army mules

[jane mark 2]

I am trying to find when the British Army stopped using Mules - can anyone tell me or refer me to a site which covers this?

[waimarie]

I cannot give you a full answer on this one by I do recall seeing articles and photographs of the Burma campaign of WWII where mules seemed to figure quite a lot (usually covered in mud!!). So perhaps googling the Burma campaign might be a start.

[jane mark 2]

thank you waimarie I will do that. J.

[geo0939]

Hi, I was in the army in Hong Kong during 1961/62 and there were Mule Pack companies in service then. They were mostly manned by HKORs ( Hong Kong Other Ranks) local boys who were taken on and given uniforms and decent wages. The senior NCOs and higher ranks were British soldiers, I think mostly Royal Engineers or the REME, not quite sure about this, though, it could also have been the RAOC. I don't know how long they lasted but they were certainly there when I left in 1962. I'm sure there are other old soldiers out there with more information.

[geo0939]

Hello again, just checked old documents concerning an absentee:-Driver Chan Ming Chee, 81 Mule pack Company,RASC( the old Royal Army Service Corps). This was in 1961.

[mike b]

I seem to remember a report of the last ones being in Hong Kong - as I remember, not all that long before the Falklands War, when they would probably have been invaluable. During WW2 they came under the Royal Army Service Corps (among others) - I remember seeing them in my dad's book about his old mob. A quick google of 'British Army, mules' produced a reference to a pair of them being used by KFOR in Kosovo, unofficially - the officer never got back the money he paid for them, and one being borrowed by the RAVC in Melton Mowbray for a display in 1995.

[jane mark 2]

Thanks very much geo and mike b, this information has been a great help. J.