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AUSTRALIAN FORESTERS in PAPUA NEW GUINEA 1922-1975

PNGAF MAGAZINE ISSUE # 9B -5B4G3 of 25th July 2021 Editor R B McCarthy1 2021. FOREST 2 MANAGEMENT. Overview Eminent TPNG Forester Ted Gray

Tauri River. Terapo Mission. Yule Island. Ted Gray’s3 outward journey. Ted Gray’s home journey.

Editor Dick McCarthy 2021

Dick McCarthy District Forester TPNG Forests 1963-1975.

Ted Gray TPNG Forests 1946-1969.

OVERVIEW Edward Charles Gordon Gray known as Ted Gray, was an inaugural member of the 1948 TPNG Forest cadetship class together with Alex Hart and Don McIntosh. The three TPNG forestry cadets graduated in 1952. Althought the three TPNG forestry cadets were the same AFS year as Kevin White, Kevin was a Queensland forestry cadet who did not join the TPNG Forest Service till 1957. Ted’s description of work activities re forest inspections prior to the advent of helicopters vidily outlines the hazards of exploring the forests of TPNG. AUSTRALIAN TPNG FORESTRY CADETSHIP SCHEME4 1948 to 1963 After the Second World War, a cadetship scheme was undertaken by the Australian Department of Territories to train Australian Forest Scientists to ensure sufficient professional staff for the purposes of creating a functional Forest Department for TPNG.

Surname

Positions

Edward Charles Gordon Gray (NG) Alexander John Hart (NG) Donald Henry McIntosh (NG6) Kevin Joseph White (Q) Robin Levingston (NSW) Jaroslav Joseph Havel (WA)7 Robin Bilbrough Morwood (NG) Frank Harry Coppock (NG) Elliot Carby Tuckwell (NG) Et al

TPNG Cadetship 1948 1946 1946 Qld 1953 1952 1953 1953

AFS 1950/51 1950/51 1950/51 1950/51 1952/53 1953/54 1955/56 1956/57 1956/57

Year graduation 1952 1952 1952 1952 1954 1955 1957 1958 1958

The appointments of Australian TPNG Forestry Cadets were summarized in LT Carron’s book in 2000 titled “A brief history of the Australian Forestry School (AFS)”. 5 Cadet Forest Officer pamphlet courtesy Des Harries 2019. 6 Don McIntosh Third Director of Forests PNG. 7 Joe Havel First Principal Bulolo Forestry College.

TRANSCRIPT FROM EDWARD (TED) GRAY HANDWRITTEN MEMO of 3/5/18

Thanks for yours of April 2 and congratulations – a great idea. It has often crossed my mind many times that there seems to be naught on the subject. I am a willing contributor but do not expect the goodies in a few weeks’ time. Do not have a computer and all its accruements. Snail mail and a home telephone number ---- just about covers it. A few facts: Edward (Ted) C Gray One of the first 3 forest cadets with Administration of Papua New Guinea Joined Alex Hart (WA) and Don McIntosh (NSW) in 1948 and we progressed as a group (but with different responsibilities of course) until I joined and eventually headed a Project Planning team formed and operating in PNG under World Bank auspices. I was to eventually leave PNG in 1969 to study for a PHD at Berkeley California (successful)!! My main early territory experiences are at Bulolo and Wau; Brown River Fly delta and Popondetta and Rabaul – Kerevat New Britain, I was also given the task of overviewing Papua (as regional FO) and of serving as an acting Chief of Division Utilization. Names worthy of mention 1950’s and 1960’s J B McAdam – who started things off – a man’s man Mich (Mike) Jackson – forest ranger Bulolo John Womersley Botanist Lae Jim Cavanaugh – Reserves settlement officer and offsider to Jim McAdam in tracking Japanese during the war Andree Millar – offsider to John Womersley Flo McClelland – ran Bulolo office for many years Greg McDonald Kevin White I would be willing to give you short accounts of different interesting events (largely nontechnical) I experienced in the 50’s and early 60’s. Sorry, this has ended up a bit of a mess, Best of luck, Ted G

TRANSCRIPT FROM EDWARD (TED) GRAY HANDWRITTEN MEMO of 1/9/18

Dear Dick, I am attaching an account of an interesting recce up and down the Tauri River I led in the mid 1950’s at an early stage of my service with the PNG Dept of Forests. I do not know how suitable for your purposes it will be. It is clearly different from the reflections on life and times in PNG”- type contributions. I apologize for not having my story typed but I have been careful to write important words in clear script. I am sorry there are no photos, but funds did not extend to leicas in those days! Best of luck, Yours Ted Gray 1/9/2018 PS I am officially Edward but was always known as Ted in PNG. I suggest you refer to me as Ted. PPS I could provide you with an account of my early (1952-54) years in Bulolo at a time when substantial plantings of hoop pine began following the building of the station in the early 1950’s.

