Veterinary education in South Africa : The Class of 1924 R

Veterinary education in South Africa is now more than 80 years old. It started in 1920 when the Onderstepoort Veterinary Faculty was created as an integral part of the Veterinary Research Institute at Onderstepoort. Sir Arnold Theiler, the founder of Onderstepoort, was its first Dean. This article concerns itself with some of the known and lesser known developments and actions associated with the creation of the faculty and how it was possible to provide suitable lecturing staff. This is followed by concise descriptions of the life histories of the first 8 veterinarians who graduated from the new faculty in 1924 and subsequently spent their entire working life in government service.

It is worth noting that the pioneering 7 students only arrived at the Onderstepoort campus for the specialised courses in veterinary science when the new term opened in 1922.They were then in their 3rd year, having completed the first year in 1920 at a university of their choice providing the required basic courses, and the 2nd year in 1921 at either the TUC or the Johannesburg University College, both of which offered the required courses in veterinary anatomy, physio logy and biochemistry at the time.This ruling only changed in 1926 when the 2nd year was moved to Onderstepoort.

G Martinaglia
As can be seen in the accompanying photograph 6 students qualified as veterinarians in 1924.Having started off as 7, it is not clear exactly when the 8th one, Giovanni Martinaglia, joined them.He was apparently an orphan who spent his early years in the Abraham Kriel orphanage in Langlaagte.After winning 'seven hundred pounds' in a sweepstake, he proceeded first to the University of Toronto (Canada), where he obtained a BSc degree in 1919, and then to America's Cornell University for a MSc degree in 1920.He then returned to South Africa in 1922, presumably joining the 3rdyear class.After qualifying at Onderstepoort he served as veterinary research officer under Sir Arnold Theiler, first at the Allerton Laboratory and then at Onderstepoort.
In 1929 he obtained a DVSc degree from the University of Toronto.He was appointed municipal veterinarian to the Johannesburg abattoir in 1930, ending his preretirement career in public health as Director of the abattoir.He died at the age of 79 in 1967.
Perhaps the greatest achiever of the 1924 class was J I Quin, known as 'Pinky' to his students, who was the first Onderstepoort BVSc graduate to qualify with honours.He also obtained a DVSc degree (cum laude) in 1928.Like the rest of his classmates, he immediately joined the government service, spending the rest of his career at Onderstepoort.He became Professor of Physiology in 1934 (all faculty posts were parttime appointments in those days) and did excellent research on photosensitivity, especially geeldikkop.In April 1949 he was appointed Director of Veterinary Services and Dean of the Veterinary Faculty at Onderstepoort, but died of a heart attack within a year at the age of only 50 in March 1950.This happened during a train journey while on an official trip.

John Henri Roosegarde Bisschop
Probably even better known was 'Baas' (John Henri Roosegaarde) Bisschop.Students encountered this colourful character as teacher (professor from 1936) in Zootechnics from 1930 to 1962 when he retired.He was a specialist in animal breeding, having obtained a BSc (Agric) degree prior to his BVSc studies at Onderstepoort, and was involved in many advisory activities concerning indigenous livestock in particular, both locally and in neighbouring states.Particularly noteworthy was his membership of the well known 'Tomlinson Commission', whose recommendations to make the 'homelands' financially viable, had they been followed, could have changed the course of South Africa for the better as early as 1955.He died at the age of 85 in 1984.M ('Mike') Bergh M ('Mike') Bergh was a brother of the well known Springbok rugby player Ferdie.He spent his entire career in the Division of Veterinary Services, serving, for example, as state veterinarian at various localities such as Piet Retief and Louis Trichardt during the East Coast fever eradication campaign.One of his claims to fame is that he did not hesitate to prosecute a Minister of Agriculture, while at Piet Retief, for failing to dip some heifers.Was the minister concerned perhaps Theiler's pet aversion, Gen. J C G Kemp? Mike's last position before he retired from government service was in Johannesburg.
W J B Green W J B Green was appointed veterinary research officer at Onderstepoort in 1925, and also spent part of his career at the Allerton Laboratory.However, he had a serious heart problem and died at the young age of 35 in 1936, after a few months at Onderstepoort, where he was replaced by Bisschop.

Carl von Eberhardt Maré
Carl von Eberhardt Maré spent virtually his entire career in the Division of Veterinary Services as state veterinarian, especially in Mafeking.Maré died in Mafeking in 1974 at the age of 80.
Suitably capped and gowned, as is clear from the photo graph, Sir Arnold Theiler officiated as Dean at the graduation ceremony of his first students.Less well known is that he lectured to them in pathology, although the burden must have been borne to a considerable extent by other staff members, such as Professor Gilles de Kock and "Perhaps the greatest achiever of the 1924 class was J I Quin, known as 'Pinky' to his students, who was the first Onderstepoort BVSc graduate to qualify with honours." careers in government service, either at central or municipal level, a new tendency was evident in the Class of 1925.Four of the 10 stalwarts ended their careers in private practice after a shorter or longer period of service to the State.However, it was not until 1935 that Jack Boswell took the valiant step of venturing directly into practice.It is also worthy of note that the class contained its first nonSouth African, D Lawrence, who hailed from Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.

Dudley Lawrence
Dudley R A (Ray) Alexander R A (Ray) Alexander became one of the veterinary profession's greatest achievers of his time in South Africa.After a short spell at the Allerton Laboratory, he was transferred to Onderstepoort, where he developed into a world class virologist with his research on African horsesickness (AHS) -the subject matter of his thesis for the DVScdegree awarded in 1935 -and bluetongue of sheep.He developed the first really effective, safe vaccines against these 2 diseases, namely a polyvalent vaccine containing attenuated, neurotropic strains of horsesickness virus for AHS, and a polyvalent bluetongue vaccine containing embryonated eggadapted virus strains for the latter.Alexander published more than 60 scientific articles during his career.
Alexander was also an outstanding leader, becoming in creasingly administratively involved, both locally and inter nationally.He was appointed Director of Veterinary Services in 1950 and Professor of Infectious Diseases in the Onderstepoort Faculty in 1958.For unknown reasons -probably due to pressure of work -he did not accept the Deanship of the Faculty.He became expert adviser on AHS and/or bluetongue to the USA and other governments in the 1940s and 50s, like one of his successors in virology, Baltus Erasmus, in later years.After his retirement in 1961 he served as adviser to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research until his death in 1965 in Pretoria at the age of almost 66.

Kunibert Carl August (Kuni) Schulz
One of the most unforgettable characters of the Class of 1925 was Kunibert Carl August (Kuni) Schulz.He was a German missionary's son, Grey College matriculant, and holder of a BSc degree of Grey College (partly University of the Free State) when he enrolled for the 2nd year of his veterinary studies in 1922.He initially joined the Division of Veterinary Services and was immediately posted to Otjiwarongo in South West Africa.One of his next stations was Kimberley.However, on 13 June 1934 he was severely wounded in the jaw by the son of the owner of a farm near Danielskuil in the Barkly West district when he and a police escort arrived with a court order

Arthur E (Steve) Lund
Arthur E (Steve) Lund initially joined the Division of Vete rinary Services as state veterinarian, serving at various stations as diverse as Durban, Cape Town, Potchef stroom and Pietersburg.He was also an ex cellent horseman and sportsman.
In 1938 he proceeded to Onderstepoort to lecture at the Faculty in Animal Management, especially on the husbandry of horses which interested him so much.However, he died unexpectedly in 1940 when he was only 37.

J G (Boet) Bekker
J G (Boet) Bekker can be regarded as the first product of the Onderstepoort Faculty to 'break the rules' and exchange government service for private practice.Having initially joined the government service, he was posted to Armoedsvlakte -the lamsiekte experimental farm run by Onderstepoort near Vryburg -where he became intensely interested in the supplementation of phosphorus to especially cattle via their drinking water.
These studies formed the basis for his thesis, on the   T he only available photograph of the Class of 1926 was obviously composed from shots taken individually of the outgoing and incoming deans of the faculty as well as of each of the 7 graduates (Fig. 1).However, it is not clear why both Sir Arnold Theiler, the 'father ' of the Faculty, and Dr P J du Toit, his successor as Dean, appear in the compound photograph of the Class of 1926.
Theiler was still in office during 1926, when the students were in their final year, while Du Toit spent most of that year overseas on a sabbatical visit.Since the graduation ceremony took place on 10 April 1927, it is clear that Theiler, who left South Africa for Europe on 7 March 1927, could not have officiated on that auspicious occasion.
Although it has not been possible to con firm with absolute certainty from the litera ture that P J du Toit officiated as Dean at the graduation ceremony, he was Theiler's successor, his appointment most probably dating from 1 April 1927.Thus his presence in the photograph.The unusual involvement of 2 Deans with the Class of 1926, Theiler almost to the last 'minute' before graduation, probably explains why both were included in the composite photograph.
The Class of 1926 was probably unique in the sense that 2 of its members, who were employees of the Onderstepoort Research Institute, were granted special permission to study veterinary science at the Faculty -presumably while still receiving a salary or some other form of financial assistance from the State.They were H O Mönnig and A D Thomas.

