THE KOKODA CAMPAIGN

A map of northern Australia, New Guinea and Papua showing areas under Japanese control and the three Japanese attempts to seize Port Moresby

• The campaign in New Guinea in 1942 was the most

important that Australian soldiers have ever been involved

in

• It was the only time in our history, Australians were

defending their own territory

• New Guinea had been an Australian territory since 1920

• The campaign along what became known as the Kokoda

Track, was some of the toughest Australian soldiers have

ever experienced.

• Australians believed the Japanese were preparing to invade Australia

• PNG was probably planned just to be a base to defend their newly captured countries.

• Japanese wanted to prevent Port Moresby from being used by the United States and Australian forces as a military base

• Success on the Kokoda Track in 1942 was believed to save Australia

from a Japanese invasion and greatly assisted the Allied effort to push

the Japanese back.

• The Kokoda campaign marked the moment when the war had clearly

turned against the Japanese in favour of the Allies.

TIMELINE February 1942 - The fall of Singapore to the Japanese

March 1942 - Japanese then advanced and occupy Indonesia

May 1942 - Battle of the Coral Sea to prevent Japanese capturing Port

Moresby in Papua New Guinea

June1942 – 400 Australian militia sent just north of the Owen Stanley

Ranges to secure the airfield at Kokoda

July 1942 – 60000 Japanese land at Gona on the north coast march towards

Kokoda

KOKODA CAMPAIGNTIMELINE

29 July - First Battle at Kokoda . Japanese capture Kokoda

26 August – Battle of Isurava. Japanese forced back Australian

troops

26 August – Battle at Milne Bay - Japan's first land defeat of World

War II

Kokoda itself was just a small village about half-way across New

Guinea but whole campaign became named after it.

Kokoda was of strategic importance for two reasons:

•It was an area of relatively flat land, where an airstrip had been

built.

•It was near the northern edge of the mountain range and it was

thought that it could be easily defended.

However, this part of Papua New Guinea provided some of the

toughest terrain in the world in which to fight.

A photograph of the Golden Stairs. This was the initial climb from Owers’ Corner up to Imita Ridge. Army engineers had cut out 3000 steps.

MURDER AND ABUSE OF FUZZY WUZZY ANGELS

Whilst most of the PNG locals willingly aided the Australian forces. This was not always the case. The Australian Army at times used violence and intimidation to force local people into compliance.

They used execution by hanging and torture to control any villages unsupportive of the Australian Army. They also punished and killed any who escaped and were later recaptured.

In an Australian Government inquiry that followed the executions, the Army deceived the government by grossly understating the number of executions carried out by the Australian Army.

KOKODA TIMELINE

MilneBay

A map of northern Australia, New Guinea and Papua showing areas under Japanese control and the three Japanese attempts to seize Port Moresby

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