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The name Kokoda truly ascended into
the collective psyche of Australia
between the months of July and
November in the year 1942, during the
Pacific War of World War II.
Throughout the five month period a
series of battles took place between
the Japanese and allied forces. Later
named the Kokoda Track campaign. The
Kokoda Track campaign was primarily a
land battle between the Japanese
South Seas Detachment, led by Major
General Horii Tomotaro and the
Australian and Papuan Land Forces
under the command of New Guinea
Force.

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Ultimately, the Japanese objective
was to seize control of Port Moresby
from the allied forces via an
overland advance from the north
coast, which followed The Kokoda
Track over the mountains of the Owen
Stanley range, with the aim of
isolating Australia from the United
States.

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On the 21st of July 1942, Japanese
forces landed and established
beachheads near Gona and Buna. They
quickly overcame the opposing
Maroubra force and advanced to
capture Kokoda and its strategically
vital airfield on the twenty ninth of
July. Numerous battles took place
throughout August and September and
despite receiving reinforcements, the
Australian forces were continually
pushed back by the Japanese.

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The Japanese advanced to within sight
of Port Moresby only to be ordered to
withdraw on the twenty sixth of
September after outrunning their
supply line. From the 11th to the
twenty eighth of October, the
Australians pursued the Japanese back
through the mountains, but
encountered strong opposition from
well-prepared positions around
Templeton's Crossing and Eora
village.

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The Australians recaptured Kokoda
unopposed and were then faced with a
major battle around Oivi and Gorari
fought from the fourth to the 11th of
November, which ultimately resulted
in a victory for the Aussies. By the
16th of November, two brigades of the
Australian 7th Division had traversed
the Kumusi River at Wairopi and
advanced on the Japanese beachheads
in a joint US-Australian operation.

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However, the Japanese forces held out
at Buna and Gona until the 22nd of
January 1943. Although it has since
been accepted that an invasion of
Australia was not possible, nor an
objective of the Japanese at the
time, there was a very real belief
that this battle saved Australia. As
a result, the Kokoda Track campaign
has become a key part of modern
notions of the Anzac legend. What
most people don't appreciate about
the Kokoda Track campaign are the
horrendous conditions under which
both the Japanese and allied forces
fought.

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Troops found themselves in hot humid
conditions, with heavy rainfall
leading to steep tracks that became
incredibly muddy and hard to
traverse. They were perpetually
battling not just each other, but
staying clean and dry. In an effort
to fight off the often deadlier
diseases such as malaria, dengue
fever, scrub typhus as well as
tropical ulcers, dysentery and a
range of fungal infections.

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The Allied Campaign was further
hampered by the very poor and limited
intelligence available, including
antiquated maps, a complete lack of
familiarity with the terrain and
limited aerial photography. Senior
military commanders including
MacArthur and Blamey were effectively
fighting blind, being unaware of the
extraordinarily difficult terrain and
the extreme conditions in which the
battles would be fought. And orders
given to commanders were often
unrealistic given the conditions on
the ground.

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At the end of the day, however, the
strategy used against the Japanese in
Papua paid off and led to an
eventual, though costly, victory. The
American official historian Samuel
Milner suggested that "the only
results strategically speaking of The
Kokoda Track Campaign and subsequent
fighting in Papua was that after six
months of bitter fighting and some
8,500 casualties, including 3,000
dead, the South West Pacific area,
was exactly where it would have been
the previous July had it been able to
secure the beachhead before the
Japanese got there."