The Foundation of Aiyura Valley

The Foundation Of Aiyura Valley The Aubrey and Ancie Schindler Story

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By Charles Micheals

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The Foundation Of Aiyura Valley The Aubrey and Ancie Schindler Story

1950s – Aiyura Valley (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

Winter Park, Florida

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© 2011 Charles J. Micheals Published by the Aiyura Valley Historical Society

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: Pending

First Printing 2011 (Not for Sale) Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

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Dedication To the men and women who have given their lives to the development of Papua New Guinea.

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Chapter 1 The French Connection The recorded Schindler family tree can be traced back a number of generations to the 1800s which shows that they came from the area of Strasbourg, Alsace in Eastern France. Professor Schindler’s father, Charles Antoine Schindler, was born in Obernai, France in 1843 and his mother, Louise Prud’Homme, was born in Paris, France in 1857.

Charles A. Schindler 1890 (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

Charles A. Schindler Family 1890 (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

Before being married, Charles Antoine Schindler served in the French Army as a Medical Practitioner in the 1870s and worked to vastly improve the hygiene of the army barracks in Nice, Southern France. In 6|Page

1877 he was assigned to work in Batna, Algeria where he stayed until June 1878. It was during this time that he married Louise on October 20, 1877. In June 1878 Charles Antoine Schindler was ordered to assume the management of the military hospital of Biskra, Algeria. On September 28, 1878 he was assigned to the 44th Regiment de ligne at Lons-le-Saulnier, France.

Charles Antoine Schindler and Louise had five children. Charles, who later in life was known as ‘Professor’ Schindler, was the first born. He was born on September 19, 1878 in Mers, Somme, France in his grandfather’s Prud’Hommes beach home. A few years later Louise (Lily) was born on February 28, 1881, followed by Pierre on April 7, 1884, Mathilde on June 21, 1885 and finally Jean on November 9, 1887.

While the life of Charles (Professor) Schindler is well known, little is known about the lives of the other siblings.

Charles (Prof) Schindler chose the law profession as his early vocation. He attended the Académie de Paris (University of Paris) and received a law degree in 1900. After graduation he served as a journalist on the staff of the Paris Matin and the London Times for three years. However, as a young man wanting adventure and wishing to learn English, the lure of Australia caught his heart.

The Gothic Steamer (490 feet long) – (Photo courtesy of Titanic-Titanic.com)

Australia, a maturing nation which had recently federated in 1901, had a new sense of patriotism and was attracting a growing number of European immigrants who were needed to sustain the growing economy.

While life in many parts of Australia was difficult, there was a standard of living in many places of Australia 7|Page

that exceeded life in parts of Europe. The lure of adventure was too great for Charles (Prof) Schindler and so on January 30, 1904 he left France and boarded the steamer Gothic to make his passage to Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. From there he travelled on to Wellington, New Zealand on February 7, 1904 where he stayed for a little over a year.

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Chapter 2 Life in the Commonwealth of Australia Eventually Charles (Prof) made his way to Sydney, Australia where he met Eunice Mary Page. Eunice was born in Sydney in 1884 and was the daughter of John Page and Ellen Mary Notting. Her family had emigrated from Scotland and was descended from John Knox, the great Scottish reformer.

After courting Eunice for a short time, they were married on November 16, 1906 in the St. Barnabas Anglican Church on George Street in Sydney. After their marriage they lived in the Sydney area for two years, but moved to Armidale, New South Wales, (NSW) Australia in 1908.

On May 14, 1908 the first of their two boys, Charlie, was born. A few years later in 1911, Charles (Professor) took up his first appointment as a teacher in Australia. He was appointed as a tutor in French at Emmanuel College, a school founded by the Presbyterian Church of Queensland and one of the first resident colleges in the country.

1900 – Eunice Page (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

To take up work at the college, the Schindler family moved to Brisbane, Australia where the school was located. The same year as their move to Brisbane, Charles became one of 83 students in the first class at the University of Queensland, then held at the Government House on George Street in Brisbane.

After attending the university for four years, Charles graduated with a B.A. degree in 1915. That same year on May 16, their second son Aubrey (Aub) was born.

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As busy as life was for Charles and Eunice, Charles went on to further studies at the University of Queensland. In 1918 he received his M.A. degree at a ceremony in Brisbane held at Australia’s Central Technical College. Shortly there-after, on May 3, 1918, he became a Professor at the University of Queensland in the Foreign Language Department teaching French.

Charles continued to stay busy teaching at the University of Queensland as his children were growing up.

In-between teaching at the university and raising his own boys he found time to help teach children in primary and high schools in the area. He gave some consideration to serving with the Tongan Educational Services, but family responsibilities kept him in Australia.

In March 1931, Charles was elected to the Alliance Francaise of Brisbane, Australia, an organization to promote the study of the French language and literature. Knowing the challenges of people from France immigrating to Australia, Charles wanted to help French people keep their use of the French language alive while they also learned the English language.

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Chapter 3 The Schindler Children The two Schindler boys, Charlie and Aub, had a typical life for boys in Australia. They both attended Brisbane Grammar School and went on to Brisbane State High School. Charlie won the Senior Examination Scholarship and upon graduation from high school, he enrolled in the University of Queensland and graduated with honors on May 1, 1931 with Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture.

1916 – Charles (Prof) & Eunice Schindler with Charlie and Aubrey (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

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After high school, Aub attended Gatton Agricultural College in Queensland and received a Diploma in Tropical Dairying in 1934. He also worked at the college’s stables and dairy farm. After graduation from Gatton, he continued his education at the University of Queensland and graduated in 1938 with a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Science.

Charlie Schindler’s Life Charlie began his occupation as the Agriculturist at the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) in Queensland, Australia. He served first in Tullabudgera, then Stanthorpe and eventually Brisbane.

He became a librarian for the DPI in the old library at Quay Street, where he became known as 'Uncle Charlie'. He also served in a variety of other capacities including the Queensland Place Names Committee.

It was through this organization that a mutual friend introduced Charlie to Gertrude (Gertie) Carrick who was eventually known as Auntie Gertie. Gertie was born on July 28, 1908 and was the daughter of John Thomas and Margaret (Aird) Carrick.

