World War I
The Australian Army Veterinary Corps (AAVC) was established in 1909, and had a major role in the war efforts particularly in France and in Palestine, looking after the cavalry horses and beasts of burden.
Max Henry’s notes in the Australian Veterinary Journal (AVJ) on the works of the AAVC during WWI gives a very personal account of its organisation and their duties.1 He notes the appalling results from the illogical instruction that remount depots had to be as close as possible to veterinary field hospitals, which is akin to placing human field hospitals for infectious diseases as close as possible to recruitment depots.
He recalls that three days before the horses were due to embark, they had some saddles but no bits and spurs, which meant they needed to search frantically through Sydney for this vital equipment before they left.
He also records the energetic protests when the number of veterinary officers in a division was reduced from 11 down to 5 in 1917, and each veterinary officer was allocated one horse, rather than two. And, needless to say, he also complains about the pay.
Colonel L C Whitfield DSO GMVC wrote in 19512 about his time in Egypt during the first war. He recalled that as the horses disembarked in Alexandria, they and the veterinary corps were sent by train to Cairo from where the 1st Australian Division marched along the Mena Road to a desert camp beneath the Pyramids. There they underwent some four months training while those of the 1st Cavalry Brigade marched to camp at Maadi.
World War II
The Australian Army Veterinary Corps mobilised with the rest of the Army on the outbreak of war in 1939.2 It was thought they may be suitable as hygiene officers in the Australian Army Medical Corps, and some went to Malaya.
The Northern Territory Force of all arms was organised in February 1942, and as the men had to find their own food, they established abattoirs and bought cattle to maintain the Force. Whitfield notes that Captains Burn, Fairfax and Johns did duty with pack transport companies and a pack artillery battery.
In a Presidential address delivered to the Queensland Division in 1943, JACJ Maunder expressed the regret of the profession for the few openings presented for veterinarians in their professional capacity in the Australian armed forces.3 He makes the point that it is not just in combat that people make significant contributions to the war effort, and stresses the value of the civilian activities of the profession, such as meat inspection and increasing food production via disease control. Any efforts to keep the animal industry free from diseases during the war would “enable producers to get off to a new flying start when all manpower returns, and reconstruction begins.”
“We will build for the profession a high place in the national life, a place that will be held not only during the war years, but will endure throughout the post war period and for all time as long as our peoples remain maintained by the man on the land with the guidance and assistance of his esteemed friend the veterinarian,”3 Dr Maunder said.
In 1946, when it was decided to convert our forces to a mechanised army, it was decided to dispose of all animals on army strength and to disband the remount services and the Australian Army Veterinary Corps.2
Australian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial website is a treasure trove of stories. The site’s First World War Embarkation Roll includes 587 records that mention the word veterinary, and there are 169 listed as receiving honours and awards. Many people working in veterinary sections are listed on the Roll of Honour for those who died as a result of war.
The Pre First World War Conflicts Nominal Rolls lists Captain B O Meek a veterinary officer from Queensland, who died in South Africa, in the Boer War.
Well-known names listed in the awards of the Australian Army Veterinary Corps for the First World War include:
- Max Henry, Distinguished Service Order and Mention in Despatches
- John Kendall, Officer of the Order of the British Empire
- William Augustus Kendall, twice mentioned in Despatches
- Harry Worthington, also for mentions in Despatches.
Books and blogs
Two books have been published on the exploits of the Australian Army Veterinary Corps:
- Vets at War: a history of the Australian Army Veterinary Corps 1909–1946, by AVA member Ian M Parsonson, Australian Military History Publications, Canberra, 2005
- Forgotten men : the Australian Army Veterinary Corps 1909–1946, by Michael Tyquin, Big Sky Publishing, Newport, NSW 2011
Others are now writing about the exploits of veterinarians at war, and blogs and news stories are preserving memories that would otherwise be lost. A good example is at: http://www.standard.net.au/story/1455686/images-of-war-light-horse-veterinarians-photographic-legacy/.
The AVA Bob Taylor Historical Collection holds a wonderful wartime photograph album, inscribed JB Wellington, which includes many pictures taken mainly in Egypt. All photographs from this article are included in this album.
References
- Henry M. Notes of a Veterinary Officer with the AIF (1914-19). Aust Vet J 1929;5:149-153.
- Whitfield LC. The veterinary services in the Australian Military Forces. Aust Vet J 1951;27:226-236
- Maunder JCJ The war effort of the veterinary profession. Aust Vet J 1943;19:97-102
This article appeared in the November 2013 issue of the Australian Veterinary Journal.