Kainantu Government Officer (Aitchison) prohibited the work of all missionary operations. in By 1934 Hans Flierl, the son of Johann Flierl was operating 19 evangelist out-stations around Kainantu from the Onerunka Mission Station. In response to the government proclamation, Flierl led a large party of warriors to Kainantu, where they deposited weapons and sorcery items for Aitchison to destroy. These events set off a chain reaction from Dunantina in the west to Pundibassa in the east. Over the next few months groups of warriors in increasing numbers arrived at Kainantu to destroy the 21 instruments of war. Only in the Kainantu areas were the missionaries successful in having the government prohibitions lifted and as a result of the actions by Kainantu missionaries the government policy was changed. Later Lutheran Missions By 1940 the Onerunka Station was operating some 25 out-stations and 16 schools with 500 pupils. As a result of WW2 the work was halted but recommenced by 1947 where some 60 chapels were constructed throughout the region. World War 2 In 1943, Japanese patrols partially succeeded in entering the Eastern Highlands and there were numerous air raids on the various airstrips. Small detachments were later sent in defence of the airstrips including Kainantu. The 2/7th Independent Company Headquarters (Bena Force) was supplied by provisions from Kainantu. 1960s Mr. Graham Pople was a former kiap (patrol officer) and Member of the first Papua and New Guinea House of Assembly in 1964 and in 2010 authored The Popleography, an unpublished manuscript. When describing Kainantu in the 1960s he writes: Geography Geology Probable Palaeozoic metamorphic rocks, the Bena Bena Formation, intruded by Upper Triassic Bismarck Granodiorite and Mount Victor Granodiorite, constitute the basement on which lower Miocene Nasananka Conglomerate and Omaura Greywacke were laid down. The andesitic Aifunka Volcanics of probable Pliocene age, Pleistocene lake sediments, and Recent alluvial deposits complete the stratigraphical record of the area. Topography A narrow south-east-trending dissected plateau dominates area to the south; it forms the watershed between rivers draining north to the Markham-Ramu Graben, and those draining south to the Papuan coast. The plateau ranges in elevation between and above sea level, and is about above the surrounding country. It is wide at its north-western end, but narrows to about to the south-east, where Nompia Creek cuts across it in a deep gorge . East of Nompia Creek, it is about wide, and the Lamari River