Before I commence telling you more about Mr Bateman I must mention the assistance I got from the library of the Royal Veterinary College at Horseferry road London. The staff there have always been most helpful in finding me the facts about earlier events. This time they informed me that Mr Bateman had acknowledged the part played by his Assistant Robert McNair MRCVS in the operation, nursing and care of 'Hare Spy'. Robert who had qualified from Glasgow in '53 outlived his great tutor but passed away in 2007.
I feel very grateful for a copy of the VETERINARY RECORD with the report of the astonishing and unique insertion of the plastic bone. At that time when x-rays showed fragments of an extruded bone -- causing collapse and deformity of the joint -- all we could do was :- try to push them back and maintain them with a plate containing a hole at each end --for a screw -- to get a grip in the bones above and below. The degree of healing was usually dependant on the blood supply to the fragments. Where it was restricted some of them died.
I think you would like to read an obituary by Mr Ted Somer from the Record in 1964.
" To all of us in the veterinary profession the death of James Kay Bateman means the loss of an outstanding and gifted member of our profession. To me, to my family,and to all who enjoyed a closer relationship with Jimmy and his family it means so much more -- the loss of a great friend and family man. Jimmy and I first met at the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College in January 1919, where we arrived after demobilisation from World War 1. Our friendship developed, and after leaving college in 1922 we retained contact at odd times. This became much closer after 1932; Jimmy had taken over his appointment at Northaw and I had established myself in a practice at New Cross S.E.14. From that date our friendship grew ; our wives became great friends also, and as time went on our children became attached to each other. It looks very likely that this friendship will be continued with our grandchildren.
How often, when we were together, did we enjoy talking about the good times we had at family parties at Northaw and at my home ; and looking over old photographs as they grew up and progressed, what fun and companionship we enjoyed.
To have the friendship and hospitality of the Bateman family is something all who enjoyed it will always remember throughout their lives.
I am sure that all such friends will wish me to convey our deepest sympathy to Jenny and her family. May I conclude by saying "Thank you Jimmy for your wonderful friendship" It was my old friend's wish that no flowers or other tokens should be sent in his memory. Instead, he expressed the hope that those who wished to remember him would make a donation to the Victoria Veterinary Benevolent Fund. May I express the hope that many of my colleagues will join me in that form of tribute to a great veterinarian."
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By courtesy of our library staff I'm also able to report on the honour bestowed on Mr Bateman for his skill in enabling Hare Spy to race again.
At the meeting of the Central Veterinary Society held on April 17 th, the President of the Society, Dr. E. Cotchin presented the Society's Victory Medal for the year 1958. In making the presentation
Dr. Cotchin said :- " As you know, a gold medal, called the Victory Medal was instituted in the year 1918 to commemorate the victory of the Allies in the Great War 1914 -18. It may be awarded annually, at the discretion of the Council, to a person who has rendered outstanding service either to the Society or to veterinary science in general.
The list of Victory Medallists is a clear indication of the way in which over the years the Society has been able to do honour to itself, as well as to the recipients, by the award of this medal, and I would like to read the list through to you -- it contains 36 names, how they resound in the annals of the profession ! " H. A. Mac Cormick, F.T. Harvey, F.T.G. Hobday, E.L. Stroud, J.B. Buxton, J. Mac
Intosh, G.H. Wooldridge, J. Rowe, J. Mac Queen, J. F. MacDonald, G.W. Dunkin, W.K. Townson, W. Perryman, J. Moore, H. Gray, J.G. Wright, H.D. Jones, T. Dalling, W.H. Kirk, J.T. Edwards, S. L. Hignett, F. Bullock, G. Dunlop-Martin, J. Mc Cunn, H.E. Bywater, C.A. Murray, T.L. Wright, W.A. Pool, G. O. Davies, G.P. Male, W. R. Wooldridge, T. Hare, A. L. Sheather, C. Roberts, R.F. Wall & G.N. Gould.
To -day it is our privilege to add to this the name of J.K. Bateman : there can be few of you who are unaware of Mr Bateman's many qualifications to be our newest Medallist, but I would like to present a very brief outline of his career. Mr Bateman served in the Field Artillery in the 1914 -18 war, and then went to the Dick College, from which he qualified in 1922. He was then in equine practice for three years in Manchester, and for a further 5 years in mixed practice in Knutsford in Cheshire. Next, he worked at Burroughs Wellcome under Dalling ; one of the diseases with which they were concerned -- canine distemper -- has formed one of Mr Bateman's interests ever since. His major life's work has of course been in connection with the racing greyhound, with which he has worked at Northaw for 26 years. He is an acknowledged expert in the greyhound field, the man and the opportunity coming most favourably together. The average number of dogs passing through the kennels each year is about 1,200, and the average number actually in the kennels is about half this total.