Hermann Mönnig
Hermann Mönnig had already obtained a DPhil (Zoology) degree in Zürich in 1921 (note that he is identified as Dr Mönnig in the photograph, and, for unknown reasons, does not wear graduation regalia like the other graduandi!)when he was appointed at Onderstepoort as a research officer in 1922.After qualifying as veterinary surgeon, he re-occupied his post and became one of Onderstepoort's most eminent, internationally acclaimed parasitologists.
He was head of the section of Parasitology from 1928-1945 and Professor of Parasitology in the Faculty from 1929-1945.On account of his membership of the Broederbond, (a secret, pro-Afrikaner organisation) he was forced to retire from government service in 1945 near the end of Wold War II.He then went into the pharmaceutical industry, being the 1st veterinarian to establish a successful, purely South African enterprise which he named Agricura Laboratory Ltd.He became its 1st Managing Director and later the Chairman of the Board of Noristan Ltd.
In 1934 the 1st edition of his classic book 'Veterinary Helminthology and Entomology' was published, which subsequently be came the international standard textbook for tuition of these subjects to veterinary students.Much appreciated by farmers, even today, was the book he wrote with F J Veldman ('Vellie') entitled 'Handboek oor Veesiektes'.Moreover, by 1947 he had published 67 scientific articles.
Mönnig received numerous homages and distinctions such as both the Havenga and MT Steyn prizes of the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns, the Senior

Neville Starke
Neville Starke -'Starkey' to his students -hailed from a farm in the vicinity of Stellenbosch where so many of the well known Starke family have their roots.Having seen active military service in East Africa during World War I, he came back to matriculate at SACS (South African College).The next step was to do the veterinary preparatory courses at the Johannesburg University College (later Univer sity of the Witwatersrand) before proceeding to the Onderstepoort Faculty.After qualifying he was appointed government veterinary officer in 1927 and spent the next 14 years of his career in the field, serving at places like Bloemfontein, Pietersburg, Duiwelskloof, Potchefstroom, Dundee and Durban.
Whilst at Potchefstroom he was sent to Ramathlabama in Bechuanaland (now Botswana) to assist with the control of the 1932/33 outbreak of FMD.This experience stood him in good stead while stationed at Dundee where he diagnosed the 1937 outbreak of FMD in Zululand.The disease had been introduced into Zululand by cattle that had been illegally moved all the way from Bechuanaland, where an extensive outbreak had been discovered at Palapye Station.Neville  Dougie developed into a scientist of considerable repute.His achievements were not limited to poultry.He was, for example, the discoverer of a rickettsia named Rickettsia (Colesiota) conjunctivae in cases of infectious ophthalmia in sheep, and similar organisms have been demonstrated in cattle, goats and poultry.Their significance in opthalmia is, however, currently unclear.He became internationally renowned in the nomenclature of rickettsias.He was very highly regarded as expert diagnostician and nutritionist in the poultry industry.He was first to discover psittacosis in pigeons; first to discover paralysis due to Argas persicus in ducks and geese; first to observe the vertical transmission of osteopetrosis in poultry.In 1957, on invitation, he advised the Nyasaland (now Malawi) government on the establishment of a poultry industry commensurate with the capacities of the existing small farmers.
In 1959 Professor Coles resigned from Onderstepoort to establish a poultry farm in Natal.In his later years he also made a considerable contribution to the promotion of nature conservation in that province as an active and enthusiastic member of the Natal Parks Board.He died in 1987 at the age of 82 years.

James Reid
James Reid obtained a BSc (Agric) degree prior to enrolling for the veterinary course at Onderstepoort.Shortly after qualifying as a veterinary surgeon, he joined the Division of Veterinary Services as government veterinary officer and served at stations as diverse as Louis Trichardt, Pietersburg, Cape Town and Allerton Laboratory over a period of only 3 years.Like Boet Bekker, he then also 'broke the rules' by resigning from the service and going into private practice in 1930.However, he moved to the Standerton district in 1933 where he is reported to have farmed and practised.
Although James Reid was therefore the 1st Onderstepoort graduate to venture into private practice, there is no convincing evidence that he managed to make a living out of that vocation.He died, apparently by his own hand, on his father's farm in the Standerton district in 1951.

"J D W A ('Dougie')
Coles was first to discover psittacosis in pigeons; first to discover paralysis due to Argas persicus in ducks and geese; first to observe the vertical transmission of osteopetrosis in poultry." T he class of 1927 broke the tradition of male student domination at the Onderstepoort Faculty by having a member of the fairer sex in the person of Joan Morice in its midst.Almost 20 years were to elapse before a 2nd woman, Maud Bales, was prepared to follow in her footsteps.Most unusual is the fact that the only available photograph of this class was not taken with the students garbed in their grand graduation regalia as in the previous years, but with their customary -in those good old days -white lab coats on (see fig).Also of interest is the dog being held by René du Toit, obviously the predecessor of the many hostel mascots that followed in the years to come.No dean or any other lecturer, however, is anywhere in sight!Note that 2 of the 8 names have been misspelt in the photograph, errors that will be corrected in this article.

Joan Morice
Joan Morice, although born in Barberton in South Africa, had her school education in England but returned to South Africa in 1922.She then made history by enrolling for the veterinary course at Onderstepoort.Although she qualified in 1927, she apparently only took up her 1st appointment in September 1928 as a temporary veterinary officer in the Allerton Laboratory for a few months.Her services were terminated, probably by herself, on 31 December of the same year.She immediately started a practice in Johannesburg and after her marriage in 1930 to Maurice Robinson, who qualified in 1928, she and her husband practised together.Private practice was, however, relatively short-lived for both of them.She discontinued her involvement in 1935, doing charitable work for the SPCA and the so-called Bantu Animal Welfare Association in Johannesburg instead, whereas her husband joined the municipal service of Johannesburg.Sadly, Joan died from lung cancer at an early age in 1944.

Max Sterne
Max Sterne -spelled incorrectly in the legend to the photograph -gained undying recognition for the development of his famous anthrax spore vaccine.He was born in Trieste of Austrian parents who emigrated to South Africa in 1909 when he was 4 years old.He grew up in Durban and excelled in sports such as boxing, swimming and athletics, both at school and university.After qualifying at Onderstepoort he spent 2 years in the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of Congo) managing a cattle ranch.Back in South Africa, he joined the government service and was posted to the Allerton Laboratory in Natal to assist with the East Coast fever eradication campaign, as was the fate of many young government veterinarians in those days.In 1934 he was transferred to Onderstepoort where he worked as assistant to Prof. E M Robinson as veterinary researcher in bacteriology and developed the above-mentioned live vaccine against anthrax which is still internationally used and acclaimed today, 61 years after its discovery.He served as editor of the Journal of the South African Veterinary Medical Association from 1937 to 1942.In 1947 Sterne obtained the highly rated Diploma in Bacteriology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and left South Africa in 1951 to join the Wellcome Research Laboratories in London.He died in 1997 in Hampshire, England, at the ripe old age of 92.

Heinrich (Heinie) Franz
Heinrich (Heinie) Franz was born at a German mission station (Leibzig Mission) near Pietersburg (now Polokwane).He was appointed as state veterinarian for Pretoria early in 1928, but was transferred to the Allerton Laboratory in Pietermaritzburg shortly afterwards and then in quick succession to Umtata, Rustenburg and Estcourt.From 1930 to 1944 he was state veterinarian for southern Zululand and was stationed at Eshowe.From there he was transferred to Greytown only to die tragically in 1947 at the age of only 43 years from reputed sunstroke probably suffered while doing field work.After his death his widow worked for many years as a smear examiner for the Division of Veterinary Services in Greytown and Pietermaritzburg.

Leslie (Pat) Stonier
Leslie (Pat) Stonier -note that his name is also misspelt in the legend to the photograph -was born in Cape Town, matriculated at Pretoria Boys High School and was a teacher for a short period before he started studying at Onderstepoort.His entire career was spent as a state veterinarian, first at Vryburg from 1928, then at Allerton Laboratory from 1933 to 1935 and finally at Kimberley where he remained until he retired in 1964.Pat served in the South African Defence Force during WorldWar II.After retirement he was re-appointed on a temporary basis for a year.Thereafter he worked for the Kimberley City Council doing meat hygiene control.He was one of the first veterinarians to contract Rift Valley fever, presumably during the 1st epidemic that occurred in South Africa from 1950 to 1951.This permanently impaired his vision due to retinal detachment.Pat was devoted to his church and sang in its choir for many years.He was also a member of the Kimberley Rotary Club.He died from an attack of coronary thrombosis in 1970 a week before his 69th birthday.During this period he planned the successful application of DDT, which was administered mainly by aerial spraying, to rid an area of more than 18 000 km 2  "René du Toit always told his students that as dog owners resembled their pets, so professors tended to resemble their subject and he felt that as an entomologist he resembled a tick -a wellengorged tick." T he photographs of the classes of 1928 and 1929 present an enigma because they both bear the same date, i.e. 1929.How does one then determine which is which?In addition, both photographs are composed of individual shots of the graduates rather than the more customary, com prehensive class photographs, which means that mistakes in producing them could have slipped in, thereby causing further confusion.

Wilhelmus Rijksen
However, a superficial examination of the photo graphs soon provided an answer to the riddle.J A (Jack) Thorburn also features in the photograph of the Class of 1927 and it has already been established that he was a 'super' who qualified in 1928, a year later than his classmates.We also already know that M C Robinson, who qualified in 1928, married Joan Morice, the first girl to study at the Onderstepoort faculty, who qualified in 1927.
From this reasoning it was deduced that the photograph dated 1929, on which four graduates and the Dean, Prof. Dr P J du Toit, appear, is that of the Class of 1928 (Fig. 1).The other photograph in which W O Neitz and C Jackson, who later became wellknown Faculty professors, inter alia, appear in the absence of a Dean is dated correctly, i.e. 1929 (Fig. 2).