Uncle Charlie was a keen environmentalist, many years before it was trendy to be so, and in his spare time he became involved with the Naturalist's Society. This group shared an interest in the natural environment and the group organized walks and discussions for both the relaxation and education of all participants.

Charlie eventually married Gertie in the Presbyterian Chapel at Mowbray Park in Brisbane, Australia on June 3, 1939. They honeymooned at Binna Burra Lodge located 800 meters above sea level among the sub-tropical rainforest of Lamington National Park in the Gold Coast Hinterland. However, since there were no roads for automobiles, they rode in on horses!

After finishing their careers, Charlie and Gertie had a long retirement together and Charlie was able to enjoy his two favorite hobbies of reading and vegetable gardening in the new house at Mita Street, Everton Park, just north of Brisbane. Each year he would always grow flowers out front of their house especially for Gertie. Charlie was an avid reader and his interest in the environment was a major focus, but he could discuss any subject and his opinion was always well considered.

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Chapter 4 Aubrey’s Early Years Aubrey (Aub) John Schindler was born in Brisbane, Australia in on May 16, 1915. He was a good student and after earning an undergraduate degree he went on to receive a Diploma in Tropical Dairying from Gatton Agricultural College in 1934 and Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Science from the University of Queensland in 1938.

During schooling at Gatton College, Aub was employed by the Gatton Agriculture College in Queensland.

In 1933 while working at the school Aub recalls a very difficult day. One of the roistered jobs at the time was ‘Morning Stables Duty’. This meant that one person had to round up all of the workhorses and bring them up to Farm Square for feeding in the stalls by 7:30 AM. The main problem was all of the workhorses were grazed overnight in a paddock on the banks of Lockyer Creek, north of the Warrego Highway.

Aubrey had the honor of performing this job this particular day. His alarm went off at 4 AM and he saddled an old donkey which he had put in a small yard near his dormitory the night before. All was going well until it came to crossing the highway. Traffic wasn’t the problem. In those days, a busy day on the highway meant that twenty cars went past between dawn and dusk. Rather, it was the latch on the gate that began all the trouble.

Aubrey tried to lean down from his mount and unlatch the gate with one hand. This proved to be too difficult, so he decided to dismount and get two hands onto the job. But as soon as his feet hit the ground, the old donkey decided he didn’t want to wait for breakfast any longer and high tailed it back to Farm Square.

Undeterred, Aubrey came up with a cunning plan. He would leave the gates open on either side of the highway, round up the horses on foot, and chase them up to Farm Square. He figured that they went to the same place every morning for their feed, so they ought to know the way.

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The plan was working perfectly. The horses knew where the food was and charged off in the right direction as soon as they heard him coming. What he didn’t know was the gate on the southern side of the highway had swung shut and re-latched itself. Half of the horses set off toward Brisbane and the other half made their way towards Toowoomba.

Aubrey was given the task of rounding up the Brisbane contingent and managed to have them back in their stalls by 8:00 am. Other students took until 9:00 am to bring in the Toowoomba mob. This is the only day Aubrey remembers that the workhorses were late for work.

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Chapter 5 Aubrey’s World War II Years While working at the college, Aub joined the Citizen’s Militia Force (CMF) 25th battalion.

In 1932 he was

assigned to the 1st Cavalry Mobile Veterinary Section (A.M.F.).

1st Cavalry Mobile Veterinary Section A.M.F. (Aubrey Schindler in second row, far right) (Photo by Poulsen, Courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

Aubrey entered the military on September 17, 1941 as part of the 25th Infantry Battalion. He served with them until October 11, 1942.

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When World War II broke out Lieutenant Aubrey Schindler was sent to Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea.

While serving there he was awarded the Military Cross for his involvement during the battle at No. 3 airstrip on the night of 31 August 1942. He was decorated with the Military Cross for service in the military in Papua New Guinea, Milne Bay, No 3 Air Strip, on August 31, 1942.

Date and Place: On August 30 and 31, 1942 at Milne Bay on No. 3 Aerodrome runway, Lieutenant Schindler (then serving as a Mortar Officer) gave distinguished service in organizing and personally conducting mortar fire of two mortar detachments during the forming up of enemy positions preparatory to attack. Lieutenant Schindler's action resulted in heavy casualties to the Japanese. It was estimated that some 162 dead were found in the area where his mortar bombs were successfully placed.

The previous day Lieutenant Schindler advanced some 3000 yards forward of the forward lines to put out of action two enemy tanks which (Photo courtesy of Peter Schindler)

had been abandoned by their crews. He was suffering with raw feet, the result of days of walking in the mud and water, his action in carrying on and effectively placing his mortar fire on to concentrated groups of enemy was an inspiration to all personnel holding the front line along the runway.

He organized a forward operating position and had it manned by Lieutenant K. A. Acreman of the 4th Battery A Tank Division, whose excellent fire orders made complete cooperation and greatly assisted in the destruction of large numbers of enemy.

Lieutenant Schindler showed outstanding initiative in placing his mortars, protecting his mortar crews, coordinating both mortars and cooperating with an improvised FOO and the CO at Battle Headquarters.

Concentrations of enemy were entirely dealt with by mortar fire with devastating effect, for a period of about three hours before dawn. The enemy was seen to line up on three occasions for attack, all of which were frustrated by effective mortar fire.

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(Photo Courtesy of the National Library of Australia)

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After this campaign was finished, Aub was transferred to the Australia Imperial Force where he served from October 12, 1942 to March 27, 1946.

About a year after the Milne Bay Campaign, while in North Queensland and on Rest and Recreation leave, Aub was asked to return to New Guinea under the Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit (ANGAU a civil administration of the Territory of Papua and the Mandated Territory of New Guinea to establish a cinchona plantation at the Department of Agriculture Stock and Fisheries (DASF) Highland’s Experiment Station (Ag Station) at Aiyura in the Eastern Highlands. Cinchona is the source of quinine which was needed to supply the troops for the treatment of malaria.

