ubiquitous sheer slopes or ridge lines. If the entangling vines didn’t prove a hindrance there were plenty of other plants capable of penetrating skin and snagging clothes, webbing, dog leads, and pilot lines. Any wound, no matter how small, if not treated correctly, would very quickly become infected.
As Russell Miller says in his book, Confrontation: “the jungle warrior had plenty of enemies and not only those holding guns and knives. Nature offered plenty of hidden dangers – snakes, termites, huge ants, malarial mosquitoes, centipedes, scorpions, hornets, sand flies and spiders. The salt water crocodiles that lurked near estuaries presented a real threat as did the swarms of biting bugs, and blood sucking leeches that strayed up from the
2 Discussion Lt Col C Ham MBE RAVC and Major (Retd) Tony Rossell dated 29th December 2020.
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