THE CLASS OF 1928
Since the career of J A Thorburn was described in the previous article, only three of the four graduates who feature in the photograph of the Class of 1928 require further elucidation.* rbigalke@telkomsa.net

THE CLASS OF 1929
The first thing that strikes one about the current photograph of the Class of 1929 (Fig. 2) is the obvious youthfulness of one of the graduates, BM Horwitz.His position on the original photograph was indicated by a neatly tied scroll, which means that it was not possible to obtain a suitable photograph of him at the time that the compound picture (obviously composed of shots taken individually of the six graduates) was prepared.However, a school photograph of Dr Horwitz was recently obtained from his son through the initiative of Prof. Peter Belonje, which enabled Prof. Ken Pettey to complete the original picture.In fact, it is very likely that the latter was composed almost as an afterthought because most of the photographs were clearly taken several years after the graduation ceremony when the graduates were considerably older.T he Class of 1930 of the Onderstepoort Faculty was the 2nd smallest in its history (Fig. 1).It boasted 2 students and is only surpassed by the Class of 1933, which had a single one for much of the BVSc course.Despite the fact that the 2 students must have enjoyed considerable attention by their teachers, it is worthy of note that, as stated by Posthumus 5 , 'it is on record that no veterinary students qualified from Onderstepoort in 1930'.This must be borne in mind when considering the caption of the photograph.
The photograph is once again composed of individual shots of the 2 graduates rather than the customary, comprehensive class photograph, and it is apparent that Nilsen's photograph was taken several years after he qualified, evidently at one of the General Meetings of the South African Veterinary Medical Association.The Dean of the Faculty, Prof. P J du Toit, does not feature.This is peculiar because the photograph was clearly compiled many years after graduation and there is no reason why his photograph could not have been added.

Leslie Thomas (Ted) Edwards
Leslie Thomas (Ted) Edwards was born in Cathcart on 14 July 1908 and matriculated at the Victoria High School, Grahamstown in 1925.He was the only student in the 2nd year and was joined by Nilsen, who had to repeat a year, in his 3rd year.Both received supplementary examinations at the end of their final year and therefore qualified in the middle of 1931 instead of 1930.Ted's wife's name was Kay.Edwards spent his entire career in the government service.He was first sent to Allerton Laboratory for East Coast fever smear examination duties for about 6 months and then to Umtata for a similar task.In 1933 he had his first taste of foot-andmouth disease (FMD) control in the Koedoesrand area of the Potgietersrus district, which 'hardened' him for 'future life as a state veterinarian' 5 .In

THE CLASS OF 1931
The official photograph of the Class of 1931 is the more customary composite one (Fig. 2), probably taken shortly after the last examination in the final (5th) year of the 6 students concerned.However, the Dean, Prof. P J du Toit, does not feature.Was he perhaps on one of his many overseas trips?This class boasts the youngest veterinarian to ever qualify at the Onderstepoort Faculty, M H V Brown.

Major Henry Victor Brown
Major Henry Victor Brown was born in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) on 2 May 1912.Major was only 14 years old when he started with the BVSc course in 1927, and he qualified in 1931 aged 19.He is said to have been the youngest veterinarian in the British Empire, at the time 3 .Small wonder that he seems to be asleep in the photograph!According to one of his classmates, C C Wessels -told by the latter's

"The class of 1931 boasts the youngest veterinarian to ever qualify at the Onderstepoort Faculty. Major Henry Victor Brown was born in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) on 2 May 1912. Major was only 14 years old when he started with the BVSc course in 1927,
and he qualified in 1931 aged 19." son Brian, who is also a veterinary surgeon -Major Brown's brilliance was phenomenal.'He hardly ever made notes during lectures.When it came to swotting he would go to the others, one at a time, find out what they were studying, and then asked the person to tell him everything about that particular subject'.He always had cigarettes at hand, which he kept in a tin.Dr Brown first spent the period 1931 to 1936 as a research officer at the Onderstepoort Research Institute.He then resigned to take on a position in the British Colonial Service in Burma at the Insein Veterinary Laboratory as pathologist and bacteriologist, where he inter alia had to work with Asian elephants.This included euthanasing a rogue elephant, which he managed to do, not with a rifle but by intravenous administration of a pound of Epsom salts dissolved in a gallon of water.When the Japanese invaded Burma in 1942 during the World War II, Major returned to South Africa and joined the practice of Dr Jack Boswell of which he became a partner.He eventually concentrated on small animal surgery in the practice to become 'one of the finest surgeons I have ever seen', according to Boswell

William Stratford Beverley Clapham
Born in Pretoria on 14 June 1904 and also failing to qualify in 1931 because of a supplementary examination in Surgery, Clapham joined the Division of Veterinary Services in mid-1932, but soon transferred to the Department of Defence as a veterinary officer and from there to the Aircraft Depot.The reason for this move was probably because Clapham had qualified as a pilot while he was a student at Onderstepoort.From November 1939 to September 1940 he found himself on secondment in Tanganyika in the campaign to control rinderpest that was spreading southwards in that country, thereby threatening southern Africa, which had been free of the disease since the early 1900s.Rossiter was in the South African Veterinary Corps during World War II and was involved in the transportation of mules to India for the British Army as well as in the capture of Madagascar by the South African Forces.He was awarded the MBE for these services.Dr Rossiter was involved in several FMD campaigns at Bushbuckridge while stationed as government veterinary officer at Barberton and Ermelo, where he lived for 10 years.He also spent 5 years in Grahamstown.In 1965 he was promoted to Assistant Director and placed in charge of the Natal region where he remained until he retired in 1972.He then took up a temporary appointment with the Division of Veterinary Services as meat inspector at the Pietermaritzburg abattoir.He was a keen cricketer and rugby player in his younger days, as well as bowls player in later years, and an excellent horseman.He was also an active Rotarian and member of old soldiers' organisations.He died on 1 February 1981 at the age of 73.

Nicolas Theart van der Linde
Nicolas Theart van der Linde was born in Griquatown in 1909 and was one of the 3 final year students who managed to pass Surgery, therefore graduating in 1931.He then joined the Division of Veterinary Services as state veterinarian for which he worked for the first 28 years of his career.After being stationed at Allerton for about 6 months, he was transferred to Armoedsvlakte (a farm near Vryburg) where research was being "Major Henry Victor Brown eventually concentrated on small animal surgery in the practice to become 'one of the finest surgeons I have ever seen', according to Boswell 2 ." done on lamsiekte (botulism).We also know that Dr Van   Although they all initially joined Field Services as state veterinarians, none spent their entire careers in that division.Three spent virtually their entire careers at Onderstepoort, also teaching (parttime) at the Faculty.
After a most impressive start to his career, a 4th graduate died at the age of only 30 shortly after leaving Onderstepoort for municipal (public health) service.A 5th spent most of his career in private practice while also serving the veterinary profession for 8 years in the high office of president of its association.One spent the greater part of his career in municipal (public health) service and another went into private practice, eventually also farming with citrus. Fig.

GC (Govert) van Drimmelen GC (Govert) van Drimmelen was born in Zeerust on 27
September 1911 as a 2nd child (his father was a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church, who had emigrated to South Africa from the Netherlands).When his father died in 1919 from Spanish flu, his mother temporarily returned to her homeland with her family.However, she came back a few years later with the result that Govert matriculated at the Oost Eind Hoër Skool in Pretoria in 1928.When he enrolled for his 1st year at the Transvaal University College (TUC), he was one of 27 students, but for the greater part of the rest of the 5year veterinary course his was a 1person class.His 1st appointment was as a state veterinarian at Allerton Laboratory in Pietermaritzburg where he was mainly occupied with the dreary task of examining ±36 000 East Coast fever (ECF) smears, which were in arrears.He was then transferred to Umtata in the Transkei, an ECF hotspot, and then to Carolina where the disease was also still present.In 1938 he landed up in Bloemfontein T he Class of 1934 consisted of 6 students (Fig. 1) The available photograph is once again composed of individual images of the graduates rather than the customary, comprehensive class photograph.Four are wearing graduation regalia, the photographs clearly having been taken when they graduated.The other 2 were obviously photographed later.J J van der Westhuizen's empty position on the original photograph is indicated by a neatly tied scroll, which means that it was not possible to obtain a suitable photograph at the time when the compound picture was compiled.His photograph was kindly provided by his son -see Acknowledgements.This class boasts having the first South African graduate who went straight into private practice after qualifying at Onderstepoort, namely Jack Boswell.
N (Ninian) Barrie N (Ninian) Barrie was born in George, Cape Proviince, on 7 October 1910.He was the son of George Barrie, a businessman who hailed from Scotland, and Viola Henriëtte Barrie (neé Swemmer).His early schooling took place in George and he matriculated in Lindley in the Orange Free State.He qualified as a veterinarian in 1935, apparently after having completed a supplementary examination.Ninian married Emily Wessels in October 1935 and the couple had 4 children.After qualifying he joined the Division of Veterinary (Field) Services and was initially posted to Middelburg (Cape) as a state veterinarian.He was also stationed at Standerton Veterinary education in South Africa: The Classes of 1934 and 1935 There was an equine specialist (Hempstead), several vets who did mainly cattle work (AI included), 2 small animal surgeons (Brown and Margaret Hearn) and several small animal practitioners.The latest vet (the houseman) to join the practice almost invariably had to run the after-hours emergency clinic at the Hospital, which also served the 4eventually there were up to 9 -branch clinics, for a period of 6 months to a year.It has recently been estimated (J Welton, pers.comm., 2007) that 'about 80 vets worked in Sandown over the years', including those in the Sandown Veterinary Clinic, which replaced the Sandown Veterinary Hospital in 1971.Jack served on the Federal Council of the South African Veterinary Association (SAVA) for 12 years.The prestigious Boswell Award, which is awarded for eminent service to the SAVA, was named after him because it was his brainchild and he supplied the initial funds for the verdite-mounted ivory elephant and rhinoceros statuettes of which the first recipients in 1977 were R B (Ossie) Osrin and L W (Louw) van den Heever.
Jack, rightfully hailed as the father of private veterinary practice in SA, was awarded the Gold Medal of the SAVA in 1974, the only veterinary practitioner to have achieved this distinction.Jack married Joan Hardy Philip and the couple had 5 children -3 daughters and 2 sons.Jack retired from the practice in 1981 to a farm near Alexandria in the Eastern Cape to run the Timbadola Stud that Eric Hempstead had helped him to establish.Jack was a dedicated Rotarian for many years, serving in senior positions such as District Governor, and did much travelling even before he retired.He and Jane loved going abroad and they continued with this favourite pastime after his retirement.Jack later sold the farm and finally moved to a retirement home in Nelspruit where he died on 20 March 2000 at the age of 87.