For more information about how World War II affected the Ag. Station and the Aiyura Valley where it is located, read Though I Walk Through The Valley by Charles Micheals: http://issuu.com/cbmicheals/docs/aiyura_valley_in_world_war_ii

1942 – Aub Schindler (Public Domain)

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Chapter 6 A Short History of the Agricultural Station Aiyura Valley is a situated at 5,300 feet elevation and has a Tropical Highlands climate.

Warm days, cool

nights, abundant rain and suitable soil for vegetation plus the Bae River snaking through the valley made this valley a prime location for agricultural study and sufficient to support the small groups of Gadsup and Tairora people living near the valley.

1946 – Aub Schindler with policeman (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

in 1936, the Australian government started the “Highlands Agricultural Experiment Station” (today known as the National Agricultural Research Institute), headed up by Mr. Bill Brechin, an Australian agriculturist, who pioneered trials of tree crops for suitability for Highlands plantings at Aiyura.

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In May of 1936, Mr. Brechin walked the fertile land in the Upper Ramu area near the Yonki Valley (where the current water catchment area is for the Yonki Hydro Dam) and the adjacent Norikori Valley. He eventually chose the Aiyura valley area to settle and to establish a research station. In the same year, he planted Cinchona and tea. The tea grown could not stand the climate and withered away. However, the Cinchona plantings did grow well to warrant a planting of more than 10,000 seedlings. In August 1936, coffee was planted. He found immediately that the coffee plantings did very well. From such innocent beginnings the coffee industry has burgeoned into the multi-million kina industry it is now.

Aiyura Airstrip construction, circa 1937 (Photo Courtesy of Pacific Wrecks)

In April 1937, Mr. Brechin started clearing the site at Aiyura for an airstrip and also cleared more land for coffee plantings and Cinchona seedlings to be ready for the September rains. In April 1938, he employed 18 laborers from the Markham valley and 20 casual laborers from Bena Bena with additional casual help being sought from the local villages and 12 men from Akuna, in the Aiyura area. In July 1938, he further employed 10 men from Markham, 43 casual workers from Bena Bena, a further 50 from Ramu in the Madang Province and thus a first “plantation� was established in the Highlands of PNG.

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Aiyura Valley Map (Photo courtesy of Alex Vincent)

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When World War II broke out, General Douglas MacArthur continued the experimenting at the agricultural station with the growing of the Cinchona tree for the ultimate production of the raw material from which Quinine for treatment of malaria is derived.

Bill Brechin stayed at the Ag. station for the first part of the war, but after several World War II aircraft crashed at the Aiyura Valley airstrip in 1942 and the Japanese were advancing on the station, Bill decided to fly out the valley with one of the surviving airmen in a bi-plane that had been stored at the Ag station and fixed up from two bi-planes located there that had not been working. However, before reaching safety, the plane crashed and Bill was killed. Aub replaced Bill at the Ag station.

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Chapter 7 Aubrey and Ancie’s Marriage Ancie Carson Beales was born in Victoria, Australia on March 15, 1915 and was the daughter of Claude Alfred Herbert Beales and Agnes (Ancie) Carson. She attended St. Hilda’s Girls School and the University of Queensland in Arts. There she first met Aubrey.

After finishing school Aubrey went off to prepare for war and Ancie taught at the New England Girls School in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia for several years. Then she taught Science at St. Margaret’s school in Armidale and then at The Glennie Prep School, a private Anglican school for girls. There she met Aubrey just before he shipped off to New Guinea and to what would later be called the Battle of Milne Bay. 1935 Graduation (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

After the war Aubrey returned to the Brisbane area where his father Charles Schindler and Eunice lived and near where Ancie’s parents also lived. After making plans to get married, Aubrey returned to the Ag. Station and Ancie made plans to move there and to get married.

Their marriage in Lae on May 30, 1946 was the first civilian marriages in the Australian Trust Territory of New Guinea and as such created quite a stir! The event even made the Australian newspapers!

Aub and Ancie drove to their wedding in a Jeep. Mr. Raleigh Farlow, the District Officer from Lae officiated at the wedding. The Matron of Honour was Mrs. Nancy (Ned) O'Brien of Mililat Plantation, Madang and the Best Man was Peter Swanson. Everyone enjoyed the wedding cake which Ancie has brought with her from Brisbane, Australia.

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After the wedding a breakfast was enjoyed on board the old MV Montoro which was the ship Ancie had travelled to New Guinea on.

Guests at the wedding included Taffy Jones, Bill and Kath Cahill and their parents, Ted Fulton, Nancy and Ned O'Brien, Reg Boyan, Doris Booth, Norm Wilde, Jim Leahy with whom Aub worked at Aiyura, and many other friends.

Their honeymoon was an unusual one. They spent eleven days in quarantine at Malahang due to measles on the MV Montoro.

Malahang (located near Lae) was where a mission station, copra and coconut plantations and an airfield were set up by European settlers in the early 1900s.

Wedding Day (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

MV Montoro (Photo Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria)

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Chapter 8 Life at the Agricultural Station After their marriage Aub and Ancie returned to Aiyura Valley and took up life there. the only Europeans permanently living in Aiyura in 1946.

1946 – Aiyura Ag. Station Work Force (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

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Aub and Ancie were

1946 – Aiyura Ag. Station Work Force (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

As the Ag. Station grew, other expatriate families joined the work. Ron and Joan Carne had arrived with their children as did the Bells and their family. At Aiyura, Ancie formed lifelong friendships with Jean Carne, Flora Nitsche, Betty Bell, Marjorie Purnell, Yvonne van Horck, Jan Booij, Pat Tudor, Mary Wommersly, Rose Hughes and many Australian District Officer’s (ADO) wives among whom was Val Connolly whose husband Ken was a Kiap.

