Research Paper On The Kokoda Track

The Kokoda track consisted of a sequence of battles that occurred in-between July and November during 1942. The countries that were involved in this part of the war were the Japanese and the Allies, mainly the Australians. The battles were initiated in the eastern area of Papua New Guinea.
The Japanese arrived at Buna and Gona on the the North Coast of Papua New Guinea during July. One month later, another Japanese force arrived at Milne Bay. The mission of the Japanese was to obtain Port Moresby. During the arrival of the Japanese, they managed to push back the Australian and Papuan forces back over the mountains. If the Japanese were to have taken over Port Moresby, they would have planned to bomb North Queensland. Fortunately, the Japanese

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. The only was way the opponent could be scouted out was either they were in close range, or you had spotted a muzzle flash. Even so, this doesn’t mean you will find them because they aren’t just going to stay in one position.
This image below shows the terrain of the Kokoda track and roughly how many hours it would have took to get over the

3rd January 1943 – The forces reclaim Buna.
31st January 1943 – Sananada is retrieved. The Kokoda Track is finally reclaimed by the Allies. At this point, the Allies are sure that the Japanese have already fled the island.
Before Japan attacked Papua New Guinea, the Allies were already planning attacks onto some Japanese islands. The Japanese were quite aware of their situation and decided to attack Papua New Guinea to slow down the Allied forces from Australia that were pushing into Japan.
The first battle with the Japanese involved the 39th Battalion. Both sides clashed at Awala on the 23rd of July. The 39th Battalion was made up of mostly 18 and 19 year old boys. They were hardly trained, unequipped and outnumbered in men. The Australians realised that they couldn’t win this battle, so they returned back to the Kokoda Village while still being cautious of Japanese troops and defending their selves.
Late August was when the Australians had back up forces, but even though they had reinforcement, the Australians and Papuan’s were forced to retreat back to Imita Ridge which is just 50 km’s away from Port