He was a brave soldier. Bodies and equipment lay everywhere and many of the enemy had died of malnutrition and disease. They moved well to the Australian rear where elements of the 2/16th were guarding brigade headquarters. This proved the turning point of the Japanese advance. In their first action against the Japanese, the newly-arrived 2/27th held the forward position with the other two units on ridges behind them. These two units were grouped together into an ad hoc command that became known as Maroubra Force. Please select which sections you would like to print: Corrections? Like much of the fighting along the Kokoda Trail, it was an affair of small groups of Australians tackling Japanese machine-guns with small arms and grenades. Approximately 625 Australians were killed and some 1,600 were wounded, while more than 4,000 were afflicted with disease. The Kokoda Track campaign or Kokoda Trail campaign was part of the Pacific War of World War II. Many were already malarial because their anti-malaria medicine had been administered too late. These young militia soldiers had volunteered just months earlier and had received minimal training before being put on to transport ships and sent to PNG. They beat off perhaps 40 attacks from waves of 100 and 200 Japanese throughout the day and night. The Rabaul defensive line stretched 15 miles (24 km), and it was anchored by a pair of six-inch coastal defense guns and just two three-inch antiaircraft guns. The narrow path cut through dense jungle with extremely steep ascents and descents; the total elevation change between the highest and lowest points on the track was nearly 6,000 feet (more than 1,800 metres).

The three Australian battalions converged on Templeton’s Crossing, but the Japanese had withdrawn. The Japanese planned an amphibious assault on Port Moresby, but Allied cryptanalysts had cracked the Japanese naval code and a carrier group was dispatched to intercept the Japanese invasion fleet. In the vicinity of Eora Creek village the creek runs through a deep gorge – terrain described by the Official Historian as offering the “most favourable conditions for defence” along the whole length of the trail. Despite suffering heavy casualties and engaging in prolonged combat in some of the most challenging terrain on Earth, Maroubra Force, including the reinforcing units from the 7th Division, displayed remarkable endurance, courage, and mateship. The firing was so intense, the barrel of the Bren gun glowed red and teddy could only hold it by its folding legs. They planned to march across the Owen Stanley Range, which formed the mountainous spine of New Guinea, using a native walking track which meandered from Buna to Port Moresby.

At Templeton’s Crossing (12-17 October), Eora Creek (21-29 October) and Oivi-Goiari (5-11 November), Japanese rearguards mounted stubborn delaying defences. This was made clear in a message from Lieutenant General Sydney Rowell, commander, New Guinea Force, to Major General Arthur Allen, commander 7th Division, AIF: However many troops the enemy has they must all have walked from Buna. Control of the port would expand the Japanese sphere of influence to the Coral Sea and disrupt the Allied line of communication between the United States and Australia. Command of the forward area passed to Brigadier Ken Eather, leading the 25th Brigade, AIF, on 14 September. And we all got a bit of the action, you see. Using bayonets, bully-beef tins and their steel helmets, the 39th Battalion dug in at Isurava. On 23 August part of the seasoned AIF 7th Division had also reached the forward area. Their commander, Major General Tomitaro Horii (1890 - 1942) ordered a retreat. 624 Australians were dead and 1,023 wounded. It was the beginning of the end for the Japanese South Seas Detachment. GUINEA. Forward elements of the brigade’s lead battalion – the 2/14th – began reaching Isurava on 26 August. Supporting units included the 2/4th, 2/6th and 14th Field Ambulances and 2/5th and 2/6th field companies, Royal Australian Engineers. It would have been the terminal blow to the 2/14th. 1942-10. Pearl Harbour signalled a massive onslaught which saw Japan invade Malaya and Thailand and attack Hong Kong, the Philippines, Guam and Wake Island. Charlie held and fired his Bren gun with his right hand and carried a Thompson submachine gun in the other hand. All day long the Japanese charged the Australian frontal positions with determination but were beaten back by an equally determined defence. The Kokoda Campaign History Of The Track From its entry into World War II with the surprise destruction of the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour in December 1941, the Japanese Army quickly established a reputation of invincibility. Lark Force was tasked with defending the territorial capital of Rabaul—including its two airfields, its port, and its seaplane anchorage—with hopelessly obsolete equipment and virtually no possibility of either reinforcement or evacuation. The weight of enemy numbers forced them to fall back to Kokoda where they regrouped. After the local Japanese commander, Major General Horii Tomitaro, received orders to establish a primary defensive position around his landing bases on the north coast, he began withdrawing on 24 September. By nightfall, however, the four companies’ occupied two positions astride the trail, with the Japanese sandwiched between them. PAPUA, NEW Langridge handed over his pay book and his dog tags to one of his mates. In World War II the Japanese military forces quickly took advantage of their success at Pearl Harbor to expand their holdings throughout the Pacific and westward toward India. The 2/14th, 2/16 and the 2/27th battalions took up defensive positions on the high ground at Brigade Hill and Mission Ridge. Without Kingsbury, the Japanese could have been waiting for them in Moresby when they arrived.”, Potts and his men fell back first to Eora Creek on 30 August, then Templeton’s Crossing on 2 September, and Efogi three days later. Coming up the Kokoda Track in the second half of August were reinforcements in the shape of the 21st Brigade, Australian Imperial Force. Eora Creek village was the site of a rearguard position between 31 August and 1 September during the retreat of Australian forces along the Kokoda Trail, occupied in succession by the 39th, 2/14th and 2/16th Battalions. But they kept on coming.” (From The Spirit of the Digger). Throughout this fighting, Australian resistance was increasing in strength and becoming better organised while the Japanese were showing signs of feeling the strain of their own lengthening supply line. The Japanese made a determined stand at Oivi-Gorari (4 - 13 November 1942) but when the Australians reached the Kumusi River on 18 November 1942 the battle for the Kokoda Track was over. As one writer has described it: “From the 31 August to 15 September the Australians, against vastly superior numbers, fought a decisive military game of cat and mouse along the track. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). This fear became a reality at the end of 1941. Not surprisingly, the untried Aussies found the first skirmishes difficult but still caused considerable Japanese casualties. In doing so, it encountered another Japanese rearguard position. By the last days there we were five and 86 – five officers and 86 other ranks. 027054.

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