THE TAURI: UP IN FOUR DAYS, DOWN IN FOUR HOURS by Edward (Ted) Gray The Tauri River is a stream largely in the east of the Gulf Province that flows south from the central range to discharge into the Gulf of Papua some 40 km southeast of Kerema. With heavy and persistent rain, it will join to Lakekamu nearby to its east and enter the Gulf as a single torrent.

Over sixty years ago, in 1955, I was to lead an inspection/survey of the rainforest drained by the Tauri between foothills and coast. At that time, I believe I had just been appointed Regional Forest Officer stationed in Port Moresby, but I do not recall any permanent forestry and that maybe that is the reason why the Tauri might have been chosen over, at that time, multiple other unexplored forest areas. To my knowledge there was on pressure from a local miller (like Tom Flower) wanting an assurance his future lumber supply was secure. A decision to mount the expedition might have arisen because the Central Mekeo viewed the lowland Tauri forest with some trepidation – as a no man’s land. Whilst it was idle, they could have thought it to be an inadequate defense against foothills people about whom a suspicion of past cannibalism still lingered. Any increase in the coast’s familiarity and knowledge about the forest and topography of the areas through a presence on the proposed exploration might be seen to strengthen an argument for government intervention should there be inland aggression. At this juncture I must apologize for not being able to name the starting point or where upstream travel ended. The notes and observations I made at the time have unfortunately been lost during the intervening years. I do, however clearly remember the essential details of the expedition including being taken by government vessel to an isolated Administration outpost at the mouth of the Tauri; to returning to Port Moresby nearly two weeks later. My arrival on the Tauri had been expected because a large canoe had been made ready for the upstream journey to be manned by a crew of six local men. There was also an outboard motor and fuel which regretfully ran out on the second day of travel. It was soon after paddling started that a shot rang out and there was frantic activity to propel the canoe to the riverbank. An exodus of the crew followed with me left in charge of the boat. It was a cassowary that had caused the frenzy. The bird was eventually cornered and dispatched. After rapid scorching, charring, and boiling it became a happy crew’s evening 5

meal. I was offered a portion but as I had already eaten, I could reasonably decline to partake of the unfortunate creature and avoid the embarrassment of being unable to reduce my offered piece to bite size because of its toughness. It was towards the end of the fourth day that we reached the first foothills settlement and the end of our upstream travel. The village was to offer us accommodation and have a number join our group to assist with inspection of the surrounding forest area. The resource was to prove to be a somewhat disappointment from a commercial perspective a tract similar in many respects to the Brown River forest near Port Moresby with which I was familiar. One of the coastal crew was found to be missing at the end of the first day’s reconnaissance, an indication that the Mekeo assertion of profound knowledge and familiarity with the Tauri forest was indeed suspect. The missing man was to spend the night in the bush and find his own way to the river to join the group in the morning apparently little worse for the experience. Torrential and prolonged rain during our third night and the following morning, caused the Tauri to flood dramatically and have our own canoe break free from its mooring and career downstream. With later easing of the rain, our predicament was met by the local villagers agreeing to build a large raft to replace the canoe. The substitute craft was ready for the downstream journey early the following morning. With the river still in flood we climbed on board, heading for the coast at high speed and understandable trepidation. Probably the most fearsome aspect was the number of occasions the river diverted from its established channel and careered across the narrow strips of land that defined meanders. Whilst this meant the travel distance was dramatically lessened, it also introduced the risk that vegetation and other obstructions on the isthmuses would cause the raft to capsize of even sink. Fortunately, neither was to occur because of suspect navigation skills and probably a good measure of luck. We were to reach our destination by late morning, shaken but safe. The downstream leg had taken little more than four hours vis-vis four days for the upstream. There was no boat at the river mouth that might have returned me to Port Moresby, and not likely for some time. I therefore decided to set off on foot early next morning. My destination was Kairuku, Yule Island which I knew to be a busy port for water traffic. I was to follow the tracks that connected the villages which traditionally assist walkers by carrying gear from one to the next and offering coconuts and other local food. By dusk I was to arrive at the bay/inlet where Kairuku is located. After energizing a rather grumpy ferryman I eventually reached the port facility where I was happy to learn a boat was about to leave for Port Moresby on the very early morning high tide and it could take me. Sad to say, we were not to clear Kairuku that night. Soon after getting under way in the early hours our progress was halted by a sandbank or mud bar. We were stuck fast, the mishap subsequently rumored to have been the result of navigation skills befuddled by an onshore predeparture party. Fortunately, no damage seemed to have occurred.

