Page 84 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
gruelling hike up-and-over many a re-entrant and spur (valleys and hills I thought), to find that you were not quite where you thought you were - so back you went again to find where you should be. This week also saw the ‘survival day’. Most of us admitted that we couldn’t survive in Tesco let alone in the heart of the rainforest. What delicacies would we feed on? Leeches? Fried ants? No, but the fruits of the Nipong Palm and also a few minnow-sized fish donated by one of the Royal Marine instructors. The well-constructed traps didn’t yield much either, but that was expected.
After a few more days which included CTR, patrolling and copious practice of BATCO – JWIC 31 returned to Medicina worse for wear. There, those who had rotting feet, amongst other ailments, could recover before deploying for the final exercise – 15 days of tactics in this close country environment. Prior to this, the students were given two days off to prepare and rest. (We had one more day off on the last weekend!) Methodically we packed our trusty Bergens for the first week of rations and everything else we needed, PRC 320+ batteries, AA batteries, 349, water bags, link upon link of 7.62 and a never ceasing supply of 5.56mm, not to mention air marker balloons in case of a ‘no duff ’ casualty, saws, smoke and much, much more.
JWIC 31, now known as the 1st Battalion Jungle Rifles, left Medicina at 0530 hrs aboard ambush-pre- pared 4 tonners. Sure enough, halfway down the Labi road all Hell broke loose and the Jungle Rifles were quickly engaging ‘the enemy’; of course, we won the fire fight – not surprising as the exercise had 14 days to run.
The first night I had the pleasure of acting as the Platoon Sergeant; here I was responsible for the Platoon in the harbour position, sending out clearing patrols, sentries, claymores in position, comms cord up and shell scrapes dug... and then it was time to relax and enjoy a mug of Milo shared with my buddy. However, the peace was soon shattered when a water patrol was contacted... but that’s another story. The next two weeks passed quickly, very quickly and what we had learnt and practised during the earlier weeks; patrolling, ambushing, searching, harbouring, attacking and navigation was continually assessed.
The 1st Battalion Jungle Rifles won most of the fire fights, and ultimately the battle, returning victorious to Medicina Lines. All we had left to do now was give a lecture and the course was complete – less the dreaded admin. My lecture: ‘The use of Army Dogs in Jungle Operations’ made a pleasant change from all the tactics, so I am led to believe. Soon we were to be debriefed, individually, regarding our performance over the past seven weeks, highlighting weaknesses and the odd strength, but all of us were only interested in one thing - had we passed or failed the course? Thankfully, I had passed!
On completion of the JWIC, Chris Ham was temporarily assigned to TTB in preparation for the arrival of an IP dog and a Tracker dog that had been earmarked for the future trial. Whilst Sgt Ham worked as an Instructor at Medicina Lines, frantic efforts were underway in administration to export the dogs to Brunei. Sadly, nobody in the ‘gilded corridors’ of power grasped the complex- ities of sending dogs to the Muslim State. After several months of waiting in Brunei for the dogs, it was time for him to be posted to Northern Ireland and the entire ’trial’ was abandoned.
Fortunately, after a two year posting to the Army Dog Unit (ADU) NI, SSgt Ham was to be posted back to Hong Kong as the WO2 ‘Chief Trainer’. Undeterred by previous difficulties, he set about convincing the 2IC, Captain David Mountford RAVC of the value of dogs in the jungle. In turn, the concept was tactfully and time-appropriately put to the CO, Lt Col Julia Kneale MBE RAVC. The COs agreement was sealed.
Miraculously, at this time WO2 Chris Ham received a call from Col F David Scotson of the Gurkha Reserve Unit located at Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei. He requested the possibility of the HK DASU training some of the Gurkha handlers in Sek Kong and Ham, knowing Colonel Scotson from his time in Nepal, said this would be entirely possible provided the Colonel assisted in the import of dogs to Brunei at a later date! An arrangement was made. The training of the Gurkha handlers was a success.
Making it Happen:
Luckily for the RAVC, Paul Jepson was appointed as the Corps Director in 1993. He had visited his unit in Hong Kong several times during his tenure and was still very keen to establish an RAVC presence in Brunei.
A trial was reinstated, and with WO1 Chris Ham now at Aldershot and on Brigadier Jepson’s staff, he was in a position to influence who must attend. Two RAVC handlers were selected; Cpl Frank Holmes and Cpl Adrian Davies both of whom completed the JWIC in 1996.
Working from RAF Newton the two top quality soldiers were given the task of selecting and training two dogs – one Tracker and one Infantry Patrol dog – and, in case of injury or illness, two more were selected as back-up. The two NCOs were given just four days and the pick of the whole kennels to make their selection. Over 30 dogs were tested – Dobermans, Rottweilers, Retrievers but not the Malinois as they were not available at the time which was a pity as they cope well with the heat.
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