Arthur Rolf Thiel
Arthur Rolf Thiel was born on 22 October 1910 in Rosebank, Cape Town and matriculated in 1928 at Diocesan College, also known as Bishops.After interviews with Dr P J du Toit, the Director of Onderstepoort, and Genl J C G Kemp, the Minister of Agriculture, he was awarded a bursary to study veterinary science at Onderstepoort where he qualified in 1934.Like most newly graduated veterinarians who joined the Division of Veterinary (Field) Services in those days, Arthur started his career at Allerton Laboratory (Pietermaritzburg, Natal) where thousands of slides had to be examined for East Coast fever.He was then successively transferred to Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Port Shepstone where he met his future wife Cynthia Stott and became engaged.After visiting Jack Boswell on invitation in Johannesburg in 1937, and seeing how busy the practice was, he decided to join him and soon became a "J G Boswell, known to all as Jack, became the first Onderstepoort graduate to spend his entire career in private practice without ever entering the government service."Jacobus Johannes (J J) van der Westhuizen Jacobus Johannes (J J) van  completing a supplemen tary examination in Surgery, and joined the Division of Veterinary (Field) Services.He started his career as state veterinarian at the Allerton Laboratory, was transferred to Umtata in the same year and in 1944 to Vryheid where he had to handle the extremely difficult latter stages of the slaughter-out policy of the East Coast fever control campaign, which he did very successfully.Lambrechts was closely involved with local experiments which showed that wild ruminants were carriers of foot and mouth disease.This resulted in a policy of extensive game fencing of the Kruger National Park and the creation of a barrier zone of stock farms around it ('red line') that were subject to regular inspection and permits for movement of livestock.In 1953 he was transferred to Pretoria where he was placed in charge of the control programme of, and field research on, bovine tuberculosis, being tasked to develop an eradication scheme.He also conducted research on the acid-fast bacteria in skin lesions causing false positive reactions to the tuberculin test in cattle, and succeeded in culturing the organisms for the first time in South Africa.In 1959 Lampie became Assistant Director of Veterinary Field Services in the Northern Cape and shortly thereafter, in 1960, he was promoted to Deputy Director of Veterinary Field Services, thus being placed in charge of that wing of veterinary services in South Africa.He was responsible for the successful upgrading of this post to that of Director of Veterinary Services in 1962, so that Field Services was again on par with international conventions.As Director he was also responsible for the establishment of regional diagnostic laboratories on a national scale that were run by the Directorate of Veterinary Services.Lampie served as member of the Federal Council of the South African Veterinary Association (SAVA) and on the Veterinary Council (a statutory body) for several years, and was awarded the Gold Medal of the SAVA in 1980 for his outstanding contribution to the development of state veterinary medicine as a science.He was also awarded a Medal for Dedicated Service to Africa by the Royal African Society in 1969.Lampie married Joan Booker in 1939 and the couple had 3 children, Dorothy, Hugo and Martin.Hugo followed in his father's footsteps, qualifying as a veterinarian in 1962.
Lambrechts retired in 1972 at the age of 60 and went farming near Makwassie.He died in Bloemfontein on 10 September 1992 at the age of 80, following a stroke.

George Frederik (Okkie) van der Merwe
George Frederik (Okkie) van der Merwe was born on 14 April 1909 in South West Africa (now Namibia).While at the Agricultural School at Gamman near Windhoek he was awarded a bursary by the administration of South West Africa to study veterinary science and he qualified at Onderstepoort in 1935.He married Aletta Pyper on 1 January 1937 and the couple had a son and a daughter.After being appointed as a state veterinarian on 6 January 1936, Okkie was placed in Windhoek.He subsequently also served in Gobabis -where he was involved in the bovine pleuropneumonia campaign in the Kaokoveld -and Walvis Bay, being responsible for inspection of meat to be exported.Okkie's health was never robust and he asked to be transferred to the Union of South Africa to be posted to Grahamstown in 1956 where he conducted useful practical research on the immunisation of T he class of 1936 was the largest of the pre-war classes of the Onderstepoort Faculty, consisting of the hitherto unheard of number of 14 students.The photograph on which they appear is the customary comprehensive one with the Dean of the Faculty, Dr (Prof.)P J du Toit, presiding.It is noteworthy that 3 of the students who feature in the photograph only qualified at the end of the following year, their names also appearing on the composite photograph of the 1937 graduates.Apparently the photograph was taken before the results of the final examinations were known.

Jacobus Albertus Badenhorst
The information on Badenhorst is scanty.The dates of his birth and death, for example, could not be traced.Although he features in the photograph of the class of 1936, Badenhorst obviously failed his final year because he only qualified as a veterinarian at the end of the following year.He immediately joined the Division of Veterinary (Field) Services and saw duty as state veterinarian at Umtata and Flagstaff in the Transkei, and then in Keetmanshoop, South West Africa (now Namibia), De Aar and Standerton.He resigned in ~1960 and proceeded to Bulawayo, but apparently returned to South Africa shortly thereafter to practice as a private veterinarian in De Aar, from where he moved to the Western Cape and finally to Swaziland.After 1969 his name no longer appears in the list of registered veterinarians.

Abstract
Concise descriptions are given of the varied life histories of the students of the classes of 1936 and 1937.Consisting of 14 students, the class of 1936 was the largest of the pre-war classes of the Onderstepoort Faculty.Three of the 6 students in the 1937 class were actually repeating their final year, therefore the total number described below is 17 rather than 20.The detailed analysis of their careers reveals the presence of a remarkable degree of variation.Although all except Brookes, who apparently went directly into the newly established practice of Jack Boswell, initially joined the local government service, most of them became specialists in their disciplines.Four soon established very successful private practices.Five of the 6 who spent their entire careers in the South African Veterinary (Field) Services, finally occupied very senior positions in that division.One of them (Kluge) made a major contribution to the control of tsetse flies in this country and another (Belonje) became a specialist in equine infertility.Four of the graduates opted for a research career, 3 of them also teaching at the Faculty.Of all of these, only De Boom (Anatomy & Embryology), who was a consummate teacher, took on a fulltime position as Professor and Head of the Department when the Faculty became independent from the Onderstepoort Research Institute in 1973.De Lange (Surgery & Gynaecology), however, relinquished his professorship to become a deputy director of the Institute.Sutton became a household name to the many students who passed through his hands in Animal Management.Haig (Virology) became one of the most famous of the many researchers produced by Onderstepoort.Van der Walt showed much promise as a researcher but died at the age of only 45.Two more died before they were 35 years old.Two had sons who also became veterinarians while one's grandson followed in his grandfather's and father's footsteps.future wife Brenda (née Munro).She was a great supporter of Hoffie's career as veterinarian and very dedicated to their family consisting of 3 sons and a daughter.After a transfer to Rustenburg, Hoffie opened a private practice in Pretoria in Malan Street, Riviera.He obtained some financial assistance for this, in those days, dramatic step from Dr Jack Boswell, who had qualified in 1934.Hofmeyr later moved his practice to his home in Hilda Street in Hatfield and finally to Pretorius Street.Over the next 15 years he developed his practice into one of the finest in this country.Even as practitioner he specialised in surgery, raising the discipline to a professional level not reached by any of his predecessors or contemporaries.His professionalism was legendary.While still practising, he ran the ambulatory clinic of the Onderstepoort faculty on a parttime basis.He was also contracted as veterinarian to the National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria.
Hoffie was appointed professor and Head of Surgery at the Faculty in 1958 -the faculty having just been restructured to accommodate so-called full-time appointments -and built up his department to one that could compete with the best in the world.In 1969 he became part-time Dean of the Faculty and in 1976 he was appointed as its 1st full-time Dean.He was instrumental in introducing postgraduate, specialist, mainly clinical MMedVet and BVSc (Hons), degrees in a large number of disciplines as well as a very successful diploma course in veterinary nursing.Prof. Hofmeyr was a great and active protagonist of the Faculty's incorporation into the University of Pretoria, which, to his great delight, realised in 1973 when the Faculty became independent from the Onderstepoort Veterinary Research Institute and the Department of Agriculture.A building programme for new lecture halls and administrative facilities, for example the new main building known as the Theiler building, as well as other essential teaching facilities plus supplying the equipment required, could now begin in earnest.It culminated in the state of the art new hospital, all of which materialised, however, after his time.
His postgraduate qualifications included an MMedVet (Chir) in 1965 and a DVSc-degree (cum laude) in 1967.He was also awarded a DVSc degree (honoris causa) by the University of Pretoria in 1990 and an honorary doctorate by the University of Asuncion, Paraguay, in 1980.He was author or co-author of more than 100 publications and also wrote a popular book on the life of a veterinary surgeon.Other forms of recognition of excellence were the awarding of its Gold Medal by the South African Veterinary Association (SAVA) in 1981 and the Gold Medal of the South African Academy of Science and Art in 1993.He served the veterinary profession as Vice President of the SAVA from 1971-1975 and as member of its Federal Council.
Prof. Hofmeyr was in considerable demand internationally, for example being invited to deliver the Peter Wilson lecture at the University of Edinburgh and chairing sessions at the congress of the World Veterinary Association in Mexico City and the congress of the World Association for Cattle Diseases in Israel.He paid no less than 16 visits to overseas countries for scientific purposes.After retiring, the Hofmeyr couple moved to George in the Western Cape.However, after a few years they returned to Pretoria where Prof. Hofmeyr died, 4 years after Brenda, on 14 January 2004 aged 88.

