Essay On Kokoda Track

During World War 2, the battle for the Kokoda Track played a significant role in ensuring that Australia was safe from a Japanese invasion. In early 1942 Japan’s advances in the Pacific seemed unstoppable. The Japanese planned to capture Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea to provide them with a clear path to Queensland. To ensure that Australia was safe from the Japanese, Australian troops fought against the Japanese on the Kokoda Track. The effect this battle had on Australia will be discussed through looking at what happened in the battle for the Kokoda Track; the efforts of the Australian troops who fought in the battle; and the impact the battle had on the Australians back home.

In the battle for the Kokoda Track the Japanese posed a serious

The Kokoda Track is a steep and muddy trail that winds from Port Moresby through dense jungle, across rivers, and over the mountains of the rugged Owen Stanley Range (Williams, n.d.). Don Simonson of the 39th Battalion told in an interview some of the challenges that the Australian soldiers faced regarding the conditions, “But in these moss forests, where you couldn't see the sun, the roots of the trees are all covered in moss and the track was only root from root. Further along, where it was not quite so high, you would spend three hours climbing up a small pad through the jungle where if you were first in the morning you were lucky it was reasonably solid. If you were the last in the evening, and it had been raining for two hours, you were dead unlucky. The mud was a foot deep all the way along.” (Reid, 2015) The aim for the Australian troops was to stop the Japanese from reaching Port Moresby so that they didn’t have a clear path to Australia. Their hard work paid off because they forced the Japanese to abandon their plan to take Port Moresby. Their efforts came at a cost though; 607 Australian troops died and 1015 troops were wounded during the battle. Despite the challenging conditions, their lack of experience in fighting, and the high number of deaths; the Australian troops achieved what they wanted to achieve and pushed the Japanese

It took the Australians a long time to take back the Kokoda Track. On the 23rd July the Australian troops first clashed with the Japanese at Awala. By the 17th September, the Australians had been forced back to Imita Ridge, just 50 kilometres from Port Moresby. On the 24th September lack of supplies forced the Japanese to withdraw in a fighting retreat. This is when the tide of the battle finally turned and on the 2nd November the Australians regained Kokoda (Darlington, 2012). Since it took longer than expected for the Australian troops to take back the Track, they were criticised heavily by the Australians back home for failing to take the Track during the earlier battles. Even though it took a while, The Kokoda Campaign was an important turning point in the war for Australia since Australia gained confidence because they knew that they had the power to defeat Japan. Australians also felt safer because they knew that the Japanese no longer had a clear path to Queensland which also meant that the whole of Australia was saved from a possible invasion. If Australia didn’t win the battle then the Japanese would have had access to Queensland therefore making the invasion of Australia easy and achievable for the Japanese. Therefore Australia’s win over the Japanese made the people in Australia feel safer and more