Because the following high tide was greater than the one, we had left on, there was nothing to do except wait for daylight. In the meantime, as water levels dropped the boat began to tilt, leaving the only reasonable level place for a mattress, the angle formed between the deck and rail. There was little sleep for the rest of the night. We were eventually freed on the high morning tide, making a mishap-free run to Port Moresby a virtual reality. It ended nearly two weeks of exploration which regrettably was something less than professionally rewarding and more a test of endurance and initiative, both qualities we are better for. Ted Gray 30/8/2018

An article in the PNGAA magazine UNA Voce Vol 41 # 161 March 2019 describes characters in the water traffic of the day. These are some of the characters Ted Gray refers to in his expeditions. A CHARACTER IN PNG BY GRAHAM HARDY8 MARCH 2019 Many characters from Australia and other countries were attracted to PNG before and after World War II. In October 1952 I arrived in Port Moresby together with five other cadet patrol officers, following our induction course in Sydney. After our presentation to the department headquarters, and going through the formalities, we were let loose to look around Port Moresby in the care of a cadet patrol officer named Paul Kelly-Healy who had arrived about a year earlier. Paul decided that a visit to the Moresby Hotel was high on the list, and so we met our first character on our first day! As we approached the pub Paul introduced us to a much older gentleman wearing long grey beard, khaki shirt, and long khaki trousers, puffing on a baubau or native smoking pipe. His name was Brother George of the Catholic mission based at Yule Island, north-west of Moresby. He was happy to join us at the Snake Pit Bar where he enjoyed his favourite rum. A khaki-clad, bearded, and smoking brother, who swore and drank rum was new to me—I had been brought up by Christian Brothers dressed in black with white clerical collars, who kept any swearing or drinking out of sight. Brother George had been in Papua for many years and had been recruited by the Australian Army during the war to work operating small ships on the Papuan coast. His brother, a priest, Father Tweedy, was to become a bishop in Tasmania and Brother George was granted leave to attend the celebrations in Hobart. The newspaper reporters were so fascinated by Brother George that articles would begin ‘Brother George and his brother the bishop …’ After about a week, the new bishop told George to get back to Papua at once as he was taking the limelight. At one time, I think after World War II, the Yule Island bishop told Brother George that he was to be transferred to the Goilala District in the mountains north-west of Port Moresby. He had always been on or near the coast, so he set off with a heavy heart. It meant walking all the way. He had only been on the track a day or two when a message reached him that the electric power plant at Yule Island had failed, and he should return to repair it. George was happy to do so. The generator was soon fixed as he had made sure it would break down soon after he left for Goilala. He remained based on the coast for good. Brother George was a jack-of-all-trades, and early in his time had built and operated a sawmill on the mainland near Yule Island and tended to machinery as well as being a skipper on small ships. As time went on, I heard many yarns about him. An early story I heard concerned an Irish nun who had been in Papua for twenty-five years at the Yule Island Mission. Her brother had been killed in Ireland by the Black and Tans during The Troubles in 1916, and as a result she had little liking for anything English, including the Royal Family. 8

