To what extent was the Kokoda Trail the most significant battle for the Australians success in World War II?
The Kokoda Trail or otherwise known as the Kokoda track is an extremely significant campaign for the Australians. The Kokoda trail is a 96-kilometre track that stretches over Papua New Guinea and is commonly known for its harsh mountainous terrain. The track was so long that it was measured in days it took to get to certain places, instead of the distance. The battle of Kokoda was known for its viscous fighting in a battle that lasted for four long months, going from July through to November 1942. In World War II, the Japanese’s aim was to expand down the pacific but by 1942 they had already occupied most of south-east Asia and were
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This was so important for the Pacific war as it marked the first time that the Japanese had been stopped in their advance across the pacific and stopped the Japanese from capturing Port Moresby. If the Japanese were able to successfully capture Port Moresby, then it would have put Australia at risk as the Japanese could have then invaded or attacked Australia. The Kokoda campaign is also significant for its use of military tactics that As significant as the Kokoda campaign was for the Pacific War, there was also many other campaigns and battles that were also extremely significant such as the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Siege of Tobruk, the Battle of Milne Bay, the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, and the Battle of Guadalcanal all of which were only a few of the many important battles that helped the success and safety of Australia and were vital to the allies attempt to overtake the axis powers. While, these battles the Australians were involved with were extremely helpful and vital to the Australians success in the war but the Kokoda campaign was significant in its own way for its use of military tactics such as jungle warfare and fire and movement where one of the group makes their way toward the enemy while another fires, to keep the enemy distracted and it saved Australia from being
The Kokoda Campaign was a World War II militant initiative, consisting of a series of sequential battles fought between the Japanese and predominantly Australian Allied forces. Kokoda itself, was a small village and airfield at the foothills of the Owen Stanley Mountain Range though, the Kokoda Trail was the setting at which these conflicts transpired. The mountainous road rose over 3000 meters, extending 200 kilometers across Australian territory New Guinea, from Gona in the north, to the administrative centre of Port Moresby in the south. The official commencement of the Kokoda Campaign was on the 21 July 1942, when the Japanese forces landed on the coast near Gona.
There were many obstacles such as slopes from mountains, muddy surfaces and dense areas of jungle. Throughout the whole battle, both sides, Japan and Australia had lost more men due to disease than the battle itself. Fighting in the Kokoda was very difficult for both sides of the war. This was due to the harsh terrain. The opponent was hard to find due to the large trees and the camouflage clothing made it even harder.
Australians fought hand in hand during times of hardship, especially, when they were out-numbered and didn't have enough weaponry. For the past 3 months the control of Kokoda has gone back and forth but with our fighting squad, everyone's sure that this fight was made for us to win. A good example of our brave people is the 39th Battalion as they weren't trained to be overseas fighters but they still went to New Guinea even after they were told to, “bring their tennis
To what extent was the battle for Kokoda a disaster for Australian soldiers? To some extent the battle for Kokoda was a disaster for Australian soldiers. The initial recruitment sent to Kokoda were young, “dragooned” kids off the street with no training. They were extremely undersupplied and outnumbered by the Japanese.
The Battle of Kokoda was a Japanese attempt to isolate Australia from their allies of the US so that they could not use their resources and weaponry. Kokoda was a direct result of other failed attempts by the Japanese for example, the Battle of Coral Sea. Kokoda gave the Australian military the opportunity to fight a forward defensive battle on foreign soil rather than an attempt to repel an enemy from its sovereign soil, within its victory it assisted in improving the moral of both the soldiers and its citizenry by providing a much needed victory that showed the Japanese could be defeated. Additionally, it was the first occasion where the new alliance between the Australian and American forces was tested and with this the alliance was cemented not only for world war to but continuing to present
The Pacific war during World War II was the battle fought in the Pacific and East Asia, which resulted in approximately 26,000,000 casualties. A major battle of the Pacific war was the Kokoda track campaign. Kokoda consisted of a series of battles fought between July and November 1942 between the Japanese army and the Allied forces including the Australians and Americans. The battles were fought on the mountainous Kokoda track along the Owen Stanley Range which is in the southeast of Papua New Guinea. The Japanese troops objective in the Kokoda campaign was the capture of Port Moresby to enable an expansion of Japanese people to Australia .