P
S (Flip) Snyman & J G (Hardy) WIlliams Both P S (Flip) Snyman and J G (Hardy) Williams joined the Division ofVeterinary Services in 1925, serving as government veterinary officers at various places in South Africa.Snyman also spent several years at Onderstepoort and obtained a DVSc degree for his thesis on rabies research in 1940.Both ended their preretirement careers as Director of Field Services, Snyman from 1946 to his retirement in 1959, and Williams from 1959 to 1960 when he retired.Snyman died at the age of 72 in 1971, whereas Williams was destined to outlive all his classmates by several years, dying in 1989 at the ripe old age of 89.
Graf spent his entire career at Onderstepoort.Having obtained a BSc degree at the Transvaal University College in 1922, it is clear that he must have started his BVSc course in 1923 in the 3rd year.He was awarded a DVSc degree in 1932 on the strength of a thesis based on his research on blood chemistry.He took up an appointment at Onderstepoort as veterinary research officer becoming intimately involved with the training of students at the Onderstepoort Faculty from 1927 onwards.Initially he lectured in Biochemistry and from 1929 in Chemical Pathology.He was also an expert on dips and dipping.He was interned from 1941 to 1945 during World War II.In 1954 he was promoted to Deputy Director of Veterinary Research and from 1956 he also took on the task of Dean of the Faculty.The Graf family developed a nursery at the foot of the Magaliesberg in Pretoria North which was well known for its fine supply of indigenous trees, a subject which interested him greatly.Herman died of a heart attack while on duty in 1960 when he was almost 62.Major L L Daly Major L L Daly saw military service during World War II in the South African Veterinary Corps in which he rose to the rank of major.He also spent his entire career as state veterinarian in the field, initially at Nylstroom and Louis Trichardt, and then at Barberton.In 1945 he was promoted to SubDirector in charge of the Natal region, where he replaced Dr A M Diesel.Major Daly was very much involved in liaison with the Natal farmers during the difficult closing years of the East Coast fever eradication campaign in that province, when slaughter out of cattle on infected farms was strictly implemented under his control, thus making a great contribution to its total eradication from that province.He retired in 1960 and died in Pietermaritzburg in 1965 aged almost 65 years.
strength of which he was awarded a DVSc degree in 1933.In 1930 he went to the UK to specialise in wool research and on his return was placed in charge of the newly established, but rather shortlived, wool research unit at Onderstepoort.Bekker ventured into private practice, probably as early as 1935 when he joined the wellremembered Dr G G Kind, a Swiss veterinarian recruited by Theiler, whose contract at Onderstepoort was not renewed in 1922 and who then set up practice in Pretoria.Later Bekker practised in Johannesburg, initially in partnership with Dr H P (Lang) Steyn and (for 5 years only) Dr B C (Ben) Jansen.Bekker also served as external examiner in Medicine at the Faculty for many years.In later years he spent much of his time trying to develop an automated system for the administration of phosphorus to cattle via their drinking water.He died in Johannesburg in 1960 at the age of 60.
was a state veterinarian for the first 19 years of his career, being posted straight to Transkei (Umtata, Butterworth, Port St Johns and Ixopo) where East Coast fever was rife.He then spent a few years in the Vryburg and Mafeking districts.It was while managing a campaign at Vryburg aimed at keeping FMD from entering his area from the Bechuanaland Protectorate, that he had to supervise the destruction of 130 head of cattle that had crossed the Molopo River, an experience from which he apparently never recovered.He was posted to Port Elizabeth in 1942 where he resigned from the service in 1944 to go into private practice until 1973 when he retired.He died in Port Elizabeth in 1979 aged almost 77.Thus the Class of 1925, inter alia, produced 2 Directors of Veterinary Services, 1 Dean of the Onderstepoort Faculty and one of the first of the local faculty's graduates to become a private practitioner.
John (Jack) ThorburnJohn (Jack) Thorburn was apparently a 'super' who had to repeat his final year.Although he was a member of the class of 1927 he qualified in 1928 and his 1st appointment in the Division of Veterinary Services as state veterinarian dates from January 1929.After initially being stationed at Onderstepoort, he was transferred to the field and served in the Northern Cape, Zululand, Transkei (Peddie), Grahamstown and East London, in the latter town from 1942 to 1945.Jack played a major role in the East Coast fever eradication campaign in the Peddie area.In 1945 he resigned from the government service to join the well-known company Cooper & Nephews, probably the 1st Onderstepoort graduate to enter the pharmaceutical field.He formed the Coopers' Veterinary Research team in East London and guided its early years.In 1949 he moved of bushveld expanse in Zululand, an area about as big as the Kruger National Park, from the most important species of tsetse fly, Glossina pallidipes, occurring in that portion of Natal.Du Toit was awarded a DVSc degree by the University of Pretoria in 1953 for a thesis based on his research on the control of tsetse flies.He also made the pioneering discoveries in 1944 that African horse sickness and bluetongue of sheep were transmitted biologically by Culicoides spp.and that cattle may serve as reservoirs of bluetongue virus.Du Toit filled the positions of Sub-Director of the Veterinary Research Institute, part-time Professor of Parasitology at the Onderstepoort Faculty and fulltime Professor of Parasitology at the Faculty during his career.He also served as Dean of the Onderstepoort Faculty from 1960 to 1963.Other prestigious positions held by him were: President of the South African Biological Society (on 2 occasions) and President of the South African Entomological Society.He died in Cape Town in 1988 aged 84 years.He always told his students that as dog owners resembled their pets, so professors tended to resemble their subject and he felt that as an entomologist he resembled a tick -a well-engorged tick.The name of the dog in the photograph could not be traced!
Only one of them (W O Neitz) appears in graduation regalia.B M (Bertie) Horwitz B M (Bertie) Horwitz was born in East London on 17 October 1907 and matriculated at Selborne College in 1924 where he played for its first rugby team, as indicated by the only photograph of him which could be traced (Fig.2).Like most of his predecessors, he also joined the government service shortly after qualifying in 1929 and was stationed at Allerton Laboratory as government veterinary officer until July 1931.He then tried his hand in practice in Port Elizabeth while also doing duty as a parttime municipal veterinarian.From 1937 to 1940 he was employed by the municipality on a fulltime basis.He then served in the South African Veterinary Corps in World War II.From 1944 to 1953 he was municipal veterinary officer in control of milk supply in Cape Town and was promoted to Director of the Municipal Abattoir in 1953 in which capacity he officiated until his retirement in 1968.Dr Horwitz then rejoined the government service and was inter alia involved with the drafting of the Animal Slaughter, Meat and Animal Products Act.In April 1973 he took up employment with the Department of Medical Microbiology at Tygerberg Hospital as infection control officer and died in office at Tygerberg Hospital on 1 April 1982 aged 74.C (Cecil) JacksonC (Cecil) Jackson was born in London on 10 May 1905.He initially studied veterinary anatomy and physiology at the Johannesburg University College, the predecessor of the University of the Witwatersrand, and obtained a BSc degree in 1924.After working as registrar to the Hon.Mr Justice RA Tindall, he enrolled at the Onderstepoort Faculty to qualify as a veterinarian at the end of 1929.Jackson started his veterinary career as a research officer at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Laboratory and parttime lecturer in Anatomy in 1930.In 1936, at the age of 31, he was not only awarded a DVSc degree for his classic thesis entitled 'The incidence and pathology of tumours of domesticated animals in South Africa' but was also appointed parttime professor of Anatomy in the faculty.[In those days all faculty posts were parttime positions.]He also took on the responsibility of an editor of the Journal of the South African Veterinary Medical Association at the end of the year, a position that he held for one year, but he was a member of the editorial committee from 1931 to 1948.He was a great lover of classical music and regularly gave small orchestral performances at his home to which interested students were invited.Prof.Jackson remained professor of Anatomy at the Onderstepoort Faculty until he resigned in September 1955 at the age of 50.Thereafter he was variously employed, first at the Medical School of the University of Witwatersrand and then as senior fellow of the National Cancer Association of South Africa.He left South Africa for the United Kingdom in 1957 but returned to Africa the next year to head the pre clinical veterinary school at Makerere College in Kampala, Uganda, where he also served as professor of Anatomy.In 1961 he accepted a post as principal research officer at the Biological Research Institute at Achimota in Ghana and became acting director the following year.He died in Ghana on 5 January 1965 at the age of 60.W O (Wilhelm) Neitz W O (Willi, or Willem -his first name was Wilhelm) Neitz was one of the greatest research scientists ever produced by Onderstepoort.Born in Potgietersrus (now Makopane) on 17 November 1906, he was the youngest child of a German missionary from the Berlin Mission, which was situated in a semirural environment in the bushveld.As a child he often had to look on helplessly when livestock owned by his parents and local farmers died from especially tickborne diseases.To quote from his own curriculum vitae, written in the third person, 'These scenes, and the ruination of many a hopeful farmer in the bushveld, created a lasting impression and caused him to study veterinary science'.He received his schooling in Potgietersrus and matriculated in 1924.He then proceeded to study veterinary science and qualified at Onderstepoort in 1929.He was appointed research officer at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Laboratory under Prof. P J du Toit early in 1930.He never married and research became 'his passion'.He was awarded a DVSc degree in 1945 for the research work in which he demonstrated the multiplicity of immunogenically distinct bluetongue strains and the absolute necessity of producing a polyvalent vaccine.His scientific productivity is legendary.It spanned several veterinary disciplines, Neitz inter alia publishing 133 scientific articles up to 1971 of which several were monographs consisting of more than 100 pages.He shunned the 1963 he was transferred to Veterinary education in South Africa: The Classes of 1930 and 1931 R D Bigalke * Abstract With only two students in the final year, the class of 1930 was the 2nd smallest in the history of the Onderstepoort Faculty.Noteworthy is that the class photograph is composed of individual shots of the graduates and that 1 photograph was taken several years after qualification.The photograph of the Class of 1931 is the more customary composite one.The Dean, Prof. P J duToit, does not feature in either.Concise descriptions are given of the life histories of the 8 graduates.Again their careers show considerable variation.
2 .He died in office on 7 March 1955 at the age of only 43.William George Barnard William George Barnard was born in Lydenburg on 14 September 1907 and qualified as a veterinarian in June 1932, having been obliged to complete a supplementary examination in Surgery.He then joined the Division of Veterinary Services and served as state veterinarian for 7 years and was stationed mainly in East Griqualand.He married Marie Pringle in 1939.The couple was childless.In the same year he transferred to Swaziland where he served as Principal Veterinary Officer until 1953.He then went to Tanganyika where he succeeded Dr N R Reid -who qualified in 1927 -as Director of Veterinary Services.In 1958 he returned to South Africa to practise at Ballitoville on the Natal North Coast until his death on 27 September 1980 at the age of 73 years.He was awarded the OBE in 1951 for his services to the Swazi nation.

