These 4 video clips are from the film Kokoda 2006. They are well worth a look. YouTube - Kokoda YouTube - Kokoda YouTube - Kokoda - 2006 - Preview [ War film ] Unreleased in US & Can YouTube - Kokoda
Certainly was the one that saved Australia anyway. I have watch this film and I will say it is certainly well worth watching, not sure if you can get it on DVD outside of Australia.
The land battle that saved the Pacific. Not if you believe MacArthur! The poor old Chocos weren't even supposed to be there. But Churchill stopped the 9th Div from returning to Australia for far too long. There's a good story! The Japanese force was made of most competent troops indeed. Final victory in New Guinea required even bloodier fighting after the Track was cleared. Some of the nastiest in the Pacific theatre. The battle for Sanananda was horrific.
Not if you believe MacArthur! The poor old Chocos weren't even supposed to be there. But Churchill stopped the 9th Div from returning to Australia for far too long. There's a good story! Sorry I posted the same reply again, but the quoting from Herakles post in the first one just didn´t work out; my mistake... Who (or what) were the Chocos? The PIB? The NGVR? The Militia? Just read a while ago the Aussie Oficial Story about Darwin and Papua, but can´t quite place the term.
The Chocos = The Chocolate Soldiers were the 39th Btn of the Australian Militia (Citizens Military Force (CMF)). They had been barely trained and were part of a militia drawn in part from conscripts and regular army rejects who were only meant to defend their homeland. The name derived from the title character of Lehar's operetta The Chocolate Soldier (which was based on G.B. Shaw's Arms and the Man) who kept chocolates instead of bullets in his gun belt. The militia mostly bitterly resented the name, but some used it to chide the AIF after the Kokoda campaign because in the case of most the militia the chocolate did not melt. They were also known as Koalas, because, like Koalas they were not to be shot at, not to be exported and were protected by the Government- there was a law protecting the militia from overseas service. But New Guinea was mandated Australian territory so the government argued that they could serve there and they were released for what was really overseas service. The 39th Battalion were among the first troops to meet the Japanese along the track from Port Moresby over the Owen Stanley Ranges to the north-east coast. They basically held the Japanese by slowly withdrawing until troops from the AIF (mostly the 9th Div) could arrive.
After the Nth. Africa campaign, Churchill ordered the Australian 9th Div to Burma to join the 14th Army. This was against the demand of the Australian PM John Curtin. But he was barking into the wind. Curtain made 3 demands and all were ignored. So he gave the order that the troop ships return to Australia. By then they were well on the way to Burma. The Australian Cabinet was fearful of upsetting Churchill and Curtain found himself isolated but took the decision nonetheless. Somehow they managed to return safely despite the ships not being escorted. It was done in complete secrecy with no radio contact. After a period of jungle training at Canungra, they were sent to relieve the Militia troops in New Guinea. The rest is history.
There´s an interesting thread about Buna-Gona-Sanananda farther down War against Japan, that perfectly matches this subject. The Koalas (sorry for using the term, but after explanation I just couldn´t resist to laugh my gut out ) proved themselves, sadly with a few bitter exceptions, more like enraged crocs for the Northern Swampland, fighting the Nip inch by inch, regardless of sacrifice, with gear that belonged more to a museum than to a modern battlefield, inflicting huge numbers of casualties and causing a delay that was later to prove decisive. Everlasting glory to the brave amateurs that held back the yellow tide while the battle-blooded Diggers came back to keep the fight going.