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1948 - Ag Station (Photo courtesy of Peter Schindler)

1948 - Ag Station (Photo courtesy of Peter Schindler)

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1952 – (L-R) Aubrey Schindler, Ron Carne, Ivan Schindler in arms of Joan Carne, David Carne in arms of Flora Nitsche (L-R) Janet Carne and Peter Schindler in Jeep. (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

Ag Station in 1965 (Photo courtesy of David Carne)

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In 1948 Sir Donald Cleland visited the Ag. Station. He had been appointed in 1942 to the position of the Deputy Assistant Quartermaster-General of the Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit (ANGAU) in Port Moresby. In March of 1943 was appointed the additional position of chairman of the Australian New Guinea Production Control Board. This made Sir Donald Cleland, effectively chief of staff. Thus, he was responsible for the day-by-day civil administration of Papua and New Guinea, for the running of the prewar plantations and for ANGAU's operational commitments. This group oversaw the standards of health care and labor supervision on the plantations and beginnings of a new national staff education scheme.

1948 – Aiyura Ag Station Visit by Sir Donald Cleland (right,) Ag. Station Director Aubrey (Center) and New Guinean Staff (left) Donkey’s name is Namu – Lead donkey used on trips to coast to gather supplies (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

While Aubrey worked at the Ag. station, Ancie began to raise a family. Over the next ten years three children were born. Charles Peter James, later known as Peter, was born in Brisbane on November 12, 1948. Ivan Aubrey Paul was born in Brisbane on April 19, 1951 and Gillian Ruth was born in Lae, New Guinea on May 31, 1955.

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Ancie bought a black Volkswagen in which she travelled over the Highlands to Okapa and Mt Hagen and many times to Goroka. In 1960 Ancie and all the family, now including three children (5 to 11 years) made a seven month trip to the UK and France to show her children to relatives there.

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Chapter 9 Ancie Schindler’s Work The Schools in Aiyura Valley Begin In 1954, Aubrey Schindler built a small school house and because of his wife Ancie’s teaching background, she became the teacher. This was a passion that would stay with her throughout her whole life.

In 1956 the school became an 'A' school which meant it was using the Australian Syllabus as opposed to a 'T' schools which used the Territory Syllabus. It was administered by the Territory of Papua and New Guinea Public Services section. The children who attended the school came from a variety of homes. At first, only the students of the staff of the Ag. Station attended the school, but soon children from the missions nearby and business houses in Kainantu (a small town a small distance away) began to attend.

1957 - Aiyura A School – Janet and David Carne (Photo courtesy of David Carne)

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The school was situated near the top house of the Ag. Station. There were at least nine buildings there as this was the main station area at that time. The school building was a yellow weatherboard with a Kunai shed at the back.

The school remained up there until about 1960. The children taught at the school between 1954 and 1960 came from everywhere. Beside the Schindler children (Peter, Ivan and Gillian) who attended the school, another Ag. Station family’s children did too. Ron Carne worked with Aub at the Ag. Station and he and his wife Joan’s children (Janet, Hilary, David, Heather) attended the school.

1958 - First Row (L-R) Lori Nicholson, Charlie Van Horck, Judy Frantz, Marlin Richert, Steven Davis, David Carne, Timothy Dean, Kathy Frantz, Larry Nicholson, Roseanne Dean, Paul Franz, Second Row(L-R) Freddie Burgonye, Ivan Schindler, Sharon Dean, David Frantz, Phillip Richert, Unknown, Janet Carne, Peter Schindler, David Richert, Paul Van Horck, Elsa Van Horck (Killeen), Ruth Davis (Milligan) (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

The Foley children (their father was the District Officer), the Tindle children (their parents worked with the Seventh Day Adventist Mission), the Van Horck’s children (Charlie, Paul, Elsa) and a miner’s son Fred Borgoyne from the Yonki area (Fred used to board at the Schindlers) attended the school travelling in a Land Rover from Kainantu, a small town 20 minutes away by way of rough rugged dirt roads. A large 33 | P a g e

number of students from the nearby Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) center at Ukarumpa in Aiyura Valley also attended the school. Among those students were Jim and Gladys Dean’s five children (Sharon, David, Timothy, Roseann and Jonathan), Don and Launa Davis’s four children (Stephen, Ruth, Becky and Jean), Ernest and Marjorie five children (Cherry, Phillip, David, Marlin and Roger) and Chet and Marge Frantz’s five children (David, Cathy, Judy, Paul and Debbie).

1959 Primary School Students - Front Row (L-R) Roseanne Dean, Lori Nicholson, Charlie Van Horck, David Carne, Back Row (L-R) Marlin Richert, David Frantz, Larry Nicholson, Steve Davis, Cathy Frantz, Ruth Milligan (Davis), Gillian Landers (Schindler) (Photo Courtesy of Gillian Landers (Schindler)

There are also a number of children from SIL families that attended the school. The following are a list of the SIL families and children that benefitted from Ancie’s instruction at the school.

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Jim and Gladys Dean –Tim, Sharon, Roseanne (Jim was the founder and first director of SIL’s work in the country)

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Chet and Marge Frantz – Kathy, Judy, David (Chet and Marge were Bible translators for the Gadsup people who lived in the valley).

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Ernest and Marjorie Richert - Marlin Richert (Ernest and Marjorie were Bible translators for the Guhu-Samane and Mid-Waria people)

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Ray and Ruth Nicholson - Larry and Lori Nicholson (Ray and Ruth were Bible translators for the Fore people).

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Don and Launa Davis - Steve and Ruth (Don and Launa were Bible translators for the Wantoat people)

First Row: (L-R) Roseanne Dean, Ruth Milligan, Debbie Frantz, Charlie Van Horck, Paul Frantz, Stephen Davis, Kathy Frantz, Paul Van Horck , Ivan Schindler - Back Row (L-R) Elsa Killen, Ivan Schindler, David Carne, David Richert, David Frantz, Phillip Richert, Peter Schindler, Sheri Richert, Janet Carne (Photo courtesy of David Carne)

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The Primary School Expands

1960 – The new Aiyura Primary School (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

In 1960, the primary school moved from the Ag. Station to a new building on the floor of Aiyura Valley and to the west of the airstrip thanks to a purchase of seven acres by the Australian Department of Education. That purchase and eventual building was brought on by the growing number of students from SIL whose families were beginning their work at Ukarumpa.

Thankfully, Ancie Schindler continued to be the teacher of the school, but as the number of students increased it became apparent there would need to be an additional teacher added. Thus, there was discussion with the Australian government about this and the magic ‘60' number kept coming up. The Australian government did not feel it necessary to add another teacher until the school reached 60 pupils.