T
he composition of the class photo graphs of the gra du ates of 1932 and 1933 differs from that of their more recent predecessors in respect of 3 staff members also being present.Apart from the Dean of the Faculty, Dr (Prof.)P J du Toit, Dr (Prof.)G de Kock -presumably the Acting Dean -and the head of the students' hostel, Mr W O Neitz, also feature.It is not clear why Du Toit and De Kock are identified as doctors rather than professors in the photographs.It was probably to distinguish them from Neitz who, in con trast to the other 2, had not yet obtained a doctorate .It must be kept in mind that it was only in 1945 that South African veterinarians decided in favour of using the courtesy title of 'doctor' for veterinarians with a BVSc or an equivalent degree.THE CLASS OF 1932 T F (Tom) Adelaar T F (Tom) Adelaar was born in Pretoria on 26 March 1909 and matriculated at its Oost Eind Hoër Skool in 1926.After quali Veterinary education in South Africa: The Classes of 1932 and 1933 R D Bigalke * Abstract The Class of 1933 of the Onderstepoort Faculty was the smallest in its history, having only 1 student for much of the BVSc course.The photographs of the Classes of 1932 and 1933 are both of the customary composite type.Not only the graduates, but also the Dean, Prof. Dr P J du Toit, as well as the presumed Acting Dean, Prof. Dr G de Kock, and the head of the students' hostel, Mr WO Neitz, feature.Concise descriptions are given of the life histories of the 7 graduates.Once again their careers show considerable variation.
partner.Arthur and Cynthia married in the same year and the couple had 4 children -2 daughters and 2 sons.Dr Thiel served as major in the South African Veterinary Corps in World War II from 1940 -1945.Amongst other military duties, he was involved in shipping mules to India.He retained the full financial benefits of his partnership, paying his army salary into the practice in lieu of his absence.Soon after he returned, he and Jack decided to set up another practice in Durban.Their plans did not materialise, however, and they finally decided to part company.Arthur became a partner of Major Bogue in Durban, soon taking over the practice when the latter retired.He spent the rest of his career in practice in Durban, having several partners such as Angus (Gus) Cross and Mike Dommisse.Arthur retired in 1975 and acquired a farm in the Botha's Hill area where he raised Dorper sheep and sold fat lambs.Arthur is dedicated to his profession and keeps himself informed about its activities.He re members his Onderstepoort classmates and later colleagues with empathy and enthusiasm.Contact with veterinarians remains a high priority.He takes great pleasure and pride in his family, who give him much support.Arthur now lives happily in Doonside and particularly enjoys his regular strolls along the beach.At 97 he holds the distinction of being the oldest Onderstepoort graduate.Jan George van der Wath Jan George van der Wath was born on 25 August 1907 at Ladybrand in the Orange Free State and matriculated at Ficksburg High School.He qualified at the Onderstepoort Faculty in 1934 and joined the Division of Veterinary (Field) Services in 1935 to be posted to the Allerton Laboratory in Pietermaritzburg, Natal.In 1936 he was transferred to the Physiology Department at Onderstepoort.He was awarded a DVSc degree in 1942 for a thesis entitled: 'Studies on the alimentary tract of the Merino sheep with special reference to the role of the micro-fauna and -flora'.Shortly thereafter he resigned his post and went farming on the farm Welgelegen in the Ermelo district.Apart from farming with Merino sheep, he also bred the well-known Steenkamp line of Boerperde from 1948, having married in 1939 into the Steenkamp family -his wife was Magaretha Elizabeth Steenkamp.He was a very successful farmer and eventually also owned the Tati Ranch in Botswana on which the remnants are to be found of what are probably the earliest gold mines in southern Africa.George, however, never lost his interest in academic life and research.He was selected to serve on the Council of the University of Pretoria.As a sheep farmer, he also became intimately involved in organised agriculture, particularly the wool industry.He was made Chairman of the South African Wool Board in 1960, and served as Chairman of the International Wool Secretariat for a year.He was appointed Chair-man of the South African Wool Textile Research Institute in 1962 and in 1965 became Chairman of the Wool Commission.He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Port Elizabeth in recognition of his immense contribution to the promotion of all aspects of the wool industry.George died prematurely shortly thereafter.He was very severely injured in a tragic Boeing aircraft disaster at Windhoek airport while on his way to England on an official visit.He died from his injuries about a month later on 15 May 1968 at the age of almost 61.

Charles was born on 4
October 1914 of Dutch parents who emigrated from Buitenzorg, Java, to South Africa.Charles matriculated from Grey High School, Port Elizabeth in 1931 and obtained his BVSc degree in 1936.He then joined the Division of Veterinary (Field) Services as state veterinarian and was stationed at various localities in the Eastern Cape Veterinary Region from 1937 to 1966.From 1945 to 1963 he also taught the diploma students in sheep and wool at the Grootfontein Agricultural College the basic principles of prophylactic herd management.He was stationed in Pretoria from 1966 to 1973 and then transferred back to East London as regional director (title: Assistant-Director) of the Eastern Cape Veterinary Region from 1973 to 1979 when he retired at the age of 65.The Jockey Club and Thoroughbred Breeders Association of SA awarded Dr Belonje a scholarship in 1950.This enabled him to conduct research at the Equine Research Station of the Animal Health Trust at Newmarket and at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.After further research locally in the Karoo midlands, he completed a thesis on fertility in Thoroughbred mares for which he was awarded a DVSc degree by the Onderstepoort Faculty in 1958.He was also very knowledgeable in the meat hygiene (public health) discipline and was responsible for drafting the Animal Slaughter, Meat and Animal Products Hygiene Act (Act No. 87 of 1967).For these reasons he served for many years as external examiner in both Genesiology and Meat Hygiene at the Onderstepoort Faculty.
Veterinary education in South Africa:The Classes of 1936 and 1937 R D Bigalke *

Fig. 1 :Fig. 2 :
Fig. 1: Seated (left to right): S G Turner, Prof. G de Kock, H P A de Boom (head of hostel).Standing (left to right): P R Mansvelt, G L Muller, C F B Hofmeyr, N C F Steenekamp.

