The Royal Army Medical Services

The RAMC traces its history back to the foundation of the Regular Army, following the restoration of King Charles II in 1660, but it was not until 1898 that officers and soldiers were incorporated into one body known as the Royal Army Medical Corps. The RAMC motto In Arduis Fidelius is translated as 'Steadfast in Adversity'. The 31 Victoria Crosses won by the Corps, including a double VC and one recipient of both the VC and the Iron Cross, bear testimony to the motto and the character and ideals of the men and women who wear the badge.

The RAMC was born in the Boer war, leading the fight against battle wounds and disease with well equipped hospitals, surgical wards and trained personnel. Although the War Office, did ignore hygiene advice. Water purification was defective, sanitation deplorable and rations often unsuitable. The epidemic of typhoid at Bloemfontein was the result of this neglect, and thousands of soldiers died.

Following the boer War, the new Director General Sir Alfred Keogh carried the through the changes which turned the RAMC into a proper medical service an encouraged research against typhoid and set up a proper school of Army Hygiene at Mytcheet near Aldershot, and soldiers form the whole Army were taught there. As conditions in the RAMC and Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing service improved, doctors and nurses flocked to join.

Koegh also helped create the Territorial Force which would be the forerunner of the Territorial Army. When the Great War arrived, the RAMC was prepared. The Army had good hygiene advice and a large backup of territorials to take over as soon as the Regular Army had mobilised.

The Great War saw the RAMC facing new terrors of gas weapons, gangrene wounds and enormous numbers of dead and wounded to tend too. By the end of the Great War the RAMC was equal in size to the entire BEF of 1914. The Army Health and Hygiene measures adopted so successfully by the Corps, both in France and the Middle East, were proved excellent.

The RAMC provides personnel to each regiment and combat unit, although the main body of personnel remains in the base hospitals in the UK, Cyprus and Dharan in Nepal. Similar hospitals also operated in Germany and Hong Kong. In times of war, the RAMC is boosted by large numbers of TA personnel who would join field units and field hospitals, although the RAMC provides some male nursing for the army, the QARANC provides the major portion.

RAMC units still continued worldwide after the Great War ended and both the Regular and TA RAMC were reduced in size until Munich in 1938 forced hurried increases in size. The Second World War saw further advances in battlefield medicine, hygiene and inoculation against Malaria especially in the Burma campaigns.

After the Second World War, the RAMC moved with the British Army in campaigns like Malaya, Kenya and Cyprus and in the Falklands and Gulf War the RAMC played a vital role, a thousand Volunteer reservists in the TA Army medical Services being called up to make up shortages in the Regular Army Medical Services in 1991.

As early as 1660 regimental surgeons were required to preserve the soldier's teeth so that he could bite through the paper cartridge when loading. But it wasn't until the Boer War that the soldier's need for regular treatment was recognised and in World War I dental surgeons served in the medical service. The value placed on the work of the dental officer led to the formation of the Army Dental Corps in 1921. Today, members of the RADC serve in dental centres or military hospitals where they carry out their normal day-to-day work. But they are soldiers too and have a war role within a Field Ambulance or Field Hospital.

The origin of the Corps can be traced back to the battlefields of the Crimea in 1854. Together with a small team of nurses, Florence Nightingale, 'the lady with the lamp', showed conclusively that a caring, efficient and organised nursing service is as important to the British Army as the most dashing cavalry regiment. In base and field hospitals, in casualty clearing stations, ambulance trains, hospital ships, mobile surgical teams, and refugee camps, QAs have made an outstanding contribution to the health of the British Army.

Until the late 18^th century, the treatment of Army horses was left to farriers who held contracts with the Army for shoeing and providing medicine. In response to the unacceptable losses and wastage of horses on campaigns, in 1796 it was decided that graduates of the new Veterinary College in London would be appointed to Cavalry Regiments. Thus on 25 June 1796, Captain John Shipp joined the 11^th Light Dragoons - the first veterinary surgeon to join the British Army. He subsequently saw action at the battles of Talavera and Waterloo.

Veterinary Officers wore the uniforms of their regiments until 1881, when the Army Veterinary Department was created. Eventually, in 1906, officers, NCOs and men amalgamated into the Army Veterinary Corps.

In 1918, King George V conferred the title 'Royal' on the Corps in recognition of the enormous contribution it made in World War I. Responsibility for the care of the Army's horses continues to this day, but Service dogs are now the species of greatest military importance.

As part of the Army Medical Services, the RAVC also contributes biomedical scientific expertise in such areas as veterinary public health, biological warfare defence and humanitarian aid.