The victories during the Kokoda campaign, including the Battle of the Coral Sea (4th May, 1942) and Milne Bay (25th August – 7th September, 1942), were some of the first won against the Japanese. Defeating them at these locations was important for the allies because after losing every previous encounter that they had them, morale was low and the Japanese were beginning to look invincible. Beating them showed everyone that they weren’t invincible and that the allies could stop them and push them back. Another reason why the Kokoda campaign was an important victory is because it stopped the momentum the Japanese had built up over several years and turned the tide of the war in the allies’ favour.
At the commencement of the battle the Australians were instantly recognised for their gallantry for facing an opponent far greater in numbers, the Australians showed in the battle of long tan the are able to repel a great attacking force which somewhat changed the Americans options towards the Australians combat skills. The battle also found the huge force was sent to eliminate the Australians in the province because they had previously been successful in eliminating Vietcong activity, this again proves the Australian forces were somewhat achieving in Vietnam. The battle of long tan for various reasons is another key example of how the Australians played a significant role in
The battle of midway, fought between Admiral Chester Nimitz representing the United States and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto representing Japan, was the turning point in the pacific theater during world war two. The Battle of Midway is comparable in magnitude to the battle of Saratoga during the Revolutionary War. Midway, in its own right, was revolutionary due to the Japanese code that was broken and kept the aircraft carriers of the United States from being destroyed. This battle showed the strengths and weaknesses of both of the admirals that were involved. The use of the principles of war and the threads of continuity are the main reasons the United States left this battle victorious with a good part of the Japanese Navy destroyed.
The Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the bloodiest battles of World War Two. Iwo Jima had air stips that both the United States and the Japanese wanted to help them during World War Two. This battle did not end up going exactly as planned for either country. Both countries had their own strategy but neither succeeded. The Battle of Iwo Jima is an important battle to know about when discussing World War Two.
Off of an island of Japan, many landing crafts wash ashore dropping the doors as seventy thousand United States Marines storm the beaches while being shot at by eighteen thousand Japanese soldiers. This is the battle of Iwo Jima which occurred on Feb 19, 1945 and ended on Mar 26, 1945. The island of Iwo Jima is like a paradise island with clear water and golden-white beaches, pretty trees of different kinds and of course a tall mountain called Mount Suribachi. Back in 1945, the trees were blown to ashes and the beaches were red along with the water as the soldiers tried to take cover.
“From December of 1941 to the spring of 1942, Japanese forces advanced virtually unimpeded throughout the Pacific and southeastern Asia while handing the Allies a string of humiliating defeats, first at Pearl Harbor, then at Guam, Wake Island, Singapore, and in the Philippines. By the spring of 1942, the outcome of the war was very much in doubt as Americans began to think that the Japanese military was invincible. "The Pacific situation is now very grave," cabled President Roosevelt to Winston Churchill in March of 1942, after the Japanese conquest of Java.”
Why is the Kokoda battle such an important part of history? In 1942, the Australian government and military were faced with many hard decisions. Despite Australia already being involved World War Two, it was then, that the wellbeing of the country was at stake due to a possible foreign invasion. Kokoda was the most significant battle fought by Australians in World War Two, and there are multiple reasons such as the Kokoda campaign, which support this idea.
However, even with this in mind, the battle was a significant one, for both good and bad reasons, and this cannot be denied. Through the sheer number of soldiers lost, all the way to the depiction of the Australian spirit in preserving the memories of these men, it is clear that the battle served a purpose, in the
“Letters from Iwo Jima” is considered a historically accurate representation of the conflict in Iwo Jima. However, it misrepresents some facts that could affect our understanding on The Battle of Iwo Jima. Firstly, one aspect of The Battle of Iwo Jima that the film accurately depicted was Kuribayashi’s strategy. The Japanese defence of Jima would have been defence-in-depth, a military tactic that included