Page 64 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
The 60 mile road trip from the capital to Seria, ought to have been carried out under the cover of darkness, but with the situation in Seria deterio- rating and the rebels preparing to take the Panaga Police station using European hostages as cover, there was no time to waste.
Forces from the capital were ordered to move to Seria at all costs, passing rebel held roadblocks with ease until they reached Tutong where their trucks came under fire. The rebels lost several men at Tutong and soon over one hundred of their number had been captured without displaying much resistance. Reinforcements soon arrived, by air from Singapore, in order to retake Seria and Limbang where British hostages were still being held. The Queen’s Own Highlanders cleared the town of Seria several days later and at the same time released the Shell hostages. The RM Commandos assaulted Limbang in mid-De- cember 1962 finally freeing it from the rebels. Of the four thousand rebels who answered the call to arms, forty were killed and three thousand four hundred captured – the remainder sought refuge in the dense jungle.
The RAVC – 2 War Dog Training Unit:
Soldier Magazine from February 1962 carried a feature that highlighted the skills and resilience of the RAVC dogs and handlers when faced with the challenges of the Malayan climate:
Eleven men and their Dogs
A searing sun beats down as eleven soldiers, each leading an Alsatian or a Labrador, plodded through the swampy sand in the unchartered Nenasi area of the east coast of Malaya. They were men and dogs of 2 Army Dog Training Unit, Royal Army Veterinary Corps, stationed at Ulu Tiram, in Southern Malaya, taking part in a gruelling test of man and beast to discover how
Outline map depicting the Island of Borneo and
surrounding region.
6 Soldier Magazine “Eleven men and their Dogs’’ dated February 1962.
7 Chiron Calling Magazine Winter/Spring 1995 – 1996.
8 The Journal of The Royal Army Veterinary Corps Volume 33 No 1 Spring 1962.
best they can operate together in war.
The men, four British and six Malayan soldiers and
their dogs, flew the 350 miles from Johore to Endau and the first lesson was learned. The dogs enjoyed flying and none were airsick!
Then came then came a tougher test. For three days the men, carrying 30 pound packs of food for themselves and the animals, led the dogs through swampy jungle and scrub to Nensai 45 miles away, often sinking to the tops of their jungle boots in boggy sand. Only one man collapsed from heat and the dogs finished the course almost as fresh as when they started. Finally, men and dogs were split into pairs and told to make their way back to the Unit, 400 miles away without using public transport and in the guise of escaped prisoners.
Astonishingly, the first pair, Corporal Mick Martin and Private Peter Leaver, and their dogs, covered the journey in 22 hours by thumbing lifts in a variety of vehicles. Captain G Campbell and SSgt A Jones, the next pair home, travelled in a fish truck and then got a lift in a missionary’s car. The remaining teams all turned up within two days of setting out from Endau.6
The RAVC at this time, in 1962, had a series of masters ranging from one division, two brigades, one district, and two garrisons to the paternal eye of Veterinary and Remount (V and R) GHQ. At one point in 1962, just after the Indonesian invasion of Malaysia, a rather objectionable Staff Officer in GHQ Singapore rejected Major Spurry’s advice that dogs would be a valuable asset in Borneo: “There is no foreseen possibility for the use of dogs in that theatre,” was his rebuff. Just six months later the dogs from 2 WDTU RAVC, having proven their worth, caused the same Staff Officer to plead for urgent reinforcements from the UK.7
It appears by the end of that same year members of 2 War Dog Training Unit (WDTU) were destined to be established in Kenya Camp, the home of the Jungle Warfare School. The move was to ease administrative overheads, provide personnel with waterborne sanitation and some good new kennels.
The RAVC trained many handlers in Malaya. The Gurkha Training Team8 (spring 1962) saw three Gurkha Military Police (GMP) courses conducted by RAVC personnel. Despite the language diffi- culties, both the training teams and their students did very well. Search dogs were trained and Sgt John Carter produced one dog, handled by Pte DTB Flucker, to demonstrate the Search skills to
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