That number was soon reached and thankfully another teacher, Joan Kirwan, the first SIL teacher arrived to meet that need.

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Miss Dorothy Holsinger and Mrs. E. Vincin joined Ancie as teachers in 1960 and 1961. Faith Wilson arrived to teach in 1961, followed by Miss J. Gollard in 1963 and 1964, Mr. M. Wilson in 1965 and Ron Mitchell in 1966 - 1969. Assistant teachers were also added in 1962 when Doris Bjorkman helped for a year, Miss N. Fisher in 1963 – 1965 (also becoming a teacher in 1966), Mrs. Joan Carne (Sewing) and Mrs. Bachman (Singing) in 1967, Miss.M. McKay in 1966 – 1967 and Miss R. Skilton (gardes 1 and 3) and Miss. D. Holsinger (Prep and Grade 1) in 1968.

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The school continued to grow as the number of students and staff. By 1968 the primary school had grown to over 100 students of which 90% of the students came from SIL.

1960s - Aiyura Primary School (Photo courtesy of David Carne)

Later in the 1960s - Aiyura Primary School (Photo courtesy of Gail May)

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As Ancie’s work at the school decreased, Ancie devoted herself to entertaining guest that visited the Ag Station while Aub worked hard at the Ag Station. During this time Aub travelled to Africa to study tropical agronomy.

Ancie’s hobbies included gardening, sewing, making crafts and dog breeding. The dog breeding was possible since Ancie had brought her female Chow Chow named ‘Eddie’ to the Ag station. Eddie had forty pups at Aiyura, mostly sired by Jack Fox's cattle dog. The other sires were the male back crosses to the Chow Dam.

Ancie with Chow Chow ‘Eddie’ (Photo courtesy of Peter Schindler)

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Ancie with Pip (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

1952 – Ag. Station get together (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

1958 – Family picnic with other Ag. Station staff (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

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1959 – Family picnic with other Ag. Station staff (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

1950 - Aubrey and Ancie Schindler (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

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1950 - Aubrey and Ancie Schindler (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

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Chapter 10 Ron and Joan Carne Join the Ag Station Staff Ron and Joan Carne joined the work at the Ag Station after they moved to Aiyura from Melbourne, Australia just after they were married in 1947. Joan arrived at Aiyura in 1947 in a De Havilland Dragon.

L-R - Joan, Heather (baby), Janet,Ron, Hilary and David in 1963 (Photo courtesy of David Carne)

Ron first travelled to Aiyura to check the place out and then took three weeks unpaid leave to come back to Australia to marry Joan. After being married, the Carne’s moved to Aiyura Valley and moved into a 44 | P a g e

small grass hut behind the house on the top of the hill where Aub and Ancie lived. Ron worked as an assistant to Aub for the first 10 years, along with short spells in Goroka, Port Moresby and Rabaul. After a time working in New Britain at another Ag Station at Keravat, the Carne’s returned to take charge of the Ag station in 1962 when the Schindler’s purchased a coffee plantation at Karanka. The Carne’s stayed at the Ag Station Papua New Guinea independence in 1975, when they retired and returned to Melbourne.

Ag Station in 1963 (Photo courtesy of David Carne)

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Chapter 11 Aiyura Ag. Station Crops and Livestock by Ron Carne Cattle The Highlands area is good cattle country, but our specific role was to test and develop suitable pastures for livestock including grasses and legumes. This involved both introduced species and learning to manage native grasslands. To utilize the native species, they had to be kept short to make them palatable, and this could be done either by regular grazing or periodic burning.

1956 – Cattle Project at the Ag. Station (Photo Courtesy of the Ivan Schindler)

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As part of the large encompassing effort of the Ag. Station, Aubrey introuduced cattle as part of the station. The Tropical Dairying Diploma he received in college paid dividends as these cattle we part of the everyday work of the station. In addition to cattle, the Ag. Station also had a stable of horses that were used by staff to move around the station.

1948 - Ron and Joan Carne with Ag. Station horses (Photo courtesy of David Carne)

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Coffee One of the major crops grown in Papua New Guinea is coffee. The start of that effort was at the Ag. Station.

Veteran patrol officer, Jim Taylor, friend of the Schindlers, visited the Ag. Station to talk over coffee production.

1954 – Aubrey and Kainantu Patrol Officer Jim Taylor (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

Jim Taylor took part in the famous Wahgi Valley patrols of the Highlands with Daniel and Mick Leahy in 1933 and other patrols in the Hagen-Sepik regions. After the war and his patrol work was done, Jim became a coffee grower.

That crop that really turned out trumps, and became a viable and most profitable industry for New Guinea was coffee - Arabica coffee. A small plot of about 5 ac. Blue Mountain variety had been planted in a forest clearing right near the hilltop, just before the war. So, it was well established and able to provide much of the seed for the plantations and village plots when this industry really got going during the mid-1950's.

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Nursery beds at Aiyura Ag Station (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

The seed for that first little plot at Aiyura had been brought in from Wau, where it was growing at the foot of the Wau airstrip - for those of you who may have been there! That Blue Mountain variety had actually originated in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica in the West Indies.

While passing through Central Africa during 1949, on my way home from a course in Tropical Agriculture in Trinidad at the Ruiru Coffee Research Institute in Kenya, I had arranged for several new selections to be sent across to Port Moresby. There they were raised under quarantine and then sent on to Aiyura for testing. One of these proved to be particularly vigorous and productive and we named it Arusha because it had first been selected near a town called Arusha, on the lower slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro. It later became a widely used variety, at least for some years.

Some of you may have seen the film "Out of Africa", with its beautiful scenic shots of that lovely country.

Anything relating to the growing of coffee in the film was of particular interest to me, of course, and I'd say it all seemed quite factual and true to life. In Kenya whole areas of adjourning coffee farms were settled by English and other immigrants, leading to what became known as the "White Highlands." In New 49 | P a g e

(L – R) Stan Norgren, Aiyura Valley helper and Ron Carne at the Aiyura Ag Station (Photo courtesy of David Carne)

Guinea on the other hand, the policy right from the start was to place Australian settlers in ones or twos, interspersed with the villages, through the accessible parts of the Highlands.

