Date: 21 July - 16 November 1942 Location: The Kokoda Track - Territory of Papua New Guinea Belligerents: Allied Forces (Primarily Australian troops) and America VS Japan Results: Allied and American Victory
The Kokoda Trail Campaign was one of the bloodiest campaigns of WWII in the Pacific. It consisted of battles between July and November 1942 between the Japanese troops and Allied forces - primarily Australian in the territory of Papua New Guinea. On 21 July 1942, Japanese troops landed on the northern coast of Papua, near Gona. In the next two months, they marched over the Owen Stanley Ranges and drove Australian and Papuan allies down the Kokoda Track, with the aim of capturing Port Moresby. If the Japanese capture of Port Moresby was successful, the Japanese planned to begin bombing northern Queensland, and invading Australia. Although the Japanese had reached within 40km of their objective, the Australian troops were able to defend Port Moresby and pushed them back the way they had come. By mid-November the Japanese were forced to abandon their plan to take Port Moresby and retired to their strongholds at Northern Papua. The series of engagements between the Australian and Japanese troops resulted in more than 600 Australians being killed and about 1680 wounded during the most significant battle fought by Australians in WWII.