1. 1890-1899: Miners are the first Europeans to use the Track to access the Yodda Kokoda goldfields.
2. 1900-1942: Track used to deliver mail and medical supplies to villages around Kokoda from Port Moresby.
3. 23 January 1942: Japanese military capture Rabaul to the north of the Track and set up the largest base in the southwest Pacific.
4. 19 February 1942: The Japanese military use Rabaul to bomb Darwin using 54 land-based bombers and 188 aircraft. 243 are killed and 400 wounded.
5. April 1942: The US Navy stops the Japanese from invading Port Moresby in the Battle of the Coral Sea.
6. 21-24 July 1942: The Japanese military land and assemble 4,000 troops on Gona and Buna (60-70km north-west of Kokoda Village on the north coast) ready to use the Track to invade Port Moresby by land to avoid the US Navy. There were only 420 Australian troops called The Maroubra Force in Port Moresby at this time.
7. The soldiers in the Maroubra Force were also known as “Chocos” since they were new undertrained conscripts and their commanders felt they might “melt like chocolate” under the harsh heat and humidity and fear when engaging the Japanese.
8. 23 July 1942: The first clash takes place between only 75 Australians and 2,300 Japanese at Awala. Captain Templeton led the defense, was caught and later executed but managed to convince the Japanese that 20,000+ Australian troops were waiting for them at Port Moresby. The Japanese halted their advance for 2 weeks enabling the Australians to land more troops in Port Moresby for the Track.
9. 29 July 1942: The Australians establish dug-outs in Deniki near Kokoda Village but fail to push the Japanese out of Kokoda Village due their small numbers and the every increasing numbers of Japanese.
10. 8-13 August 1942: The Australians return to Deniki in a second attempt to free Kokoda Village but are unsuccessful and forced to push back to Isuarava.
11. 23 August 1942: 2,500-3,000 Japanese fight 400 Australians at Isuarava under fierce bombing that cleared the undergrowth in just 5min and then resulted in hand-to-hand combat !!!
12. 29 August 1942: At Isuarava, Private Bruce Kingsbury in an extraordinary act of bravery clears a passage through the Japanese using a machine gun and is killed but this results in him saving his battalion and slowing the Japanese advance enough to enable the Australians to be reinforced. The Isuarava Memorial is known as Kingsbury Rock, the place he died and Private Bruce Kingsbury was posthumously awarded The Victoria Cross.
13. Late August 1942: Another fierce battle takes place at Efogi and the Australians are pushed further back south.
14. 14 September 1942: The Japanese reach Ioribaiwa Ridge on the Track (near Ower’s Corner and only 56km from Port Moresby). The Australians bunkered down at Imita Ridge exactly opposite Ioribaiwa Ridge – this was the final stand.
15. 23 September 1942: The Japanese stop their advance and pull-back from Ioribaiwa due to massive Japanese troop losses in Guadalcanal in The Solomon Islands that have to be reinforced by troops from here.
16. 4-16 November 1942: Reinforced and jungle-trained Australian troops push the Japanese back from Oivi-Gorari on the Track and further back to Wairopi in several bloody battles.
17. 21 January 1943: The Australians succeed in pushing the Japanese all the way back to Gona and Buna (where they started) and all battles on the Track ceased and Port Moresby was secured.
18. In all the Track battles known as “The Kokoda Trail Campaign”: The Australians lost 625 lives with 1,600+ wounded (another 4,000+ got sick), the Japanese lost 6,000+ lives with 2,000+ wounded and 150+ New Guineans died (known or recorded deaths only).
19. A grand total of approx. 28,000 Australian troops served in The Kokoda Trail Campaign.
20. The Australians who died on the Track are buried at the Bomana War Cemetery outside Port Moresby.
21. During The Kokoda Trail Campaign, Papuan and New Guinean men were employed as carriers. They played a vital role, carrying supplies and evacuating the seriously wounded and sick troops to safety, sometimes under fire. Their compassion and care of the casualties earned them admiration and respect from the Australians, who dubbed the men the “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels”.
22. The Kokoda Trail Campaign was a land battle, between the Japanese South Seas Detachment under Major General Tomitarō Horii and Australian and Papuan Land Forces under Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Honner of Australian and New Guinea Forces.
23. The Kokoda Trail Campaign was the first time in WWII the Japanese military was pushed back and the only battle on Overseas Australian Territory since Papua and New Guinea were technically an overseas Australian Territory similar to the Northern Territory throughout WWII.
24. All the Australian Troops who fought in The Kokoda Trail Campaign are often referred to as “The Men Who Saved Australia”.
25. 26 February 1942: Director Ken G Hall was the first Australian to win an Academy Award for his documentary “Kokoda Front Line”.
26. 23-29 May 2023: Sam Golfin (of Hedy and Steve fame) and Nick and John Golfin (of Vivi and Doni fame) complete the Kokoda Track.
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