I happened to be part of a small team consisting of a Patrol Officer, Surveyor, Medical Assistant and myself as Agricultural Officer, that moved round in the Wahgi Valley in early 1955, looking for blocks of land that were suitable for coffee plantations. We worked closely with the village people, selecting with them farm sized lots of anything from 50 to 500 acres that the people could readily spare, and were willing and sometimes anxious to sell to the Government.

These were then purchased by the government and put up for public tender as coffee blocks, and the successful applicants would lease them on long term. They would prepare the land by tractor or hand labor and plant their coffee, mostly living in temporary buildings of native materials for a start, and later maybe in more permanent homes. Many raised families there, and in fact one of our new neighbors in

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Sunburst Ave. is an airline pilot who grew up on a coffee farm in the Wahgi Valley while our family was growing up at Aiyura.

Some of the benefits or advantages of having expatriate plantations scattered like this through the Highlands were: •

The villages weren't dispersed or disrupted.

•

Plantations were all close to villages from which to draw labor if they wished.

•

Villagers could see and learn about coffee growing in their own area, and then plant up their own coffee gardens if they wished to.

•

That actually did happen in a big way, with the Agricultural Department helping with the establishment of village nurseries, and the laying out of gardens.

1951 - Developing projects in the New Guinea highlands - Sassaaura village (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

I was fortunate enough to be the Agricultural Officer in Goroka during this period, and so was involved in setting up some of the first village coffee nurseries. Each Monday and Tuesday the District Officer, Fred Kaad, and I would travel together in a Land Rover out along the newly made roads - on Mondays towards 51 | P a g e

1952 - The Ag. Station vehicle on the road leading from the Ag. Station in the far hills with the Aiyura Airstrip in the Centre of the photo. (Photo courtesy of David Carne)

the Bena Bena people and on Tuesdays towards the Asaro. While he would sit in court and hear simple disputes concerning land, pigs and marital matters (the main causes of disputes!), I would supervise the setting up of coffee nurseries with suitable shade cover, and then the planting and maintenance.

From here on a lot of help was given to the people in showing them how to prepare their actual coffee plots in the field - preparing the ground, lining it out with the correct spacing, establishing suitable shade plants, and then planting out the seedlings during the wet season. Local staff were trained to do all this and by then I had been transferred to Rabaul for one of our short stints away from the Highlands!

By the time we family left New Guinea in 1974, some 20 years down the road from then, the total value of the annual coffee crop from the Highlands was some $A 30 M, with roughly two thirds coming from small-holder or village production and one third from larger plantations. The small-holder coffee is usually purchased at roadside buying points, by traders, nearby plantations or Co-operative Societies.

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After Independence, there was a gradual move for all expatriate coffee growers to sell out to locally based companies. This included Local Government Councils, local businesses, or groups of villagers operating together. By now I think all are locally owned, one of the last to go belonging to a Chinese family we know.

Many of the new owners employ managers, arranged by agency companies that specialize in this. These managers are often Indian, Indonesian or locally trained New Guineans.

Coffee from PNG, being grown at a high altitude and therefore in cool conditions, can be top quality if processed and handled properly; so, it is exported all round the world. With the equitable climate and soils it can also be very high yielding. Coffee is harvested almost all year round in PNG, with certain flush periods, because of the fairly even spread of rainfall; whereas in some countries, such as Kenya and Brazil, there are one or two harvest periods and then nothing for the rest or the year.

1959 – Coffee seedlings (Photo courtesy of Hilary Carne)

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1969 – Coffee growing shaded and unshaded (Photo courtesy of Hilary Carne)

1963 – Coffee tree flowering (Photo courtesy of Hilary Carne)

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1965 – Ron in a coffee tree plot (Photo courtesy of Hilary Carne)

1965 – Coffee picking (Photo courtesy of Hilary Carne)

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1965 – Coffee cherry collection (Photo courtesy of Hilary Carne)

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1964 – Tipping cherry into receiving vats (Photo courtesy of Hilary Carne)

1958 – Coffee pulping (Photo courtesy of Hilary Carne)

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1958 – Coffee weighing (Photo courtesy of Hilary Carne)

1964 – Coffee drying trays (Photo courtesy of Hilary Carne)

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At Aiyura we conducted a number of long-term field experiments with coffee testing such things as: •

Pruning systems and fertilizer use.

•

Types of shade trees and their effect on yield.

•

Spacing between bushes, e.g. 7 ft., 9ft., triangle or in rows.

•

Varieties.

These factors all interact with each other, so experiments were designed combining several factors and some layouts were quite complex.

Pyrethrum The Agricultural station grew and so did the plants introduced. In the early 1960 the Pyrethrum was introduced. Pyrethrum was used for centuries as an insecticide and as a lice remedy in the Middle East (Persian powder, also known as "Persian pellitory").

1965 – Pyrethrum Plants (Photo courtesy of the Peter Schindler)

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Pyrethrum is a type of Chrysanthemum (C.sinnerarifolium), where the flowers are used for an insecticide.

Seed was introduced soon after the war, and sufficient planting, selection and testing for pyrethrum content was carried out at Aiyura to establish its suitability and viability for Highlands conditions. But it also was moved further west to the higher altitudes of 7,000 ft. to 9,000 ft. where the flowers grow bigger, brighter and better. The country there is too high and cold for coffee, so pyrethrum fitted in well as a cash crop for the people in those parts.

Quinine

1946 - Ag Station - Cinchona seedlings turn to mature trees (Photo courtesy of the Australian War Memorial)

During our first years at Aiyura the crop absorbing most time and attention was 100 acres of quinine, planted by an ANGAU unit during the war in several forest clearings. The steep hillsides had been cleared laboriously by hand, when up to 800 Highland villagers were employed. The whole area had been meticulously bench terraced, and it looked like a giant amphitheater when I first saw it - although by then the seedlings were several feet tall.

