Carl Franke served in New Guinea with an engineers' unit, the 15th Australian field company, during World War II. At the end of the war, in July 1947, Franke returned to New Guinea after accepting a cadetship with the Australian Department of Agriculture. The majority of his work was in surveying and reporting on the potential of viable crop production to assist in post war development. His first project was at Bumana vegetable research station on the Laloki River, approximately 30 miles north of Port Moresby. He then moved to a government rubber plantation at Kokoda. From that post, Franke moved to Kiaruku on the south west coast of Papua to begin the Meko Rice project. Franke then undertook a 25 day patrol through the Goila Sub District to ascertain which vegetable crops could be introduced to better vary the local diet and to determine the possibility of growing cash crops. He also spent time at the Agricultural Research Station in Kerevat near Rabaul where they were looking at coffee and cacao, before moving onto Buka at Bougainville to start an agricultural station that would distribute pigs to the community. Unfortunately many of the first consignment of pigs died due to erysipelas, after being sunburnt on the trip over.

In November 1949, Franke went on leave to get married, returning in January 1950 to Buin for another rice project. His wife Betty, who was completing her midwifery certificate, was to follow and also work in New Guinea, but Franke's father died in May 1950 and he returned to Australia where he was required to assist in the family business. Carl Franke died in May of 2020.