The Royal (Dick) Veterinary college contingent of the Officers Training Corps (OTC)

Abstract

The involvement of educational institutes in voluntary military units of the British Army has a history that dates back to the early 19th Century when a corps of Rifle Volunteers was formed by Cambridge undergraduates to meet the growing threat of French Invasion. The tradition of military volunteering grew through the later years of the 19th century with various universities contributing detachments to established volunteer units on local arrangements. By 1860 undergraduates of Edinburgh University had formed No. 4 Company of the Queen's Edinburgh Rifles and in 1872 they also supplied recruits to the 1st Edinburgh City Royal Garrison Artillery Volunteers. In 1890 a medical detachment was also established.