Defending Australia – The Kokoda Campaign

The Kokoda Track

 The Japanese wanted to occupy Papua and New Guinea to strengthen their hold on
South East Asia and their fortress at Rabaul in New Britain
 Australia sent two inexperienced and barely trained militia brigades to Port Moresby
in July 1942. The same month that Japan sent troops to Buna and Gona on the
Papuan north coast
 The Japanese also landed another force at Milne Bay in August
 The barrier between the Japanese in the north at Port Moresby in the south was the
Owen Stanley range
 The range was a steep, rugged series of mountains crossed only by a few foot tracks-
the most important one being the Kokoda Track.
Reinforcements

 In late July reinforcements from the AIF 7th division arrived and by mid September
Australians had hug in Imita ridge
 The Japanese began to suffer from low supplies
 The Australians gained their first victory over the Japanese at Milne bay
 During December and January the Japanese were also defeated at Buna, Gona and
Sanananda
 The Papuan campaign ended on January 22, 1943 with the surrender of those
Japanese who had not fought to the death
 Tropical diseases as well as fighting had taken a heavy toll on both armies
 The campaign cost Australia 6000 casualties