Kokoda history ..

Isurava

Kokoda is considered by many to be more important than Gallipoli in the forming of Australia as a nation. A trek of the Kokoda Track is a journey into Australian history to understand the pivotal part Kokoda played. For the first time in 1942 Australian soldiers fought the Japanese army on (what was then) Australian soil – Kokoda.

Undefeated in six years of fighting, the Japanese army was a formidable force. In the bloody months that followed first contact in July 1942, just over 2, 000 Australians were killed in Papua New Guinea, and over 14,000 Japanese were killed with only a few hundred escaping. There the fighting was so close and vicious that not a single Australian prisoner of war was taken alive.

Initially it was the ‘ordinary’ soldiers of the 39th Militia Battalion of 850 men from the 3rd Division of the “Australian Military Forces” who would stand in their way. Ill-prepared, out-numbered and out-gunned, they were sent to halt the undefeated Japanese. Of the few hundred who survived, it would never be said they were ordinary again.

Courage, endurance, mateship and sacrifice symbolise the unbreakable spirit of the Australian soldiers and the coming of age of Australia in its own right. Walking the Kokoda track will give you the opportunity to understand these symbolic words and take your reflections back into your normal life.

Chessell Adventures prides itself on our leader's ability to convey the history of Kokoda as you walk on the track. We suggest you might look to some preparatory reading, but the briefing we deliver before the trek will also give you a perspective of the Owen Stanley's Campaign within the larger theatre of the South Pacific and the World War. This helps participants to understand the scale of the campaign and why Kokoda was considered so important by the Diggers, if not by high command. The historical significance is an important part of the
Chessell Adventures Kokoda experience, and we help you piece it together.

Even those more interested in the physical challenge of Kokoda usually find that being there on the ground makes the history come alive. We find that within even our small trekking groups that there is usually a varied level of interest in the history. In keeping with our approach of treating people as individuals, we present our field briefings in a way that allows trekkers with a high level of interest to discuss the history in detail without imposing every detail on trekkers with a more general interest in the history of the track.