'Toby' Has Quit

A Brett Hilder Profile

After 40 Years, 'Toby' Has Quit

After 40 years and 19 days in the Islands by his own cal culations, “Toby” Donald has retired to live on the Gold Coast of Queensland.

TOBY” was born at Christ church, New Zealand, in 1902, and was christened “Ynyr Bedell Donald” after his barbaric Scots ancestors. After attending Christ’s College he enlisted in World War I, serving in Egypt before going to the Royal Flying Corps. After being a pilot in France, mostly flying Sopwith Camels, he finally left the RAF at Aden in 1920.

Toby first went to the Islands for Burns, Philp, in 1926. being stationed at Berande on Guadal

canal. He was then sent to Lofung plantation at Faisi, before he had his first spell at Tetipari, where managers, and native labour, were hard to keep.

After two years of hard labour there he was sent to Bougainville for a change, but was soon back at Tetipari for a longer stretch.

By 1934 he had escaped to Banio, on Bougainville, and later gravitated to Soraken.

When war broke out in 1939 he went to Sydney and enlisted in the 6th Division Cavalry, and served at El Aquila, Tobruk and Benghazi for 18 months.

Toby was then sent to Syria, where he had a momentous meet ing with a land-mine and was invalided back to Australia.

He was discharged on medical grounds, but re-enlisted the same day for service in New Guinea.

He was given the rank of captain in charge of the Water Transport Group, which went first to Milne Bay.

“Toby” survived the hazards of “the Army at Sea” before he was discharged again for medical reasons. His back had been injured in Syria, and it is still giving him a lot of trouble.

After the war he joined W. R.

Carpenter’s and went to Pondo on New Britain to get the coconuts into production again. Two years later he went to Wangaramut and became a Copra Inspector in New Britain until his retirement in October, 1965.

In 1939, Toby married a nurs ing sister, Olga Weston. They have four children—Susanne, who is married to David Webb of the Australian International News Review; Christopher who is at Rabaul; Wendy who is nursing at Southport, and Elizabeth, who is still at school. Toby and Olga now have a cottage at Miami Keys on Queensland’s Gold Coast, where they will enjoy their years of retirement with the blessings of their many friends from the

Islands.

Brett Milder.

"Toby" Donald.