"
Fig. 5: P P Hugo Lawrence developed into one of Southern Rhodesia's most respected veterinarians.After a brief spell at Onderstepoort, he joined the Southern Rhodesian government service as veterinary research officer in August 1926.His main tasks were diagnostic work and vaccine production.In 1933 he was appointed Director of Veterinary Research.He developed a particular interest in the theilerial infections occurring in Southern Rhodesia and was first to describe the East Coast feverrelated fatal theilerial infection of cattle associated with the presence of African buffalo, later named buffalo or Corridor disease.The aetiological agent of buffalo disease was later named Theileria lawrencei in his honour by W O Neitz of Onderstepoort 3 .In 1954 Dudley was appointed Director of Veterinary Services of Southern Rhodesia.However, he relinquished this position in 1959 at the age of 56 and went into private practice.He also officiated as veterinarian to the Mashonaland Turf Club for many years.He was awarded an OBE in 1959.Dr Lawrence died in 1986 aged 83.Six of the remaining 1925 graduandi spent their entire careers in government service in South Africa, namely Alexander, Graf, Schulz, Daly, Cooper and Lund.
destroy a dourineinfected horse.Although Kuni's jaw was surgically rebuilt in London in late 1935, normal speech was never completely regained.What happened to his attacker(s) is a story on its own!In 1936 Kuni was transferred to the Pathology Department at Onderstepoort, to eventually become Professor and Head of the Faculty's newly created full time Department of Pathology in 1958.After his retirement in 1963, Kuni spent a further 6 years working for Nature Conversation in the Cape Province.Even after his retirement in 1970, he continued with his beloved histopathological studies at facilities provided by the Mammal Research Institute, virtually until his death in 1984 when he was 84.Vincent Cooper Vincent Cooper was an exserviceman who joined the South African Artillery after matriculating at Jeppe Boy's High School in 1916, seeing military service in the East African Campaign during World War I.He was severely afflicted with malaria and took a long time to recuperate on a farm in the Stutterheim district, which influenced his choice of a career.Cooper spent his entire career as state veterinarian in the Division of Veterinary Services.It is recorded that when he arrived at Nongoma in Natal in 1926, his first assignment, he was issued with a mule and Cape cart for his official transport, which was not unusual in those days.He was also to serve in Eshowe and Estcourt in Natal, Johannesburg and Pretoria in Transvaal and finally as Senior Veterinary Officer in the Western Cape Region.He died in office in 1954 at the age of 57.
"Six of the remaining 1925 graduandi spent their entire careers in government service in South Africa, namely Alexander, Graf, Schulz, Daly, Cooper and Lund." to Dr Rijksen received a special award ('oorkonde') from the South African Veterinary Association in 1986 for his dedicated services to the veterinary profession.He died in Bloemfontein in 1994 at the ripe old age of 91.
Wilhelmus Rijksen was born in Sumatra in 1903 and came to South Africa in 1921 to write the matriculation examination after preparing himself for 6 weeks at Grey College, Bloemfontein.After qualifying at Onder stepoort he served as state veteri narian in Umtata, Potgietersrus (now Makopane), the Allerton Laboratory, Beaufort West, Wind hoek and Bethlehem during the first 2 decades of his career.In 1951 Dr Rijksen established a very successful private practice in Bethlehem.He served as Secretary of the South African Veterinary Medical Association and as editor of its Journal in 1966 and 1967, but left for personal reasons at the end of that year.In 1972 he finally returned to Bloemfontein to start a practice in the city where he had matriculated.
Johannesburg and took up the position of Veterinary Adviser to the company with specific responsibilities for the Rhodesias, Congo and East Africa.In 1963 he was appointed Technical Director of Cooper, McDougall & Robertson Central Africa.He retired in 1968 but was re-appointed as research scientist at Cooper's Research Station in East London where he served until shortly before his death in 1971 aged 68.(Neil, or is it Niel, as spelled in 2 of 3 obituaries) Reid matriculated at Michaelhouse in 1922, studied at the Witwatersrand University College from 1923-1924 and at the Onderstepoort Faculty from 1925.After qualifying, he proceeded to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, London, in 1928 where he was admitted as MRCVS.It is not clear when exactly he joined the Colonial Veterinary Servicehe married Gwendolyn du Toit in 1932, apparently a South to NR (Neil) Reid NR African -but we know, from the publications by Thomas & Reid, and Kolbe's unpublished mimeograph on the activities of the Zoological Survey, that Reid was already in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) in 1941 where he is identified as a local state veterinarian.We also know that he was Director of Veterinary Services of Tanganyika from about 1946 to 1953 and that he was very much involved in the control of rinderpest and, to a lesser extent, bovine pleuropneumonia.He was awarded the MBE on his resignation from the British Colonial Service.In 1953 Reid entered the service of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome where he became intensely involved in the development of field programmes to increase animal production in developing countries in Africa (an expanded research and field programme on the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases, especially East Coast fever) and the Near East (the strengthening of laboratory services).He retired from the FAO in 1963 but returned as a consultant 10 years later.Reid died in Reading, Berkshire, on 19 December 1994.research officer.In 1929 he was transferred to the Section of Entomology.He remained at Onderstepoort as a veterinary entomologist for most of his career, temporarily being transferred to the experimental farm Armoedsvlakte close to Vryburg as officer in charge from 1930 to 1931, and studying at the University of Minnesota as a Common wealth Foundation Fellow in 1936 and 1937.Back at Onderstepoort, Du Toit conducted pioneering research on the use of DDT for the control of various ectoparasites from 1939 to 1945.
Association/South African Veterinary Association and VetNews.7. Posthumus, P.J. Past veterinarians in South Africa.Undated and unpublished collection of summarised curricula vitae of deceased veterinarians.Archives of the Onderstepoort Veterinary History Museum.8. Thomas.A.D., Reid, N.R., 1944.Rinderpest in game.A description of an outbreak and an attempt at limiting its spread by means of a bush fence.Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Science and Animal Industry 20: 7-23.
Blomefield was born on 26 March 1905 in Durban.He was the only member of the class who spent his entire pre retirement career with the Division of Veterinary Field ServicesVeterinary education in South Africa: The Classes of 1928 and 1929 Abstract The available photographs of the Classes of 1928 and 1929 are confusing because they not only bear the same date (1929) but are also composed of individual shots of the graduates rather than the customary group photograph.An answer to the riddle was provided by the presence of J A Thorburn (a member of the Class of 1927) who was a 'super' and qualified in 1928, in the one photograph, together with MC Robinson who also graduated in 1928.The photograph dated 1929 on which 4 graduates and the Dean, Prof. Dr P J du Toit, appear is that of the Class of 1928.The other photograph dated 1929 in which the Dean is absent is therefore dated correctly.Concise descriptions are given of the life histories of the nine graduates.Their careers show considerable variation.Only one of them spent his entire career at the Onderstepoort Research Institute as a very eminent research scientist and professor, and two became wellknown professors at the Onderstepoort Faculty.Two were in municipal service for most of their careers and a third ended up working for a municipal authority after spending some time in England and at the Onderstepoort Research Institute.Two spent virtually their entire careers in the field as state veterinarians and a third farmed for most of his career, although he also dabbled in private practice and managed one of the provincial game parks in Natal (now KwaZuluNatal) for some time.Four served in the South African Veterinary Corps during World War II.
L C R D Bigalke * However, their practice was shortlived because they closed it in 1935 when Mike joined the Municipal Service in Johannesburg.He served as a Captain in the South African Veterinary Corps in World War II.It is of interest to record that he was due to sail on the mule ship SS Nirpura to India, but the night before it departed he was replaced by Major A M Howie MRCVS.The ship was torpedoed on 3 March 1943 and Howie was one of many casualties.Dr Robinson's wife Joan (a member of the Class of 1927) died on 24 November 1944.He retired from the Johannesburg Municipal Service in 1960 and settled in Umkomaas, Natal, where he died on 23 March 1978 at the age of almost 75.
European custom of adding his name to publications of his subordinates, as was done by some of his predecessors and earlier contemporaries at Onderstepoort.He held the positions of parttime professor of Protozoology and Virology from1948-1957at the Onderstepoort Faculty, parttime professor of Protozoology at same faculty from 1958-1968 and visiting professor at the Universidade Federale do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 1972-1979.Prof.Neitz died in his 73rd year in Pretoria on 18 August 1979 while on leave from Brazil.Prof.Neitz served on many national and international scientific bodies such as the Expert Panel on Tickborne Diseases of the FAO/OIE.He received several awards and other accolades, including the Senior Captain Scott Medal of the South African Biological Society in 1954; the 'Havenga prys vir Geneeskunde' of the 'Suid Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns' in 1957; the South Africa Medal for 1970 of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science; the Gold Medal of the South African Veterinary Association in 1971; and the degree DrMedVet honoris causa awarded by the Tierärtzliche Hochschule, Hannover, Germany in 1963.He graduated as veterinarian at the Onderstepoort Faculty in 1929 and then proceeded to England to register with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons as MRCVS.He was awarded the Clement Stephenson Research Scholarship in 1931 which enabled him to take a postgraduate Diploma in Bacteriology (Dip Bac), awarded in 1933, at the London Uni versity.Dr Pullinger spent the next 4 years of his career at the Royal Veterinary College as lecturer in Bacteriology and as a research assistant.On his return to South Africa he worked at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Laboratory as research officer until 1939 when he joined the Johannesburg Municipal Service.From 1940-1946 he saw active service as a major in the South African Veterinary Corps during World War II, when the photograph appearing in the compound picture of the class was obviously taken.After the war he was appointed Assistant Director of the Johannesburg Municipal Abattoir.He died on 10 November 1959 in Johannesburg aged 53.One of his sons, 'Pat', was to follow in his father's footsteps by qualifying as a veterinarian in 1963.Underberg farmers' associations.A fine horseman, his hunt was for some years the most successful killer of jackals in the whole of South Africa.There is no information as to how he acquired the nickname 'Bob', but he was known by this name throughout the Natal Midlands, even by the Zulus of the area who called him 'Ubobrite'.Several classes of students may recall him as a meticulous but fair examiner in Animal Management for the Faculty, a chore which he looked upon as a privilege.He retired to a farm near Nottingham Road where he lived with his wife 'Winnie' until his death.The dates of his birth and death could not be traced.Nongoma and Eshowe during his career, most of which was spent in the Division of Veterinary Field Services in which he rose to the rank of Sub Director, later known as Assistant Director.He served as an officer in the South African Veterinary Corps during World War II.Dr Zwarenstein retired in 1965 at the age of 60, but was immediately reappointed as poultry pathologist at the Allerton Laboratory.In 1972 he was invited to join Rainbow Chicken Farms with which he was associated until the time of his death in Johannesburg on 2 February 1974, after a short illness, at the age of 69.
