This humane service was brought into being in 1796. Previously the treatment of equine diseases in the service had been entrusted to the farriers, zealous, but for the most part ignorant, men working by rule of thumb. The founding of the Royal Veterinary College, London, just prior to that period helped materially in putting the corps on a sound professional basis, and the diploma of the College was a _sine qua non_ for a commission in the Corps. The first Veterinary Surgeon appears to have been Mr. John Ship, who was appointed to the 11th Light Dragoons in June 1796 and a few months later Professor Coleman of the Royal Veterinary College was appointed Principal Veterinary Surgeon to the Cavalry and Senior Veterinary Surgeon to the Ordnance. Under his energetic guidance the foundations of our splendidly efficient Veterinary service were laid. The service was re-organised in 1881, all regimental appointments, except those in the Household Cavalry, being abolished, and in 1891 substantive military rank was conferred on the officers instead of relative rank. The South African war brought a further development in the inclusion of N.C.O.'s and men in the Corps, and now the Corps musters a very strong body of experts whose services have been of inestimable value in the great war on the Continent. Nicknames: "The Vets"; "The Horse Doctors." [Illustration] _Uniform_, Blue. _Facings_, Scarlet. _Head-dress_, Helmet. _Cap_, Blue. ARMY ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT AND ARMY ORDNANCE CORPS It is a remarkable fact that the Ordnance Department has a greater antiquity than any other branch of the Army, its history being traceable to the earliest military organisation of England. At one time it was a civilian department, then a branch of the Artillery, then a branch of the Engineers, and so curiously interwoven that it is very difficult to establish its actual origin. The first official record of an Ordnance Department dates back to 1418, when John Louth was appointed "Clerk to the Ordnance." The Master Bowyer, Master Fletcher, Master Carpenter, etc., were styled Officers of the Ordnance, which about 1455 became centralised at the Tower of London, where the Department continued for four hundred years under "The Master of the Ordnance," until removed to Woolwich. The duties have been, as now, closely associated with the provision and care of war-like stores, especially arms and ammunition, and the designation of the Department has varied considerably, the efficiency of the Department being steadily increased and splendidly maintained in the face of great difficulties. Nicknamed "The Ordnance" and "The Sugar Stick Brigade" from the peculiar red and white piping of the braid. [Illustration] _Uniform_, Blue. _Facings_, Yellow. _Head-dress_, Helmet. _Cap_, Blue with yellow band. ARMY PAY DEPARTMENT AND ARMY PAY CORPS