Page 29 - VHSA - Onderstepoort 100 Years - Part 1

ONDERSTEPOORT 100 Post-war recovery (1948-1961)
RInitial stagnation
eference has already been made to the general reconstruction of South African research that was initiated in post-war years. However, Onderstepoort was not directly involved in these developments
and the manpower situation remained critical. P.J. du Toit had been in control of Onderstepoort and Veterinary Services for more than two decades. Hence his second-in-command, de Kock, was close to retirement when he took
over the reins and had little time to exert his influence.
Gilles van de Wall de Kock was one of the first three students who had been sent abroad by the recently elected Transvaal government to study veterinary science, as mentioned previously. He studied at the Royal Veterinary College in London from 1909 and qualified as MRCVS in 1913. De Kock was appointed at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Laboratory by Theiler in February 1914 as a veterinary bacteriologist and placed in charge of the Lamsiekte Research Station on the farm Armoedsvlakte when the then manager, Captain P.R. Sharpe, went to war.
He was back at the Institute in 1918
where he spoke at Theiler’s farewell func-
tion. In 1919 he resigned and went to
London to study medicine, a course which
was not completed because he could not
settle down. He therefore returned the
following year to join the newly established
agricultural faculty at Stellenbosch as a
lecturer in the expectation that a veterinary
faculty would be established there.
However, this was not to be as Theiler
managed to convince the politicians that
Onderstepoort was the ideal venue, as
outlined in Part 2. De Kock then transferred
back to Onderstepoort and was appointed
as the first professor of Veterinary Ana-
tomy in 1920. In 1921 he wrote to Theiler, who was overseas – P.J. du Toit serving as Acting Director of Veterinary Education and Research from 15 September 1920 – that the building process of the ‘Dissection Hall’ was progressing well but would probably not be ready in March. This is probably the Patho- logy (or Pathological Anatomy) Block, which was completed in 1923. De Kock is listed as Senior Research Officer and Profes- sor of Anatomy in 1922.
In 1922/23 he spent a year in Berne, Switzerland and
“De Kock was an enthusiastic research worker with a love for pathology, particularly haematology and the so-called reticulo-endothelial system. He took an active interest in wildlife matters...”
obtained a Dr.Med.Vet. degree. He also obtained a DSc degree at the University of Witwatersrand in 1928. On the retirement of Theiler in 1927 de Kock was appointed ‘Subdirector of Veterinary Research’ at Onderstepoort and Deputy Director of Veterinary Education and Research – when that post was created – in 1937. In 1941 he signed a letter as ‘Deputy Director of Veterinary Services’. At the Faculty de Kock was transferred from Pathology to Comparative Pathology in 1938, a position that he held until his retirement in 1949.
De Kock was an enthusiastic research worker with a love for pathology, parti- cularly haematology and the so-called reticulo-endothelial system. In the 1930s he visited the USA on a Carnegie Grant where he studied tissue and organ culture, a pio- neering interest from the Institute’s point of view. He took an active interest in wild- life matters using his position in organized scientific circles to positively influence the campaign waged in the late 1930s to early 1950s by scientists in the South African Association for the Advancement of Science and Wildlife Protection Society for the involvement of research scientists in nature conservation in South Africa’s national parks and provincial nature reserves. P.J. du Toit’s active involvement in so many international scientific bodies, particularly in Africa, meant that de Kock had to serve as acting Director on many occasions. The management of the Institute was there- fore often his responsibility during du Toit’s more than 20-year tenure of office.
De Kock succeeded du Toit as Director of Veterinary Services (DVS) and Dean of the Faculty in 1948 – probably on 1 April 1948, because du Toit retired on 16 March 1948. When he was appointed as director, his senior staff members were J.I. Quin, deputy director and professor of Physiology, E.M. Robinson, assistant director and professor of Bacteriology, and
P.J.J. Fourie, sub-director and professor of Hygiene. C.(Cecil) Jackson is mentioned as professor and head of the Section of Anatomy; J.H.R. Bisschop as professor and head of the Section of Zootechnology and Meat Research; R.A. Alexander and W.O. Neitz were in the Section of Protozoology and Virus Diseases; B.S. Parkin was professor and head of the Section of Medicine and Therapeutics; J.G. Louw, professor and head of the Section of Biochemistry and Nutrition; R.C. Clark was in the Section of Physiology; T.F. Adelaar and J.D.
29
Post-war recovery (1948-1961)
1908-2008
Years