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ABOUT  Edo Nyland *

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          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.

 

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,

               B.C., Canada.  307 p.   [see abstract & summary].

 

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