Editing Lae (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Lae}}
{{wide image|Lae-CityPanorama.jpg|1000px|Panoramic photo of Lae city taken from top of the Hodgson Nagi (Telikom) building, Lae. Governors residence to the left. Port to the right. Taken 29 January 2014}}

Lucas (1972)<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lucas|first=John|title=Lae – A Town in Transition|journal=Oceania|date=June 1972|volume=42|issue=4|series=4|pages=260–275|jstor=40330020|doi=10.1002/j.1834-4461.1972.tb01181.x}}</ref> divides the history of Lae into four periods; the mission phase (1886–1920), the gold phase (1926 until World War II), the timber and agricultural phase (until 1965) and the industrial boom (from 1965) with the opening of the Highlands Highway.<ref name="Romaine1992">{{cite book|author=Suzanne Romaine|title=Language, Education, and Development: Urban and Rural Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IcB3y_QsL4IC&pg=PA114|year=1992|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-823966-6|page=114}}</ref>

Between 1884 and 1918 the [[German New Guinea Company]] established trading posts in [[Kaiser-Wilhelmsland|Kaiser Wilhelmsland]], [[German New Guinea]] and on 12 July 1886, a German missionary, [[Johann Flierl]], a pioneer missionary for the Southern Australian Lutheran Synod and the [[Johann Flierl#Connection to Neuendettelsau Mission Society|Neuendettelsau Mission Society]], sailed to Simbang in [[Finschhafen]], [[Kaiser-Wilhelmsland]] and arrived at Lae shortly after.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elcpng.org.pg/Who-We-Are-History.htm |title=History – Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea |work=elcpng.org.pg  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130202912/http://www.elcpng.org.pg/Who-We-Are-History.htm |archive-date=30 November 2012 }}</ref> The mission society provided clergy and religious education for Lutheran settlements in Missouri, Iowa and Ohio, Australia, and anywhere else "free thinking" Lutherans had settled.<ref>Garrett, p. 3–4; [https://archive.today/20120722061530/http://www.ccel.org/php/disp.php?authorID=schaff&bookID=encyc07&page=9&view=png Löhe, Johann Konrad Wilhelm] (''New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge'', Vol. VII)</ref>

After World War I, Eastern New Guinea came under British control (Australia) and many of the Germanic names were replaced by English or indigenous ones. ''Adolf Haven'' was then referred to as Morobe Harbour.<ref>Wurm, S. Mühlhäusler, P, Tyron, D & de Gruyter, W 1996, ''Intercultural communication'' in Atlas of Languages of Intercultural Communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas, Volume 1 [https://books.google.com/books?id=oCx0D0iE2QoC&pg=PA351|link to GoogleBooks]</ref> Australian officials or [[kiap]]s were stationed at various locations within the area<ref>{{cite web|url=http://libraries.ucsd.edu/locations/sshl/resources/featured-collections/melanesian-studies/papua-new-guinea-patrol-reports/morobe-province-patrol-reports.html#Lae|title=Website Changes Fall 2014 - The Library|work=ucsd.edu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107153344/http://libraries.ucsd.edu/locations/sshl/resources/featured-collections/melanesian-studies/papua-new-guinea-patrol-reports/morobe-province-patrol-reports.html#Lae|archive-date=7 January 2014}}</ref> and in 1921 the military administration transitioned to a civilian administration, a gold prospector named Cecil John Levien was appointed District Officer (Kiap) of Morobe.
[[File:LutheranLiteCare.jpg|thumb|left|Evangelical Lutheran Church ''Lutheran Lite'' building in ''Top Town'' overlooking the Huon Gulf]]
[[File:StMaryCatholic.jpg|thumb|St. Mary Catholic Church, Top Town, Lae.]]
[[File:RSLmonument.jpg|thumb|left|Monument at the old [[Returned and Services League of Australia|RSL]] building. Site marks the location when on 16 September 1943 [[Kenneth Eather]] from [[25th Brigade (Australia)|25th Brigade]] raised the Australian flag following the defeat of the Japanese.]]
On 1 January 1923 Levien acquired a mining right for the area and shortly after formed a syndicate called ''Guinea Gold (No Liability)''.<ref>Kernot, C, 1999, Valuing Mining Companies: A Guide to the Assessment and Evaluation of Assets, Performance, and Prospects in ''Business and Economics'' CRC Press [https://books.google.com/books?id=QxG1RujIlLMC&q=Guinea+Gold+(No+Liability)]</ref> The Guinea Gold syndicate formed Guinea Airways Limited in November 1927.<ref>Australian Dictionary of Biography, ''Volume 10'', (MUP), 1986 Levien, Cecil John (1874–1932) [http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/levien-cecil-john-7179]</ref> In 1927 Levien arranged for the construction of the airstrip at Lae to assist the gold mine productions around [[Wau, Papua New Guinea|Wau]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=su8-AQAAIAAJ&q=Cecil+J.+Levien+Lae+airport Lipscomb, A, McKinnon, R & Murray, J 1998 ''Lonely Planet'']</ref>

Lae was declared a town under the ''New Guinea Boundaries Ordinance'' on 31 March 1931 at the height of the gold rush era<ref>Mason, L, & Hereniko, P, 1987 ''In Search of a Home'', University of the South Pacific. Institute of Pacific Studies, 982010016X, 9789820100169</ref> and Lae became the prototype for New Guinean towns built up around [[Lae Airfield|airstrips]].<ref name=Romaine1992/> The Europeans lived to the East of [[Lae Airfield]] while the New Guineans lived to the West.<ref name=Romaine1992/> Cargo arrived in Lae and then was transported by air to the goldfields in [[Wau, Papua New Guinea|Wau]].

In July 1937, Lae made world news when American aviator [[Amelia Earhart]] was last seen flying out of the airport on her way back to the United States. She was never seen again.

When the volcanic eruptions occurred in [[Rabaul]] in 1937, a decision was made to transfer the capital of the Territory of New Guinea to Lae. World War II impeded the transfer and the town was [[Invasion of Lae-Salamaua|occupied]] by the [[Empire of Japan]] on 8 March 1942. Lae, Rabaul and [[Salamaua]] became the major Japanese bases in New Guinea.

The naval [[Battle of the Bismarck Sea]] in March 1943<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/remembering1942/bismark/|title=Battle of the Bismarck Sea, 2-4 March 1943|work=awm.gov.au}}</ref> was fought over the Japanese attempt to reinforce Lae with troops sent by sea from [[Rabaul]], an attempt foiled by sustained Allied attack on the Japanese troop transports. In mid-1943, after defeats in the [[Kokoda Track campaign]], the [[Battle of Buna–Gona]] and the [[Battle of Wau]], the Japanese retreated to Lae and Salamaua. However, the [[Salamaua–Lae campaign]] involved many weeks of fierce fighting, before the town fell to the Allies on 16 September.
[[File:OldRSL.jpg|thumb|Old [[Returned and Services League of Australia|RSL]] building overlooking Huon Gulf.]]

In 1971 the Australian Colonial Administration established the first properly constituted Local Government of Lae town and in 1972 Lae was proclaimed a city.<ref name="Morobe Province">{{cite web|url=http://morobepng.com/id13.html|title=Lae City Council|work=morobepng.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219071736/http://morobepng.com/id13.html|archive-date=19 February 2015}}</ref> Lae's development after the war is directly linked to the development of the highlands. [[Coffee]] and [[tea]] were being grown and a port was needed. Later priority was given on road access, and the Highlands Highway came into existence. The mineral boom occurred in the 1980s and 1990s.