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General Douglas Macarthur had brought a small packet of quinine seed with him when he left the Philippines, no doubt with malaria control in mind, and that had triggered off all the activity at Aiyura.

However, it was some years after the war before the bark was finally ready for processing (bark being the part of the plant used, as with wattle bark), and by then synthetic anti-malarials were in plentiful supply.

The bark was all harvested however and processed into Totaquin tablets, which were tested in the Trobriand Islands as malaria was then, and still is, a very serious problem. They didn't prove to be very effective, basically I think because the species of quinine brought-out was a robust one but rather low in quinine alkaloids. A side benefit of the whole exercise was a huge supply of fine building poles from the bark-stripped trees, which we used for some years! That species of quinine is a handsome upright tree with a straight trunk, not unlike a young eucalypt.

Many other plants were being introduced and tested during that same period – vegetables, food crops, cereals, fibers, grasses, legumes and trees. Plant introduction is an on-going exercise in all countries, including Australia, but particularly so in such an un-developed land as the PNG Highlands just after the war.

Sheep You may remember Sir Edward Hallstrom, of "Silent Knight" refrigerator fame. He established a Livestock and Fauna Trust at Nondugl, a delightful spot on the northern flanks of the Wahgi Valley, and flew in a flock of Romney Marsh sheep in the early 1950's. We also had sheep at Aiyura in those days, and we both experienced the same gradual decimation of our flocks as stomach worms got the upper hand. This was despite intensive drenching with the drugs available at that time.

So, sheep were given away for a while. Bur eventually, with better drugs and more suitable pastures, they were brought back for another try - after our time up there. The last we heard, a few years ago was that they were doing "as well as could be expected." They could be a real asset in subsistence farming with their meat and wool, and smaller size then cattle for family meat supplies.

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Sweet Potato Known locally as Kau Kau this would have been the most important crop, by far, in the Highlands, being their main item of food. There were many varieties altogether, each area having its own selection of types suited to that locality. A collection of some 100 varieties was assembled at Aiyura, and initially the main experimental work was to compare these, and try out and compare different local methods of planting on mounds and ridges.

Tea We always had some tea growing at Aiyura, as a few bushes had survived the neglect of the war years.

These had been propagated by seed and cuttings, and seed plots and plucking areas established. But the main experimental work was moved to Kuk Experimental Station on the Wahgi Swamps, near Mt. Hagen.

That is where tea is now being grown commercially, mostly on large plantations with their own factories, but with a mix or village small-holders bringing their leaf in to the plantation factories.

1963 – Ron’s mother examining tea leaf-tips in a tea plot at the Aiyura Ag Station (Photo courtesy of David Carne)

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Ag station tea (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

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Aiyura Homes

1955 - Qonset Hut home Aiyura – Janet with Joan Carne’s parents who were visiting (Photo courtesy of Hilary Carne)

1963 - Aiyura “top house” – Janet Carne in the garden, David and Hilary Carne in the background (Photo courtesy of Hilary Carne)

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1958 - Aiyura “bottom house” (Photo courtesy of Hilary Carne)

1963 - Aiyura main house –Ron Carne’s parents, Joan and Heather (Photo courtesy of Hilary Carne)

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1960s - Aiyura Ag. Station pool (Photo courtesy of David Carne)

1960s - Aiyura Ag. Station pool (Photo courtesy of David Carne)

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Aircraft At Aiyura In order to get people, product and supplies in and out of Aiyura Valley the airstrip developed before World War II was essential. For a number of years, QANTAS airlines flew in and out of Aiyura Valley. Many other commercial, mission and business small aircraft also utalized the airstrip. The Australian government also held military exercises at this location. The arstrips main use in the early days was to serve the Ag. Station.

1965 - “Highlands Agricultural Experiment Station� located at the left and right side at the far end of the Aiyura Airstrip.

Professor Schindler's school in the foreground. (Photo courtesy of David Carne)

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1951 - DeHavilland Dragon at Aiyura Airstrip (VH-AON) (Photo courtesy of David Carne)

1958 - QANTAS Otter aircraft at Aiyura airstrip (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

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1959 – Staff from the Agricultural Station board the QANTAS flight at Aiyura (Photo courtesy of Charlie Van Horck)

1959 – Staff from the Agricultural Station board the QANTAS flight at Aiyura (Photo courtesy of Charlie Van Horck)

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Late 1950s – Aiyura Airstrip (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

1963 - Aiyura Airstrip (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

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1963 - Aiyura Airstrip (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

1965 - Aiyura Airstrip (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

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1971 – Aiyura Airstrip (Photo courtesy of James Sinclair)

1963 - Ag Station and end of the Aiyura Airstrip (Photo courtesy of David Carne)

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United Nations Visit Government In 1956 a delegation from the United Nations visited the Ag. Station. It was part of a larger investigation they were doing to evaluate the state of the economy in Papua and New Guinea as it pertained to their move toward independence.

1956 – Representatives from the United Nations Visit the Ag. Station (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

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Chapter 12 The Schindler’s Changing Work Aub

continued as Agronomist in charge of the Ag Station at Aiyura until 1962 when he left the

administration and bought a coffee plantation at Karanka, 27 miles from Kainantu over village tracks and roads, from the Crowley family. The family moved there and Aub became heavily involved with the Farmers and Settlers Association in the Highlands because of his wealth of knowledge on the cultivation of coffee, which he shared freely.

1969 – Karanka Homestead (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

During this time Aub also became a member of the New Guinea Education Board where he advocated that New Guineans should be taught agriculture in the early years of school. He felt the people should 74 | P a g e

remain in their villages rather than gravitate to the towns where they had little future. He believed that by learning about farming, the New Guineans remain self-sufficient. He continued to experiment on his own plantation with other trees and plants such as Duboisia, tropical fruits and different ways to cultivate coffee and tea. Nerada tea from North Queensland was originally grown from Karanka tea seed.

Ancie started a school for the local native children on the boundary of the plantation. However, at the start of 1964 Aub and Ancie returned to Kainantu and Ancie took over the Kainantu Primary 'A' school. By 1967 the school included many local New Guineans who had excelled in their education. When over seventy students enrolled in the school, a head teacher was appointed. Ancie, then serving as a temporary teacher, became an Assistant Teacher. Head teachers, Keith and Wendy Fisher became lifelong friends of Ancie.

