I grew up when the history that was taught in this country by the schools was fairly well centered on American history. I knew that World War Two was fought by troops from many nations, both on the Allied Side and on the Axis side. Aside from the British, Russian and French soldiers (with a small mention for the Canadians) little else was taught. But there were others. Australians, for example, fought a long and bitter campaign in the jungles of New Guinea (now known as Papua New Guinea). At one point, they were the only Allied land forces anywhere in the Pacific Theater who were on offense. The soldiers of Kanga Force have largely been forgotten – even by their own historians. Never more than 400 in number – often half that due to casualties and sickness – they tied down Japanese forces and sent invaluable information back to Port Moresby.
It was on November 2, 1942, that we recaptured the Kokoda government station from the Japanese enemy. The devoted courage and resourcefulness of our young soldiers along that sad pathway amply justifies the choice of Kokoda as an emblem, though there was much other heroic fighting in New Guinea, and other tracks of crucial importance.
Who has heard of the Bulldog Track? Yet it was one of the most extraordinary lines of communication in modern military history. The official war historian tells us that the Australian Army never undertook a more ambitious project, "through one of the most difficult and unpleasant areas ever to confront troops".
As one of the few people who have trudged the full length of both tracks, I remember Bulldog as longer, higher, steeper, wetter, colder and rougher than Kokoda, though it did not involve the savage hand-to-hand fighting of the latter.
For the fit and intrepid, both tracks in 1942 offered a route from the south coast of New Guinea, over the towering central mountain ranges and down to the sea on the northern side. Kokoda began at Port Moresby and ended at the Solomon Sea. Bulldog, 240km west of Moresby, began at the mouth of the great Lakekamu River and led north to the beaches of the Bismarck Sea, with its islands of Manus, New Britain and New Ireland.
The purpose of Bulldog Track was to supply and sustain a tiny Australian guerilla force operating in the jungles and mountains behind the formidable enemy bases and airfields at Lae and Salamaua. These had been established after massive Japanese landings in March 1942. Enemy fighter and bomber aircraft ranged easily to our main base at Port Moresby, which suffered more than 100 air raids.
On the ground Australia had only the ridiculous little "army" of Kanga Force: 400 men at most, and often fewer than half that, as malaria, malnutrition and wounds ground them down. And yet, perhaps less ridiculous than its mere numbers might suggest: for example, by moonlight on June 28-29, 1942, they stealthily entered Japanese-occupied Salamaua town and virtually wrecked it, leaving 100 enemy dead, at a cost of three men lightly wounded. For six months on end, Australia's Kanga Force were the only Allied troops conducting offensive operations against the Japanese in General Douglas MacArthur's vast Southwest Pacific Area.
Peter Ryan wrote that piece for The Australian. It's worth a read. (More about Kanga Force here.)