Reference PNGAA UNA VOCE Vol 41 No 161 March 2019. P 36-37

King George V was on the throne when the sister approached her twenty-fifth anniversary. Brother George conspired with the Resident Magistrate at Yule Island to write to the good sister on an official telegram form, in the name of King George V and Queen Mary, congratulating her for the anniversary and wishing her many years ahead, etc. The good sister was shocked to think that she had held such nasty thoughts about the king and queen, when they had been so kind to think of her in faraway Papua. I never heard whether Brother George or the RM were game enough to come clean. I met the sister at the Terapo Catholic Mission on the Tauri River in 1954—she was still working and was a very devoted nun. After my first introduction in Port Moresby, I didn’t get to see Brother George again until 1954, when I was posted to the Kukipi Patrol Post in the Gulf District, at the mouth of the Tauri River between Kerema Bay and Yule Island. Brother George would carry goods out to Terapo Mission, or at times carry freight on his small ship, St Joseph, for the New Guinea Resources Prospecting Company, which was surveying the possibility that any of the rivers flowing into the Papuan Gulf had a volume sufficient to perhaps support a future hydroelectric venture, to send under-sea electricity to North Queensland to bring about an aluminium mine and factory. An employee, Bill Schleusner, would also use Brother George’s services to take him to inspect automatic recorders from time to time. During a patrol I undertook on the lower Lakekamu River I suffered a tropical ulcer which required a doctor’s attention. Bill happened to be returning to Yule Island from the Tauri River with Brother George, so I was able to travel on the St Joseph. Apart from the excitement in getting over the high waves on the Tauri bar, it was an uneventful trip except for the constant rolling from the ship which had a narrow hull and a top-heavy cabin which Brother George had himself designed. We arrived at Yule Island just on dark and Brother George gave Bill and me instructions to jump ashore as early as possible while a deckhand at the same time jumped off the bow carrying a rope. We did as we were told, and the following conversation came about: Brother George ‘Are you ashore?’ Bill ‘Yes’. George ‘Is the boy ashore?’ Bill ‘Yes’. George ‘Has he got the rope?’ Bill ‘No, George’. George ‘Well, shoot the bastard!’ By this time the vessel had drifted into the darkness, so Brother George repeated his approach and tied up without fuss. I spent a few days on the island, staying with Bill and seeing the doctor. Brother George was returning to Kukipi soon, so it was just right for me. I met Bill Tomasetti, the Assistant District Officer, and also visited the mission. The sisters there told me on the quiet that Brother George was a bit of a handful because he would never keep new clothes no matter how many they made for him. He insisted on giving the new clothes to anyone he came across—Brother George was a true humble brother. The day we left there were two nuns, two Papuan girls and a young French layman, working for the mission, on board. It was an uneventful trip until we approached the Tauri bar—there was a westerly wind and considerable waves, and Brother George told everyone to sit tight and hold on. I was standing hanging on to something near Brother George who was at the

wheel. The others were seated, and the young Frenchman had sat himself between the two Papuan girls—with an arm around each to protect them! The first wave caught us and lifted us up and we slid down the face of the wave just as a 44gallon drum of kerosene came adrift in the hold and rolled to the low side. Brother George shouted a loud expletive! At this stage we were on a tilt to port and travelling at about fortyfive degrees to forward. We remained in this position until the wave died away and we slowly reached the landing—I was only too pleased to put my feet on solid earth. I kept my promise to myself that I would never put foot on the St Joseph again. I think it was the last time I saw Brother George, but I recall hearing he died and was buried in Papua after something like fifty years of service in the mission.

Short Bibliography. NAME YEAR OF BIRTH DATE JOINED FORESTRY PNG WHAT WAS YOUR OCCUPATION WHAT LOCALITIES DID YOU WORK IN

WHAT DATE DID YOU LEAVE PNG

DID YOU RECEIVE A PNG FORESTRY CADETSHIP

Edward (Ted) Gray 1948 Forest Officer, Regional Forester Papua, Acting Chief of Division Utilisation My main early territory experiences are at Bulolo and Wau; Brown River Fly delta and Popondetta and Rabaul – Kerevat New Britain, I was to eventually leave PNG in 1969 to study for a PHD at Berkeley California (successful)!! One of the first 3 forest cadets with Administration of Papua New Guinea Joined Alex Hart (WA) and Don McIntosh (NSW) in 1948