1968 – Ancie’s Kianantu School Class (Photo Courtesy of the Ivan Schindler)

Ancie continued her travels in her Mercedes Benz and travelled over the Highlands and to Lae on improving roads. Her neighbors in Kainantu were Marie Fraser, the Goldhardts, Ann Vierling, Gilmore,

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Muriel Larner, Barry Holloway, van Leewins and other well-known Kainantu residents. Ancie’s dogs became a well- known cattle dog/Chow Chow strain, which had spread over the Highlands. One of the puppies even joined a Qantas pilot team and clocked up hours of flying in all types of aircraft!

1963 – Ancie and Aubrey and Peter and Ivan Schindler at Karanka Homestead (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

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Chapter 13 The Schindler’s Retirement Years In 1973 Aub leased out the Karanka Plantation. Having positively influenced the future of the Kainantu Sub-District, they left New Guinea just before the country became independent in 1975 and returned to Brisbane, Australia. In 1974, Aubrey and Ancie retired and enjoyed spending more time with their three children and eleven grandchildren.

1980 Aubrey and Ancie (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

For several years Aub was in turn cricket coach, spelling tutor, monopoly master and adviser and was always in the good company of friends. Ancie travelled across Australia and in 1980 she travelled to British Colombia, Canada to visit relatives. Late in the 1980s Ancie became a member of the Brisbane Women’s'

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Club and West Toowong Bowling Club. Ancie was able to celebrate her 80th birthday with fifty of her good friends from childhood days to recent times at the Kenmore Tavern in Kenmore, Queensland, Australia.

Ancie (age 80) died on May 4, 1995 and her ashes are buried in the memorial grounds of the Mt Thomson Crematorium. Aub (age 83) died on October 12, 1998.

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Chapter 14 The Schindler’s Children Peter

was born in Australia and later became a Doctor of Medicine with a practice in Toowoomba,

Australia. He is married and has four children. Ivan was also born in Australia and became a Veterinary Surgeon with a practice in Rosewood, Queensland, Australia. He is also married and has four children.

Gillian (Landers) was born in Lae in 1955. She is married to a journalist and has three children. She studied child care and now lives with her husband in Brisbane, Australia.

Aubrey, Peter, Ivan and Gillian (Photo courtesy of Peter Schindler)

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1970s - Peter, Ivan and Gillian (Photo courtesy of Peter Schindler)

The Schindler family (Photo courtesy of Peter Schindler)

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Bibliography “Aiyura Valley”, Photos, Australian War Memorial, <http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/099617> Clarke, Wendy, Online Posting, Lae-Markum Reunion Souvenir Booklet <http://www.docstoc.com/docs/38642853/Souvenir_20Guest_20Booklet_202006> “First Wedding of Civilians in New Guinea Since the War”, Courier-Mail Newspaper, 24 June 1946: 7 <http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/printArticlePdf/50258515/3?print=n> Kershaw, Hollie Smith, Kainantu, Gateway to the Highlands, Marquell Press, Goroka, 1986: 46-49.

Baker, Clive, Milne Bay 1942, Baker-Knight Publications, 1991 PNGAA Association, “Obituaries – Ancie Schindler”, <http://www.pngaa.net/Vale/vale_sept95.htm> PNGAA Association, “Obituaries – Aubrey Schindler”, <http://www.pngaa.net/Vale/vale_dec98.htm#Schindler> Pyrethrum, Online Posting, Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrethrum> University of Queensland, Online Posting, Farm Square, <http://www.uq.edu.au/gatton/farm-square>

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About The Author

Charles Micheals is a native of Michigan and lived the first thirty years of his life there, eventually working in the grocery industry. In 1985, Charles and his wife Barbara and their four small children joined Wycliffe Bible Translators and moved to the country of Papua New Guinea (PNG) where they worked with the internationally known non-profit linguistic organization, SIL International (formerly the Summer Institute of Linguistics). Charles served in a variety of administrative roles in PNG, including several years as the Chairman of the SIL PNG Job Evaluation and Wage Review Committee and on the SIL PNG Executive Committee.

During their 15 years of service in PNG, Bible translation work was completed in 67 languages and over 100 additional Bible translation projects were started. Today, almost 180 language communities, representing 1.8 million people in PNG have access to the Scriptures in their own languages.

In 2000, Charles and Barbara moved back to the USA and Charles served for several years as the Regional Director for Recruitment for Wycliffe, living in the Chicago, Illinois area. In 2004 they moved to Orlando, Florida where Charles served for six and one half years as the Vice President for Recruitment Ministries for Wycliffe. He currently heads up Wycliffeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Education, Management and Professional Recruitment Department and speaks at various mission conferences and colleges each year. Barbara helps coordinates Wycliffeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Volunteer and Internship program.

Charles holds a BS degree in Food Distribution from Western Michigan University and a MA degree in Organization Management from Dallas Baptist University. He served on the Board of Directors for The Finishers Project (Now Mission Next), a non-profit mission dedicated to helping people in the second half of life find places to serve in missions. He has also been involved in helping create and develop Mission Teach (now Mission Next Education), a ministry dedicated to helping place teachers in MK (Missionary 84 | P a g e

Kid) mission schools around the world and Military Believer, a growing ministry dedicated to helping military personnel who are leaving the military, find opportunities for service in global missions.

Charles has also authored over two dozen books about the work of SIL in PNG and about life in the Aiyura Valley in PNG. (http://issuu.com/cbmicheals/docs)

Both Charles and Barbara are members of Saint Andrewâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s church in Sanford, FL and are involved in a variety of church activities there. Charles serves as an elder at the church. However, they are still members of Second Christian Reformed Church, in Kalamazoo, Michigan which is the church that commissioned them for their work with Wycliffe. All four of their children are actively supporting missions and church ministry work. Three of their four children are serving with Wycliffe around the world. Charles and Barbara have twelve grandchildren.

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Back Cover â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1950s - Aiyura Villagers (Photo courtesy of Ivan Schindler)

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