The Kokoda Campaign
The Kokoda campaign was a highly influential campaign that altered the course of WW2 and provided a winning turn for the allies. The campaign had substantial strategic, ethical, and technological impact. The campaign provided strategic stronghold for the allies ultimately giving them the upper hand. Between 21 July and 16 November 1942, the Australian forces, made up of around 120,000 people, ceased the Japanese from advancing any further into Papua New Guinea, through the key access point known as the Kokoda trail which stretched from Owers Corner 61 kilometers north of Port Moresby and stretches 96 kilometers down to Owen Stanley Range near Kokoda Village (Genge, 2019). This essay will support the argument that the Kokoda
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This ethical prospect is so vital because if Australians had not been a very nationalist demographic there would have been a struggle in this war with potential lost. “Hell on earth, Heavy mud track- rain, Heavy rain and cold, Bullets everywhere.” (Stewart Clark Diary, 1942). These quotes highlight how much of a challenging condition the Kokoda Campaign provided; these conditions were not expected however the ad hoc Australian army responded immediately defending their territory mitigating the Japanese advance to Port Douglas. (Australian War Memorial, 2021) The conditions of the campaign were “unsanitary and with hundreds of men daily churning the track into strength-sapping mud, dysentery and diarrhea became endemic. Most of the sick and wounded had to walk the track back to Owers Corner from where they could be evacuated for medical treatment.” (Hall, 2014) The Kokoda campaign was an undersupplied campaign due to the distance between Australia and Papua New Guinea, making the battle evermore tougher. This quote and fact exemplifies how the moral and perseverance of the Australian ad hoc military paired with the nationalist attitude helped the Australian army repel the Japanese army from gaining a strategic foothold in Papua New Guinea and taking control of the supply passages. In an unambiguous way if the Australian army did not showcase this perseverance and extreme moral they would have been forced back, letting the Japanese take control then giving the Axis powers more