Herbert Thomson Kienzle
| Herbert Thomson Kienzle | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
19 May 1905 Levuka, Ovalau, Fiji |
| Died |
7 January 1988 (aged 82) Sydney, New South Wales |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Service/branch | Australian Army |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Service number | P461, PX177 |
| Unit |
Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit 7th Division |
| Battles/wars |
Kokoda Track campaign Battle of Buna–Gona |
| Awards |
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) Member of the Order of the British Empire (Military) Papua New Guinea Independence Medal Mentioned in Despatches |
| Other work | Plantation owner, airline operator, bank director |
Captain Herbert Thomson "Bert" Kienzle CBE (19 May 1905 – 7 January 1988) was an Australian soldier and plantation owner from the Territory of Papua. He is notable for his contribution as officer in charge of native labour supporting Australian forces fighting along the Kokoda Track. He identified and named the dry lake beds, Myola, that were to become an important supply dropping area and staging point during the Kokoda Track campaign. In later life, he was recognised for his contribution to the development of Papua New Guinea.
Herbert Thomson "Bert" Kienzle was born on 15 May 1905 at Levuka on the island of Ovalau, Fiji. He was the eldest of four children born to Alfred Kienzle, a German national and Mary (née Wilson). Mary was the daughter of an English father and a Samoan mother. She died in 1914 after giving birth to a son. The following year, Alfred was remarried to an Australian, Mena Hallet "Hally" Pearce. In 1916, Alfred was interred as an enemy alien, despite being a naturalised British subject at the time. In late 1917, the family was sent to Bourke, Australia, where they joined Alfred, before being sent on to Molonglo. Despite these experiences, Kienzle was patriotically Australian.
In 1920, aged 14, Bert was sent to Germany to live with relatives. He returned to Australia in 1925. In 1927, Kienzle took up a position with Papuan Rubber Plantations Pty Ltd, as an overseer on one of their plantations in Papua New Guinea. Advancing to plantation manager, Kienzle took up a position, in 1933, as an assistant manager with a gold mining company operating in the Yodda Valley – a tributary of the Mambare River near the outpost of Kokoda, which was about 10 kilometres (6 mi) to the south-east of the valley. On 4 June 1936, Kienzle was wed to Meryl Holliday, a former opera singer and nurse he had courted while on leave in Sydney the previous year. In 1937, Kienzle took up an agricultural lease in the vicinity of the goldfield, which he planted to rubber, while continuing as manager of the gold mine. Kienzle was an adept manager but his success derives from what appears to be a gift with language, cultural awareness and an empathy for his workers by which he was able to obtain much greater productivity from his labour force than many of his contemporaries.
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