Memorial to Rudolf Oskar Brunnschweiler 1915-1986 KEITH R. COLWILL 26 Wattle Avenue, Beaumaris, Victoria 3193 Australia URSULA B. BRUNNSCHWEILER 7Arkana Street, Yarralumla ACT 2600 Australia Why “Pigeons on the Roof’? asked Rudi Brunnschweiler’s daughters when they saw the title page of their father’s latest spare-time project, the draft of a book subtitled “Memoirs of an Explorer.” The title, he replied, was bor­ rowed from an old Swiss proverb that admonishes “rather than chasing pigeons on the roof, be content with the spar­ row in your hand.” No doubt many would have been happy with the sparrow, but not Rudi. He aimed his sights higher, and the challenge this philosophy presented was for him the spice of life, its joy and fulfillment. Rudolf Oskar Brunnschweiler was bom in St. Gallen, Switzerland, on December 12, 1915, the oldest of four children of accountant and pioneer sports pilot Oskar Emmanuel Brunnschweiler and his wife Johanna Martha (nee Vogel), concert pianist; they were citizens of Hauptwil, Canton Thurgau. After his early schooling in Ennenda and Glarus, Rudi entered college at Schiers, from which he matriculated in 1935. He then attended the Federal Technological Institute in Zurich to study civil engineering until mid-1938, when he transferred to the faculty of natural sciences at the University of Zurich. In 1941 he married Emmy (“Micky”) Alwine Kiene. Starting a family in those turbulent war years while still a student took considerable courage. Rudi and Micky’s faith in each other and the future proved to be fully justified, and they shared a happy and adventurous lifetime together. During his student years Rudi supplemented his pay as a part-time engineer-geologist in the Swiss Armed Forces by putting his lively imagination and creative talents to work as a the­ ater “extra” with the Stadthaus Theater in Zurich and by producing documentary films for the Swiss National Tourist Office and the W. Kagi Film Company. Already the proud father of two daughters, Eva Renate and Ursula Beatrice, he graduated from the University of Zurich in 1946 with a Ph.D. in geology-mineralogy. In 1938 Rudi had also gained a private pilot’s license, and of his many and varied interests his love of flying was to play the greatest role in determining the future course of his life. While on a trip to Czechoslovakia to participate in an air show, he learned that an Aus­ tralian firm was buying a Czech-made Sokol. To a man with a passionate interest in his profes­ sion, Australia beckoned as a continent rich in discoveries yet to be made, and he persuaded the manufacturer to let him ferry the plane “Down Under.” He lost no time in making plans, and although finance proved difficult, it was not to deter him from his goal. There was no money for fancy extras such as a radio, life jackets, or a rescue dinghy. The chief navigation aids used were an old high school atlas and “plain horse sense,” as Rudi put it. The Sokol was flown from Prague to Zurich and given the Swiss identification HB-TAE, 14 THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA and while farewells were being said, the Swiss national flag was painted on the tail. Together with his young copilot, Oskar Hegetschweiler, the intrepid adventurer took off from Zurich- Dubendorf in April 1949. Their epic flight took 98 days and was fraught with high adventure, including a forced landing on a remote stock route in Persia where they were fired upon by startled Luristan tribes­ men, a battering by fierce storms over the Bay of Bengal which damaged their propeller, and another emergency landing at Cox’s Bazaar, followed by a 3-day trek through the jungle to take delivery of a replacement propeller from the Chittagong Customs House. With great elation the fliers sighted the north coast of Australia on June 25, 1949, and landed at Wyndham after battling strong head winds across the Timor Sea. From there the flight traversed Australia via Darwin, Cloncurry, and Townsville, down the eastern seaboard and finally to Melbourne. His first overview of Australia inspired in Rudi a great love for this extraordinary conti­ nent. Within weeks of his arrival in Australia he secured a position with the Commonwealth Bureau of Mineral Resources (Federal Geological Survey) in Canberra. In his five years with the Bureau he was responsible for special fieldwork, the analysis and synthesis of all macropalaeontological aspects and biostratigraphical classification of the Mesozoic and early Tertiary formations, particularly in the sedimentary basins of Western Australia (vertebrates, invertebrates, and macroflora), as well as in the sediments of the Northern Territory, northern South Australia, and central Queensland. In late 1954 he joined Geosurveys of Australia Limited as chief petroleum geologist. In this position he was responsible for Australia-wide planning and execution of petroleum explo­ ration contracts entrusted to Geosurveys by various clients, and in