Austalian Struggles During the Kokoda Battle

Secondly, as well there was the battle of Isurava which was intense. Lastly, how long the 39th battalion held the Japanese is an achievement in itself. Firstly, the battalions that protected Ports Moresby and Australia from being used as a tactical benefit is both significant and successful. “Since the terrain and weather were just horrendous since it can be very hot, or it would rain a lot” according to the Kokoda film the terrain is very hard since it can be very muddy.

World War I outbroke in August 1914 when countries were thirsty for power and dominance. The war ignited with tensions between Serbia and Austria. Australia being an ally of Serbia and Britain had to take part in the war. Everyone was full of eagerness and enlisted to fight in Australia’s first war as an independent country. The attitude of Australians to fight in the war during 1914 has changed from being excited, proud and ignorant to being more aware of the consequences and feeling scared.

As the Kokoda fighting began in July 1942 , the scheme of both sides was in transition. The Japanese felt it was time to defend their gains, and halt the fighting and advancing. But the Allies were thinking differently. Having massive amount troops, ships, aircraft and supplies in New Zealand and Australia, they made the decision to launch a counterattack to defend and retake some of the islands that were occupied by the Japanese. Papua had no particular resource that they desired, but it was a useful link in the chain of defences of the newly conquered area of Japan. So because Japan was quickly gaining new lands closer to Australia, posing a threat to Australia’s safety, the battle of Kokoda was the most important Australian-fought victory, in terms of winning the war. The campaign helped to shape Australia’s post-war training practices and military operations. Although it was not they first victory against Japan, it allowed the allies to make thrust forward through ‘island hopping’ and ultimately win the war. Kokoda was the battle that ended Japan’s dominance and permitted the Allies to go on the offence. Australia greatly learned from their Kokoda experience, and subsequently improved their strategic thinking. They learned to not purely rely on naval defences, and realised that they cannot just let other countries dot the fighting. “…the modern Australian professional army was

On the 21st of July 1942 Australians were compelled to repulse a Japanese attack power

The Kokoda Track was a narrow track over the rugged mountains of Papua New Guinea where 625 Australian troops were killed and over 1000 were wounded...as far as war goes it was one of the worst situations Australian soldiers have ever had to endure.

The experience and skill which the Fuzzy Wuzzies possessed gave Australia the upper hand over the Japanese. The mistreatment of PNG nationals by the Japanese, made it difficult for them to sustain a carrier system, which was the only useful way of transporting supplies along the track. This forced the Japanese to use their own soldiers for this role which meant that they had fewer troops on the track fighting. Not only did the PNGs fight alongside Australia because of mistreatment reasons, they also wanted to stop the enemy’s advance and save their country from invasion. The PNGs had the knowledge and practical experience on the track, combined with their valuable bush skills, physical strength and lastly dedication. These qualities empowered Australian diggers to generate and uphold a human supply line with the PNGs between the forefront deep in the jungle and the home base at Port

Many New Guineans allied with both sides. As shown in figure 5 Australian and Papuans allied on the Kokoda trail Ewer (2011). The Australians fought appallingly for the next four months, Australia put up a stubborn battle, but unfortunately fell and led Japan to capture Lae, Salamaua and Gona in July 1942, this was the official start and first defeats of the Kokoda War ss shown in the map by Hillman (2012), Figure 2. In August 1942 the Japanese set across the Owen Stanley ranges to try and reach their main goal, which was to attack Port Moresby. Hillman (2012) states that “The Kokoda Trail is the last place any solider would want to fight, almost sheer mountain sides climb up into the mist through dense tangles of tropical vines, ferns and jungle forest.

The Battle of Kokoda was significant in that it saved Australia from a possible invasion, along with the bravery and tactics shown by Australian soldiers. This battle was one of the most important and difficult war in WW2 fought by the Australian soldiers. This battle was a four-month struggle from 21 July 1942 – 16 November 1942 which began with the Japanese landing in Papua in July 1942. The Kokoda track was a path that Ower’s Corner, approximately 40 km north-east of Port Moresby. Approximately 625 Australians were killed along the Kokoda trail and over 1,600 were wounded, the casualties due to sickness exceeded 4,000. The source chosen for the memorial box showed the bravery and courage shown by the Australian soldiers.

Throughout the Kokoda Trail Campaign the Australians faced many problems such as the terrain being difficult to move through, diseases that some soldiers caught, the problem of the weather and temperature being different to that of one they are used to and the soldiers being inexperienced in jungle warfare (Maureen Anderson, Retroactive 10, p72-74). The jungle warfare was very tough for the soldiers, and it was even harder to protect Australia from Japanese aggression with all that was going on in the war. This was because of these many problems of the jungle and different climate that the Kokoda Track Campaign was as significant as it

The Kokoda campaign was very imported to Australians back at home because they were scared of the Japanese army coming to Australia.

The Australians were worried that they were not strong enough to defend themselves against Japan

The Australians were disadvantaged first but hung in there and luck turned there way and the Japanese became disadvantaged. The Kokoda trail was considered a turning point in World War Two because it brung Australia into there war. The Kokoda trail happed between 21 July 1942 - January 1943. Firstly a quote from ABC news tells us why that Australians were disadvantaged in the battle of the Kokoda trail and this quote is trust withy because it corroborates with my other research notes. “They had artillery and we had nothing like that at all, we only had machine guns and rifles," (Grassby in ABC news, 2018, online). This primary quote gives us an idea of why the Australians were disadvantaged from a Australian perspective. Secondly another quote from ABC news tells us why the Japanese were disadvantaged in the battle of the Kokoda trail. “Later in the fight the Japanese were disadvantaged because they had to drag there heavy artillery through the mud and dense jungle” (ABC news, 2018, online). This secondary quote that is trust worthy because it corroborates with other sources gives us a deeper idea into how that Japanese were disadvantaged in the battle of the Kokoda trail in World War Two. These two quotes give me a much deeper idea of how they were both disadvantaged in the Kokoda trail and also how this event was a turning point in World War

During the next six weeks, the Japanese fell back over the mountains. They were pursued by troops of the 25th Brigade – comprising the 2/25th, 2/31st and 2/33rd Battalions – and the 16th Brigade – comprising the 2/1st, 2/2nd and 2/3rd Battalions – along with the 3rd Battalion and men from medical and supply units. Significant actions were fought at Templeton’s Crossing, where it took more than a week of hard and costly fighting for the 25th Brigade to push back the enemy, and at Eora Creek where the 16th Brigade also doggedly attacked enemy strongpoints to slowly make ground. The Australians were plagued by supply shortages that increased the difficulties of jungle warfare. Finally, on 2 November, Kokoda was retaken. The Australians had one

What happened during this battle? The Japanese really practiced and prepared carefully for their attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Japanese brutality was heavily influenced by bushido, a historic code of honour and morals that dictates how you act and live. The Japanese treated the Australian soldiers the way they did because their code tells them that those who surrender are weak and do not deserve your thoughts, and it is considered an unspeakable disgrace. Although the Japanese Imperial military committed to follow the samurai code of bushido after the restoration of the emperor in 1868, the code that they followed was a falsification of bushido. For the Japanese soldiers, bushido meant giving their life to the emperor; surrender was shameful; those who surrendered were thought of as dead; and sympathy for the defeated was weakness. No sympathy for the defeated was definitely not a part of the traditional bushido, the one practised by the samurai. This