IF SO WHEN DATE OF GRADUATION IF YOU KNOW OF ANY OTHER FORESTRY STAFF AROUND YOUR TIME, PLEASE LET ME KNOW

We progressed as a group (but with different responsibilities of course) until I joined and eventually headed a Project Planning team formed and operating in PNG under World Bank auspices. 1948 1952 Names worthy of mention 1950’s and 1960’s J B McAdam – who started things off – a man’s man Mitch (Mike) Jackson – forest ranger Bulolo John Womersley Botanist Lae Jim Cavanaugh – Reserves settlement officer and offsider to Jim McAdam in tracking Japanese during the war Andre Millar – offsider to John Womersley and a better - super botanist Flo McClelland – ran Bulolo office for many years Greg McDonald Kevin White

ACRONYMS ACT ACIAR ACLMP AEC AFS AFPNG AIF AMF ANBG ANGAU ANU APMF APPM ASIO ASOPA AusAID BA BCOF “Beer Time” BFC BGD BUC C cm CALM CFA CNGT CRE CRE

CSIRO CHAH DASF DBH/ dbh DEPT DPI DOF e.g. Etc FAO F &TB FIM FPRC FRG FRI

Australian Capital Territory Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research AusAid funded World Bank Land Mobilisation program. Administrators Executive Committee Australian Forestry School Association of Foresters of PNG Australian Infantry Forces Australian Military Forces Australian National Botanical Gardens Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit Australian National University Australian Paper Manufacturers Forestry Pty Ltd Australia Paper and Pulp Manufacturers Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Australian School of Pacific Administration Australian Aid Agency basal area British Commonwealth Occupational Force 1945-52 Any time. Bulolo Forestry College Bulolo Gold Dredging Company Bulolo University College Commonwealth Centimetre Western Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management Commonwealth Forestry Association Commonwealth New Guinea Timbers Bulolo Commander Royal Engineers CRE is a term inherited by RAE from RE and is the term for the Commanding Officer of a RAE unit which is headed by a Lt Col. Although the officer is called the CRE the name is also used for the name of his unit. E.g., CRE Aust Forestry Group or 1(NG Forests). Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria Dept of Agriculture, Stock and Fisheries Diameter at breast height Department Department of Primary Industry Department of Forests For example et cetera (more of the same) Food and Agriculture Organisation Forest and Timber Bureau Canberra Forest Information System Forest Products Research Centre Hohola Forest Red Gum Forest Research Institute Lae 12

Forkol GAB Gbhob Gubab GIS ha IBRD IFA IFY ITTO JICA L of N LRRS m3 MM NAA NARI NB NFCAP no. NG NGF NGIB NGO NGVR NZ NSW NTSC OISCA P or p PIB PIR PNG PNGAA PNGAF PNGFA PNGFIA PNGRIS PNGUT POM Q QF RAE RPC RRA SFM SP UK UN

Bulolo Forestry College Girth above buttress Girth breast height over bark Girth under bark above buttress Geographic Information Systems Hectare International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Institute of Foresters of Australia International Year of the Forest International Tropical Timber Organization Japanese International Cooperation Agency League of Nations Land Resource Soils Survey (branch of CSIRO) cubic metre Military Medal National Archives Australia National Agriculture Research Institute New Britain PNG National Forestry and Conservation Action Plan Number New Guinea New Guinea Forces (relates to plant collection of Lae Herbarium) New Guinea Infantry Battalion Non-Government Organisation New Guinea Volunteer Rifles New Zealand New South Wales National Tree Seed Centre PNG Bulolo Organisation for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement International Japan. page Papuan Infantry Battalion Pacific Islands Regiment Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Australia Association Papua New Guinea Australian Foresters Magazine Series Papua New Guinea Forest Authority PNG Forest Industries Association Papua New Guinea Resource Information System PNG University of Technology Port Moresby Queensland Queensland Forestry Royal Australian Engineers/Australian Army Royal Papuan Constabulary Rapid Resource Appraisal Sustainable Forest Management South Pacific United Kingdom United Nations 13

Unasylva UNE UNEP UNI UNITECH UNRE UPNG UQ US USA TPNG TUBL TA TA TRP Vol VSF WA WB

Journal of FAO of UN University of New England Armidale NSW United Nations Environment Program University University of Technology Lae PNG University of Natural Resources and Environment University of Papua New Guinea University of Queensland United States United States of America Territory of Papua and New Guinea Territory United Brewery Ltd Timber Area Timber Authority Timber Rights Purchase volume Victorian School of Forestry Western Australia World Bank