Why Is The Kokoda Campaign Successful

The Kokoda campaign was a series of battles fought between the Australian and Japanese forces from July – December 1942. The battles were fought on the Kokoda Track in Papua, as the Japanese were making progress towards their goal of Port Moresby, which at the time was occupied by Australia. Port Moresby was a place of strategic importance for both sides and the consequences of the Japanese finding their campaign unsuccessful impacted on the future actions of both sides in the war.

Before the events at Kokoda the Japanese were taking an offensive position in the war, having successfully invaded many Pacific islands and making themselves a threat to many others in doing so. The Japanese found the goal of the Kokoda campaign – capturing Port

The goal of Operation F.S. was to end communications and the sharing of supplies between Australia and the U.S. by controlling naval operations in this area. With the airstrip in Port Moresby, the Japanese would have had both the ability and power to do this. By ending these lines of communication between Australia and it’s largest supporter, the Japanese would have become a significantly larger threat to Australia. There were hopes that if Operation F.S. was successful Australia would give in to the threat and surrender to the Japanese however in the event that this did not happen the airstrip at Port Moresby would have been sufficient enough for the Japanese to begin launching aerial attacks on northern

The airfield was likely to cause Australia harm if under the control of the opposing force. There was the threat that northern Australia could be bombed should Port Moresby be captured. Australia was also aware that losing Port Moresby could eventually be a factor that would make them cede control of their nation to the Japanese. While the continued occupation of Port Moresby alone would not stop Japan from launching Operation F.S. it was an important location for Australia to hold in order to hinder the progress of the Japanese.

After Japan was unsuccessful in the Kokoda campaign, which resulted in the Japanese army being forced out of Papua, their strategy underwent significant change. “The Japanese felt that they had overextended themselves in their advance and it was time to halt and defend their gains.” (Department of Veteran’s Affairs) The Japanese began to put more effort into defending the islands they had already captured, which were generally islands that had lots of valuable resources or were important in defending the islands that had resources. The plans to launch an attack on Australia were