Adjusting to the life of a missionary
Paula is scared of the natives. We visited a village and all of the kids came running after her and were grabbing at her hands and trying to pick her up, she screamed.
1961 October 6 to Willa
Letter written by Ina Erickson from the Gurakor Mission station to Martin and Willa Tonn, 10316 Grand Ave, Minneapolis 20, Minnesota, USA
Dear Willa and Martin,
You should see our nice home. The one we will be living in, there is plumbing, toilet and tub but only cold water throughout. You have to heat water for a bath. It also has three bedrooms, large living room and dining area and kitchen with a little wooden burning stove. The Horrolt’s are very interesting people. They have been here for so many years they really consider New Guinea their home. Reverend Horrolt has built the house and guesthouse and most of the furniture except for some army things. The Army personnel treated tables with something so the ants don’t bother them, but everywhere else whenever food is kept out it’s covered with ants.
Mrs. Horrolt wanted me to help her with cooking dinner which is the midday meal, as I’ve proceeded to batter the tinned meat- like spam, no,— I must do it this way. Then I was frying small potatoes that she had boiled with the peelings on. I proceeded to cut them up. No. I am only to cut them in half. Then I started to dump out the carrot water, no, save that for soup. Then she would mention something about buttering the carrots so I put a glob of butter on top. No. She said I put a quarter pound of butter in where I cook them,— a big help I was.
The great missionary got to really break in his boots with the cleats on, in fine style today, —spading the garden. Reverend Horrolt keeps asking Al, how good are you at repairing the Land Rover? How good are you at fixing the light? And the generator?. How good are you at gardening? You know they really think they are leaving the place in good hands.
Paula is scared of the natives. We visited a village and all of the kids came running after her and were grabbing at her hands and trying to pick her up, she screamed. Per usual she did not like others picking her up and wanted up to me. After I was carrying her, she would wave merrily at everyone and smile so proudly. They got so silly when they’re excited about something and giggle and giggle when she would do that.
They had built all of their houses about 3 feet off the ground, on posts. Then wood floors and the walls were built out of grass and the roofs are thatched. One is never invited into a native’s house. We can only gesture and say good morning! I don’t know what happens when we greet someone in the afternoon. Because good morning is the only English most of them know. The native school teacher from the compound is going to help us some tomorrow with the language. He has 12 children of his own and three adopted. The salary of one teacher is usually between £10 to £20.
Tommy is well and happy. He is so good. Usually when he is awake he lays and smiles and kicks and coos. Then when I feed him he goes to sleep, really unbelievable. Most days he doesn’t cry more than 10 minutes all day. Paula is running a temp today, wonder what bug she bumped into.
Martin you should get a farm out here, things grow so huge and fast. Tuesday they are going to butcher a bull. We are going to learn how to cut up meat.
God’s blessings. Love Al, Ina, Paula and Tom
Ina mentions briefly the army in this letter. But the footprint of WWII in PNG is rather significant from roads being built, buildings that were put up and lots of equipment left behind for example. The Erickson’s will be finding out how much New Guinea was impacted by the World War II. There is evidence all over New Guinea, especially the coastal areas that the Erickson will live on, including crashed planes in the jungle like the one above.
The article below describes conditions in New Guinea that the Erickson’s are about to find out. I encourage you to read this article about how tough it is in PNG to operate. Especially for Alvin who made many ‘bushtrips’ over the next 6 years into the mountains for weeks at a time. The heat and humidity, the lack of roads, the thick jungle, malaria, snakebites, sores and boils are among many other challenges that will unfold as the letters keep coming. I cannot imagine the worry of their families, stateside.
The World War II Allies Were In For A Nightmare In Papua New Guinea
The steamy jungles of Papua New Guinea proved to be as difficult for the Allies as the Japanese enemy was.
by Warfare History Network
An American infantryman from Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the U.S. 32nd Infantry “Red Arrow” Division claimed, “If I owned New Guinea and I owned hell, I would live in hell and rent out New Guinea.”
In addition to a suicidal and tenacious Japanese defense of the northern Papuan coastal area of Buna, the terrain, climate, and disease wrecked the regiments of the 32nd Division and the Australian battalions accompanying them. When corrected for the size of attacking forces, three times as many lives were lost in Papua than on Guadalcanal during a similar timeframe.
More than two-thirds of the Allied forces attacking Papua’s northern coast became afflicted with malaria; losses from disease were four or five times greater than from combat casualties. At the end of December 1942, Time magazine first brought New Guinea to the attention of the American public: “Nowhere in the world today are American soldiers engaged in fighting so desperate, so merciless, so bitter, or so bloody.”
It is no wonder that a GI fighting along the Buna front worried aloud, “God help us—we’re never going to get out of here alive.” Likewise, for the Japanese, one of their infantrymen recorded, “The road gets gradually steeper.… We are in a jungle area. The sun is fierce here…. We make our way through a jungle where there are no roads. The jungle is beyond description. Thirsty for water, stomach empty. The pack on the back is heavy.”
A Buna veteran described his American compatriots: “The men at the front … were perhaps among the most wretched-looking soldiers ever to wear the American uniform. They were gaunt and thin, with deep black circles under their sunken eyes. They were covered in tropical sores…. There was hardly a soldier, among the thousands who went into the jungle, who didn’t come down with some kind of fever at least once.”
New Guinea, 1,500 miles long, is the second largest island in the world, located immediately north of the Australian continent. Papua, the southeastern part of New Guinea, which occupies one-third of the total area, was administered by Australia. Australia’s military planners regarded it as a buffer against Japanese invasion of its Northern Territories.
The interior, to say the least, is inhospitable. The high mountains of the Owen Stanley Range dominate the topography, and the area is covered with jungles and swamps. The main town, Port Moresby, on the south coast with a population of 3,000 before the war, was comprised mostly of native Papuans. There are only a few villages along Papua’s northern coast, which include Buna and Gona. Lae and Salamaua are also on the northern coast near the Huon Gulf in northeast New Guinea. While the whole area is a flat, low-lying plain, the Buna area is made up of steaming, impenetrable jungle, coconut plantations, and fields of shoulder-high kunai grass.
Away from Port Moresby, only native trails connected the north and south coasts, the most famous being the Kokoda Trail. The geographical and climatic obstacles to conducting military operations by either side was going to be immense in terms of troop movements, reinforcements, supply, and the care of the wounded.
The article goes on but this gives a little idea of how difficult New Guinea was for the soldiers (and therefore for the missionaries).
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/world-war-ii-allies-were-nightmare-papa-new-guinea-155996