Abstract:
Arthur Frederick Appleton qualified MRCVS (New Edinburgh) on 26 April 1881 and as a regular officer of the Army Veterinary Department he saw service in South Africa as Principal Veterinary Officer (Army Veterinary Department) with the rank of Veterinary Lieutenant Colonel (Transvaal) in Pretoria from 1909 to 1913 in succession to Col. L.J. Blenkinsop. He was subsequently succeeded as P.V.O. (Army Veterinary Department) Transvaal by C.F. Nuthall when he was transferred to Cape Town as P.V.O. (Cape). While stationed in Pretoria he took an active interest in welfare matters and was responsible for the establishment of the Pretoria Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He was also responsible for the compilation of a booklet entitled "The Management of Horses, Mules, Dogs, Cats and Poultry" which was issued to members of the public by this society. He is recorded as being the last A.V.S. (previously A.V.D.) officer to leave South Africa. His last official act in South Africa took place in October 1914 when he handed over the office of S.V.O. of the A.V.S. to Captain J.W. Crowhurst of the S.A.V.C. This ended an era of British Army Veterinary presence in South Africa which commenced with Thomas Burrows in 1799 and ended with Appleton in 1914. His son, F.E.H. Appleton, a Veterinary Technician at Onderstepoort and Allerton Laboratories, played an important role as Regimental Sergeant Major in the S.A.V.C. before World War II and can be seen on many of the S.A.V.C. photographs of that period. (Source: Vets Past ABhttps://www.nda.agric.za/docs/Vetweb/Vets%20Past%20AB.htm)
