The Kokoda Track Campaign: July - November 1942

Fought across the vast wilderness of the Owen Stanley Mountains, The Kokdoa Track Campaign was Japan’s final, great attempt to capture Port Moresby, the last major allied base north of Australia. Led by Major General Horii, the 10,000 strong elite South Seas Force forged a path through the mountains in the face of dogged and determined resistance from the outnumbered Australian defenders. Lured into a trap by the Australian generals, by the time the Japanese men could see the search lights at Port Moresby, they were starving. In an epic counteroffensive, the Australians would recapture Kokoda, and decisively defeat Horii in one final encounter at Oivi-Gorari. Isurava, Ioribaiwa, Eora Creek, Templeton’s Crossing and Oivi; battles have been etched into the annals of Australian military history, are undoubtedly actions that, taken together, constitute one of the greatest campaigns ever fought by the Australian army. 0:00 The Battle of the Coral Sea 5:02 Japanese Plans for a Land Attack on Port