Page 42 - Chiron Calling Autumn/Winter 2022

The cavalry brigade was supported by the No.4 Section of the RAVC, which maintained a well-equipped Veterinary Hospital. As a result, Lieutenant Colonel Hodgkins was posted to Egypt as the Assistant Deputy Director of Veterinary Services to oversee Army’s Veterinary Service in Egypt.
He retired from the RAVC in 1935 and was selected to take charge of the Brook Memorial Veterinarian Hospital in Cairo. The institution was initially founded to care for old and worn-out ex-army horses and mules left in Egypt after the Great War. Later, it functioned as a veterinarian hospital in which predominantly people of the poorer classes bought their donkeys, mules, and ponies
for treatment. Some shocking cases of neglect and maltreatment were admitted. Still, the hospital’s records show John Hodgkins went to work on what too many people appeared hopeless cases and, in many instances, achieved spectacular recoveries.
In his book The Lost War Horses of Cairo, Grant Hayter-Menzies noted that “during Hodgkins’s ten years at the hospital he trained up his staff, trained a whole generation of Egyptian vets reinforcing a
code of good hygiene and animal management which has lasted to this day.”
Hayter-Menzies also gives a rare insight into the character of John Hodgkins, a small compact man
he was by nature shy and retiring; Hodgkins was good-natured and generous ... if he shouted at anyone, it was for the animals’ sake.”
John was still working for the hospital when he died on 25th October 1945. He is buried in Cairo’s New British Protestant Cemetery.
SOURCES
British Newspaper Archives National Archives War Diaries Number 3 Veterinary Hospital WO95/4155; Assistant Director Veterinary Services WO 95/2270 Graham Winton Theirs is Not to
Reason Why: Horsing the British Army 1875-1925.
Grant Hayter-Menzies The Lost War Horses of Cairo
Thank you to Don McLean author of The 5th Royal Irish Lancers for his support and encouragement to write this article.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Graham Hodgkins and Peter Maddox have worked closely together for
over a long time researching and writing about their family members. Graham’s father and Peter’s mother were first cousins.
Graham was born in Sydney, Australia. He has a Bachelor of Arts in History and Education. A retired high school principal Graham started his career in education as a history.
Peter was born in Blythe Bridge Staffordshire. He worked for HSBC in London for 15 years before setting up a family-run vehicle leasing business. He lives in rural Bedfordshire.
OBITUARY
George F Yeandle BEM 1936–2021
George Yeandle was born on Exmoor in the small coastal town of Minehead,
Somerset.
At the age of 16, looking for a
life of adventure, he joined the Merchant Navy. After 4 years at sea, George returned to dry land and was called up for National Service. He enjoyed Army life
and decided to make it a career. He developed a love for working dogs and after 4 years with the Devonshire Regiment, transferred to the RAVC in 1960.
He served two tours of Malaya at the Jungle Warfare School during the 1960’s, including a tour of Borneo during the Indonesian Crisis.
In 1969 he was posted to Belgium and was later awarded the BEM for his outstanding work. 1972 saw George posted to
Northern Ireland, where in 1973 he was instrumental in setting up the ADU NI and was its Sergeant Major during 1973 – 1974.
In 1976, after a spell in Melton, George was seconded to the Malaysian Army for 2 years, to help set up and run their own Army Dog Training School. His return to the UK in 1978 saw the completion of his 22 years service, and he returned to Exmoor, where he successfully set up his own kennels, which he ran until his retirement in 1999.
George Yeandle was immensely proud of the Corps and never more so than when two of his sons, Eric and Steve joined the RAVC, one as a farrier and one as a dog trainer, and the fact that the three of them together had given a total of 52 years combined service to the Corps.
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