E J PullingerE J Pullinger was born on 14 February 1906 in Johannesburg and completed his schooling at Oundle School in England in 1924.serious accident, which left his arms badly burnt, made him give up practice and he accepted a job with the Natal Parks Board, managing the Kamberg Nature Reserve and its visitors' rest camp.He also managed a small pack of hounds with which he hunted jackals on behalf of the Kamberg and Two devoted their entire pre-retirement careers to South Africa's Division of Veterinary Services as state veterinarians, both reaching very senior positions.A third died shortly after leaving government service for private practice.None made a career out of research at Onderstepoort, although 2 had short stints at the Institute.One, said to have been the youngest veterinarian in the British Empire, spent the latter part of his relatively short life in a large Johannesburg practice as a specialist surgeon.Another was in military service for virtually his entire career.One had a very varied career, which included government service, private practice, research, public health and the pharmaceutical industry.One spent most of his impressive career in the Colonial Service in Swaziland and Tanganyika (now Tanzania) but eventually returned to private practice in South Africa, whereas another was similarly, but less conscientiously, involved in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and Swaziland.Two saw military service during World War II, one as Commanding Officer of a Regiment in the South African Artillery and the other in the South African Veterinary Corps.*rbigalke@telkomsa.netFig. 1.The Class of 1930.Christian Tunnacliffe Nilsen was born on 25 July 1905 and matriculated at Kingswood College, Grahamstown, in 1923.After qualifying as a veterinarian in the middle of 1931, he farmed and prac tised for a while before joining the Vete rinary Department as government vete rinary officer at Fort Jameson in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia).He married his cousin, Sheila Nilsen, in 1937.Dr Nilsen represented Northern Rhodesia on the rinderpest control team in Tanganyika (now Tanzania), probably in the 1940s (see Rossiter below).The Union of South Africa was primarily responsible for vaccinating livestock in Tanganyika and the latter for the implementation of a 'cordon sanitaire' by the erection of a game-proof fence and the elimination of all susceptible domestic stock and wildlife from a 6-40 km wide corridor between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi.Thereafter Nilsen transferred to the Swaziland Veterinary Department but once again decided to go farming, whilst he also operated a hotel.In 1963 he eventually joined the Directorate of Veterinary Services in South Africa, serving as state veterinarian in Umtata until his retirement in 1971.He died in 1980 at the age of 75.
By September 1933 he was receiving military training in England.Back in South Africa in 1934 he was placed in the S.A. Artillery Corps and became a battery commander.However, he resigned from the Defence Force before World War II to join the Basutoland (now Lesotho) Veterinary Department.He married Ms PB Luscombe of Maseru while in Basutoland.Clapham took up gliding, but was unfortunately badly injured in a flying accident at Quaggapoort.Despite this severe setback to his health, Clapham saw military service in World War II as Commanding Officer of the Waterkloof Air Station with the rank of major.He subsequently became Commanding Officer of the 6th Regiment, South African Artillery.He then served as lieutenant colonel on the northern front with the 6th South African Armoured Division, but was recalled to South Africa because of failing health.He died soon thereafter on 15 November 1943 at the age of only 39.His cremation service at Braamfontein cemetery was conducted with full military honours.William Rossiter was born in Ermelo on 18 November 1907.Like Barnard and Clapham he also failed Surgery -truly amazing that half the class failed this subject -in his final examination and qualified in June 1932.He also joined the Division of Veterinary Services and was first stationed at the Allerton Laboratory in Pietermaritzburg and thereafter served in Ladysmith (Natal) and Nongoma (1937). Lancelot der Linde served as government veterinary officer in Bloemfontein in 1954.However, in 1960 he resigned from government service and went into private practice in Bloemfontein, but died the next year on 29 April 1961 at the age of only 52.Cornelius Cloete (CC) Wessels Cornelius Cloete (CC) Wessels was born on 31 August 1908 and matriculated at Bethulie in the Orange Free State.He was also one of the 3 students in his class who passed Surgery in his final year and therefore qualified in 1931.Like 4 of his classmates (Van der Linde, Rossiter, Clapham and Barnard), Dr Wessels initially joined the Division of Veterinary Services as government veterinary officer and was posted in Kuruman.Dourine was rife in the Northern Cape and he was apparently in volved in the episode in which Kuni Schultz was severely wounded in the jaw by the son of the owner of a farm near Danielskuil in the Barkly West district, when Schultz and a police escort arrived with a court order to destroy a dourineinfected horse (see Bigalke: Veterinary education in South Africa: The Class of 1925.Journal of the South African Veterinary Association (2004) 75, pp.4-6).CC married Enid Marguerite Maud Thomas in 1934 and the couple had 6 children, including Brian, a future veterinarian.In 1938 CC was sent to the Pennsylvania State University, USA, for 2 years to conduct research on bovine tuberculosis and was awarded a DVM-degree.Wessels also served in Worcester in the early 1940s, where Brian was born in 1941.He was posted to the Onderstepoort Research Institute as research officer shortly thereafter.In the mid-1940s CC set up a private practice in Krugersdorp.However, in 1946 he changed his vocation by accepting a position as Director of the Municipal Abattoir in Durban, a task which included the customary other public health duties.His achievements in this discipline (such as enforcing local pasteurisation of fresh milk) resulted in him being elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health.In mid-1957 he joined the Australian pharmaceutical company, Nicholas Products, set up their local veterinary department and established a market for the 'cobalt bullet' for the prevention of deficiency in sheep and cattle farmed extensively in cobalt deficient areas.He re joined Veterinary Services in 1961 and was stationed at Mossel Bay.After suffering a severe leg fracture while conducting TB tests, he was transferred to Cape Town as state veterinarian in charge of the quarantine station.He then spent a few months in Pretoria before being transferred to the Allerton Laboratory in Pietermaritzburg.Finally he went to Durban to supervise the public health aspects of the exportation of meat by the Orchid Company.CC retired in 1973 and spent his retirement on the South Coast, just south of Amanzimtoti.He died in December 1988 at the age of 80 after a very full and varied career.
he conducted research on artificial insemination in chickens in his spare time, keeping the experimental animals in his backyard because there were no facilities at the state veterinarian's office.His thesis on the subject earned him a DVSc degree in 1947.The next phase in his career started in 1948 when he was posted to Onderstepoort and placed in the Bacteriology instead of the Poultry Section, which he preferred.His main tasks were general diagnostic bacteriology and research on brucellosis of cattle and sheep.He was also involved in teaching Bacterio logy and Bacterial Diseases on a parttime basis -all teaching posts were parttime in those days -1st as lecturer and from 1958 as associate professor in the Faculty's parttime Department of Infectious Diseases.He published more than 40 scientific articles in his career.In 1966 a completely new phase dawned when Govert was appointed as South Africa's agricultural attaché in Washington DC in the USA.From 1972, when he returned to South Africa, until his retirement the following year at the age of 63, he was a special adviser to the recently established regional laboratories of the Division of Veterinary Services.He was awarded the prestigious South Africa Medal (Gold) by the South African Association for the Advancement of Science in 1965 and the equally sought after Senior Captain Scott Medal of the South African Biological Society in 1969.Govert's interest in science never waned in his later years: it included palaeontology, archaeology, dendrology, herpetology and bird watching.He died on 17 June 2003 at the ripe old age of almost 92. where AbstractThe Class of 1934 included 2 graduates who created milestones for the veterinary profession in South Africa.Jack Boswell was the first Onderstepoort graduate to start his own private practice without ever joining the government service.George van der Wath has the distinction of being the only South African veterinarian to become Chairman of the prestigious South African Wool Board.Ashton Tarr was President of the South African Veterinary Medical Association from 1966-1969.Concise descriptions are given of the varied life histories of the 14 members of the Classes of 1934 and 1935.All except Boswell initially joined government service, one serving mainly in the Colonial Service before eventually returning to South Africa.Three spent their entire careers in the South African Veterinary (Field) Services, finally occupying very senior positions in that division.One ended his career lecturing at a university.Lambrechts was the first veterinarian to occupy the 'resurrected' post of Director of Veterinary Services reserved for field veterinarians.Only one of the graduates opted for research, but went farming after obtaining a DVSc degree.Three spent the greater part of their careers in private practice, Thiel from as early as 1937.Two went into municipal (public health) service, one becoming director of an abattoir.Only one saw military service in World War II.Two died before they were 50 years old.Unfortunately, virtually nothing is known about Erasmus' career.At 97 Thiel holds the distinction of being the oldest Onderstepoort graduate.from there transferred to Barberton where he stayed for 8 years.He was then moved to Ermelo, succeeding Rossiter as officer in charge of the Nooitgedacht Experimental Farm, with the rank of senior state veterinarian, and stayed for 12 years.In 1952, while at Nooitgedacht, the breeding programme of the Nooitgedacht Pony was initiated under his care.Ninian was involved in the 1957 -1960 campaigns against FMD in various districts adjacent to the Kruger National Park.Although then stationed at Heidelberg, Lambrechts placed Barrie in charge of the 1958 FMD campaign at Bushbuckridge, according to the newly qualified Johan van Niekerk who also partici pa ted in the campaign.In 1960 Barrie went to Bloemfontein where he lectured in Animal Husbandry at the University of the Orange Free State.He retired to his farm near Lind ley in 1970 where he bred stud Jersey cattle and was consulted by local farmers on veterinary problems from time to time.Ninian was a good sportsman and played for the 'Tukkies' first rugby team in 1930.He also played bowls until the age of 87 and was a valued member of the North Eastern Free State team.He died in Lindley on 11 March 2002 at the ripe old age of 91.He was later joined by the well-known Campbell Dickson, an Edinburgh graduate who specialised in small animals (now known as companion animals).In 1940, when the Oxford Road Surgery grew out of its boots, Jack and his partners (now also including Major Brown, as Thiel had volunteered for duty in World War II) built the Sandown Veterinary Hospital to house their increasing number of patients.In December 1953 Jack's partners were Major Brown and Eric Hempstead.The practice then comprised 12 veterinarians.
R D Bigalke * Fig. 1: The Class of 1934.and der Westhuizen was born on 29 August 1906 on the farm Houtkonstant near Porterville in the Cape and matriculated at Paarl Boys High School in either 1923 or 1924.He first studied at Stellenbosch University before proceeding to Onderstepoort where he qualified as a veterinarian in 1935, apparently also having had to complete a sub-examination.He joined the Division of Veterinary (Field) Services and saw service as state veterinarian at Calvinia where he married Maria Johanna Wheeler was born on 13 June 1909 in Middelburg, Transvaal (now Mpumalanga) and qualified at Onderstepoort in December 1934.He then joined the Division of Veterinary (Field) Services as state veterinarian and was stationed in Umtata (1935), Louis Trichardt (1936) and Piet Retief (1940).He is wearing a military uniform in the photograph, but there is no evidence that he saw service in World War II.It is, however, possible that he was a member of the South African Veterinary Corps before the commencement of World War II.He resigned from government service and joined the Municipality of Pretoria in 1949, becoming Director of the Municipal Abattoir in 1953.Bill continued in this capacity until he retired in 1974.Before retiring he had a bad accident when he fell into a hole while trying to retrieve a golf ball from a storm water drain, suffering some brain damage.He died in Somerset West on 12 May 1987 at the age of almost 78. the western Transvaal (now in North West Province) and matriculated at Schweizer Reinecke High School.He qualified at Onderstepoort in 1936, after William James (Bill) Ashton Forrester Tarr was born in Senekal in the Orange Free State on 1 July 1911.He was educated at Dale College, King William's Town and graduated at Onderstepoort in 1935.He joined the Division of Veterinary (Field) Services in 1936 as state veterinarian, spent 1 year at the Allerton Laboratory and was then stationed at Umtata, Port Shepstone and Ixopo(1939).He went out of his way to be of assistance on farms whose owners were serving in the forces during World War II.In 1944 Tarr resigned from the government service and went into private practice in Johannesburg with Jack Boswell.From there he moved to Pietermaritzburg where he spent the rest of his career.He was actively involved in matters of the South African Veterinary Medical Association (now South African Veterinary Association), serving as its President for 3 years from 1966 to 1969.