The two main problems to which Mr Bateman has given his attention are the control of distemper and the development of orthopaedics in relation to the racing greyhound. He has often spoken to the Central on these subjects, and has written to much effect in the Record on such subjects as cramp, distemper, vaccination, post-distemper diseases, injuries to the stifle, and repair of fractures of the os calcis.
Mr Bateman has always been a very modest man. I will say no more now than that we feel very proud to be able to add his name to our list of Victory Medallists.
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By now you may be wondering whether I had better luck with the other two plastic Scaphoids I got from the London Splint Company. By screwing two plates into the bones above and below them I hoped the implant might be secured in at least one of them. But in both cases it was ejected while they were leaning over on the first bend at Hinckley. After the expense of keeping the three for six months I had to abandon hope of getting natural callus to retain a replica. What surprised me was that in the case of Hare Spy, Mr Bateman had the confidence to remove the retaining plate after six weeks -- under local anaesthesia -- without losing his Replica.
When I went to Australia and the United States during the Nineties a vet with a reputation on orthopaedics suggested that the success was partly due to the limited force of Hare Spy and her tendency to run wide on the turns. I reminded him that five months after the operation the bitch had a trial over 500 yards. During four months she then ran in six trials and eleven races -- three of which she won. She was the first animal known to race with a complete bone replacement.
Mr J.K. Bateman or JKB --- as he was known after news of Hare Spy spread throughout the greyhound and veterinary worlds --- deserved all the admiration and congratulations bestowed on him.
JKB loved the greyhounds under his care and got satisfaction from seeing them all sound and in good condition. He often stayed late at the kennels or track without reward to attend to one who was sick or injured.
This is the plate that I often used to retain fragmented bones, but it failed to hold my acrylic.
What impressed me about JKB after meeting him at White City in London was the concern he shared for the hound with a hock injury and for the distraught owner who loved it. Over many years -- out of interest and curiosity rather than reward -- he had been doing post mortem examinations on hocks of runners who had no history of lameness. He told me he found some with microscopic bruising or tearing of ligaments or periosteum. That helped me in examining runners who had checked and lost time in a race -- who walked sound -- and whose X-ray showed no fracture -- after losing time in a race. I used to advise walking exercise only-- prior to another X-ray after six weeks. Unfortunately many owners could not afford to keep a dog who was not earning.
After the tragic loss of Mr Bateman in '64 I felt I had a duty to write, without reward, advice about preventing injury to -the faster greyhounds and particularly those who weighed more than sixty five pounds. I had chosen this weight because one of the most successful breeders I knew preached that good track dogs did not have to weigh more than sixty three pounds and fast bitches might be ten pounds lighter.
His sermon was based on the three successive Derbies won by the 61 lbs 'Spanish Battleship' -- a feat that was never equalled anywhere.
He also felt that the turns on most of our tracks were too sharp for our bigger dogs and there was no need for dogs of 80 lbs unless for racing on a straight or "pulling a sledge through the snow."
He spoke only facts, truth and common sense.
His name was Paddy Dunphy from 'The Grand Bar' in Castlecomer. He also used the pub prefix in naming his greyhounds. He created a record in '62 when he brought the 'Canal' that he bred to the Bateman kennels for a month. He had the steak, the home-made brown bread and the water flown over every week until he went home with the trophy and the prize for the English Derby.
I never passed his door without stopping for an enjoyable and rewarding hour or two to see his hounds and listen to every word he spoke about them. He was highly respected and when he died -- all too soon like JKB -- he was much missed by everyone who had the pleasure`of knowing him.
I often regretted my failure to take advice he gave me one day when I called on him in '55. "There is a bitch in the final of the Oaks on Saturday that could be a good investment for you. She is well-bred --from Prairie Vixen and by my own Grand Champion. She has a damaged toe so I think you might get her for a thousand before the race. But if she wins, no money will buy her; she is sure to throw champions when retired for breeding."
You may have guessed -- I did not have the price and the black Prairie Peg threw litters of prolific winners who included Prairie Flash and Pigalle Wonder. Those two purchased by big spenders Noel Purvis and Al Burnett both earned more money than I ever earned. That Peg was not the only big
earner I missed. There were others and I have no regrets. I feel very lucky to be still here when so many good people I knew are gone. They include the breeder of all those Prairie champions - the poor unfortunate Tommy Murphy of Inistioge. He was killed by his own bull while releasing it after it got it's ring trapped.