particular SANTOS Limited (Adelaide). In 1955 his geological surveys helped confirm the existence of promising structures in the Cooper Basin of South Australia which ultimately led to the discovery and development of one of Australia’s largest onshore petroleum energy resources. As early as 1956 he had also advised a Melbourne client of the potential of offshore oil fields in Bass Strait. Over a two-year period he logged more than 600 hours of geological reconnaissance as pilot-in-command flying the Sokol he had flown out from Switzerland and which had later been purchased by Geosurveys Ltd. for aerial survey work. Rudi’s contribution to the knowledge of the geology of Australia is significant. A former colleague from the Bureau of Mineral Resources recalls how fortunate the Bureau was “to have the calibre of staff such as Rudi Brunnschweiler in its formative years, its evolution emulating the ways and philosophies of such experienced scientists and shaping its destiny for the years ahead.” He is also remembered for always having had time for the “learn­ ers” in the BMR, giving them the encouragement and optimism that helps make better geolo­ gists of us all. From 1957 to 1959 Rudi worked with Timor Oil Limited as chief geologist and exploration manager in charge of the company’s operations in East Timor. He was subsequently engaged by the Zinc Corporation of Australia for a six-month field­ work and mapping project in the Amadeus Basin of central Australia and the Carnarvon Basin in western Australia to assess evaporite (salt, potash) potential. In 1959 he established a home base and petroleum exploration consultancy in Australia’s capital city, Canberra. From 1960 to 1963, under the Colombo Plan, he was adviser to the Gov­ ernment of Burma. From 1967 to 1971 he joined the United Nations as project manager for the mineral exploration of two areas in the Republic of Niger, West Africa. Exploration was con­ ducted for base metals (molybdenum, nickel, manganese, and copper) in the Liptako region to the southwest and for suspected coal deposits in the area immediately west of the Air Massif in MEMORIAL TO RUDOLF OSKAR BRUNNSCHWEILER 15 the central north. His mandate included the development of Niger’s Geological Survey, training of local personnel and establishment of a geochemical laboratory (including atomic absorption spectrography). As adviser to the director of Niger’s Geological Survey, Rudi was involved in a multitude of that country’s geological operations including negotiations with foreign exploration compa­ nies, and he was regularly consulted directly by the president of Niger, with whom he continued to correspond until his death. From 1972 to 1975, still residing in Niamey, Rudi was chief con­ sultant to Bishop Oil and Refining Company of Phoenix, Arizona, and consultant to Esso (Min­ erals) of Houston, Texas. During 1977-1978 he undertook another overseas appointment in Bangladesh as petroleum exploration adviser to Petrobangla in Dacca under a Federal Republic of Germany Development Aid Project. In all their travels the Brunnschweilers took a great interest in their host country and its people. A colleague from the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy remembers Rudi’s “important pioneering work in opening up the natural resources of these developing countries ultimately leading to an improvement in the quality of life of their people.” On his return to Canberra from Bangladesh Rudi continued to work as a consultant for Australian and overseas clients up to 1984 when he suffered the first of four strokes. To those who worked with him, Rudi will be long remembered for his contribution to the “art and science” of geology, especially for his farsighted efforts in explaining the importance and relevance of geology to a wide audience through his membership and active participation in national and international professional associations, and his lectures and publications for both the scientific community and the layman. Rudi was a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, the Geological Society of Lon­ don, and the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. He was a member of the Geological Society of Australia, the Geological Society of Switzerland, the Australian and New Zealand Associa­ tion for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS), the Australasian Institute of Mining and Met­ allurgy, the Mining Industry Consultants Association, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Swiss Association of Petroleum Geologists and Mining Engineers, and the Royal Society of Victoria, Australia. In addition, he was a Life Member of the Burma Associa­ tion of Mining and Metallurgy and an Honorary Member of the Malacological Society of Aus­ tralia and First Distinguished Lecturer of the Geological Society of Australia (awarded in 1971). Together with geology and flying, Rudi had a great love of classical music and played both the piano and violin.