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ABOUT
EDO NYLAND *
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(See Dr. Legner’s Reviews of Nyland’s Theory)
[Contacts]
Edo Nyland, born in Amsterdam, the
Netherlands in 1927, the youngest of four sons. The usual six years
elementary school, five years high school (during the German occupation
years) and one year Normal School, all in Amsterdam. Switched to study botany
(taxonomy) at the University of Amsterdam. Study interrupted in 1947 by
compulsory military service. In the army he received a ten months crash
training course at the eye hospital "Oog in Al" in Utrecht, and
then was assigned to a team of four ophthalmologists in the Medical Corps,
assembled to help the many tragically afflicted survivors of the Japanese
concentration camps in the former Dutch East Indies. Assisted in eye
operations such as cornea transplantation, trachoma, cataract, detached
retina etc. Most of the two
and a half years in Indonesia were spent in the Army Hospital in Djakarta;
however, late in 1948 he was delegated as a medic to 2-4-8 Regiment Infantry
in West Java, who called themselves the Glatiks (rice birds). A massive "police
action" (using all the army-, air force- and navy-fire power Holland
could muster) started shortly after on December 18, 1948, which
officially ended with the capture of the city of Djokjakarta and most
Javanese towns and cities, but dragged on in a draining guerilla war. He
helped with the evacuation of wounded and gave medical aid under fire from
the Indonesian Suliwangi Division, commanded by General Nasution and many
Japanese officers. He experienced first hand the degrading fanaticism, brutality
and decadence of atrocities committed on both sides of this tragic conflict.
The resulting carnage forced the United Nations at its August 1949 Lake
Success meeting to demand that Holland give Indonesia its
independence, which happened on December 30, 1949. The now hardened soldier
returned home in February 1950, all in one piece, but changed to the core
from observing so much needless suffering, inhumanity and death. All battles
were won but the war, and a huge colonial empire, was lost. Back in Holland,
the military offered training courses for returned veterans and, as he had
planned to go to Canada, he took the full time cabinetmakers course for 11
months, which also included a fair pay cheque. The course came in very handy
during the first two years of University in Canada and throughout life. The
money earned from the army service and cabinetmaker's course was saved and
paid for the trip over the ocean. He arrived in Halifax April 1, 1952 with
$50. - in his pocket. Continuing his
botany study was no longer appealing so he switched to the ruff-tuff
"forestry" of British Columbia. The Faculty of Forestry in
Vancouver demanded upgrading in physics, English and mathematics which
courses were taken at the University of Alberta in Edmonton 1952/53. Then
followed four years at the University of British Columbia, resulting in a
B.S.F degree in Forestry, awarded in May 1957. Summers were spent
working for the large logging and timber companies at a time that steam logging
and log transport by railway was still commonly used. The work involved the
locating and surveying of logging roads, establishing survey controls,
cut-block layout, contour mapping and detailed evaluation of large, pristine
forest holdings, work which was always associated with aerial photo
interpretation, map making and difficult travel conditions. From
December 1957 until May 1968 he was District Forester for the Whitecourt
Forest in Alberta where 95 sawmills, small and large, needed to be supplied
with timber and supervised, work done by a staff of forest rangers and a
seven man timber management crew. This involved tree marking, cutting plan
judging, road- and bridge- construction supervision, reforestation such as
soil scarifying and seeding as well as tree planting, fire fighting and some
forest ecology research. In 1968 promoted to land use specialist at the
Alberta Forest Service head office in Edmonton and attached to the Land-use
Assignment Section. In April 1971 he was appointed Regional Manager of the
uniformed (federal) Yukon Lands and Forest Service, based in Whitehorse,
capital of the Yukon Territory. Here his main task was modernizing and
building of the Yukon Forest Service, which included staff training, fire
prevention and aerial fire suppression, supervision of road, bridge, airstrip
and seismic line construction activities of many oil and mining companies,
environmental protection, inspection of private recreation facilities, timber
disposal, silvicultural and some genetic research etc. etc. Retired Jan. 1,
1983 at the age of 55 and moved to British Columbia with wife Elisabeth. Here
he served two three-year terms as alderman (1990-1996). A very different
challenge laid ahead, the subject of the following pages. |
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For further detail, please
refer to:
Nyland, Edo. 2001. Linguistic Archaeology: An
Introduction. Trafford Publ., Victoria, B.C., Canada.
ISBN 1-55212-668-4. 541 p. [ see abstract & summary]
Nyland, Edo. 2002.
Odysseus and the Sea Peoples: A
Bronze Age History of Scotland Trafford Publ., Victoria,
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