Kokoda
| Kokoda Oro (Northern) Papua New Guinea |
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 Kokoda
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| District: |
Sohe District | ||||||
| LLG: |
Kokoda Rural LLG | ||||||
| Coordinates: | 8°52′40″S 147°44′15″E / 8.87778°S 147.7375°ECoordinates: 8°52′40″S 147°44′15″E / 8.87778°S 147.7375°E | ||||||
| Main languages: | Koiari, Motu | ||||||
| Elevation: | 370 m (1,214 ft) | ||||||
| Location: | 55 km (34 mi) WSW of Popondetta | ||||||
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Kokoda is a station town in the Oro Province of Papua New Guinea. It is famous as the northern end of the Kokoda Track, site of the eponymous Kokoda Track campaign of World War II. In that campaign, it had strategic significance because it had the only airfield along the Track. In the decades preceding, it had been a foothills settlement near the gold fields.
In 1942 after being turned back in the middle of an end-around flanking maneuver in the Battle of Milne Bay (a trap set by General Douglas MacArthur[1] who'd anticipated the attack flanking Port Moresby) the Japanese invasion force intended an overland route to the capital, Port Moresby, via Kokoda. Because of this, it was the site of a number of significant engagements between the Japanese and Australian forces, and was captured and recaptured several times before the final Australian victory.
The station is linked by a rough road and a two hour journey to the provincial capital of Popondetta.
In August 2009 Kokoda airstrip was the destination for Airlines PNG Flight CG4684 that crashed whilst attempting to land.[2] All 13 people on board were killed in the crash including nine Australian passengers who were due to trek the Kokoda Track, a Japanese passenger and three Papua New Guineans including the two pilots.[2][3]
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[edit] References
- ^ American Caesar, William Manchester, 1978, Little Brown Company,793 pages, ISBN 0-316-54498-1, pp.290-307: On and about Feb-Dec 1942 and MacArthur's reorganization of troops, lack of theater priority, his support for Guadalcanal and his daring offensive gamble in going to meet the Japanese in the difficult jungles of New Guinea as a way of conducting a forward defense of Australia, rather than risk a war of maneuver when he had insufficient forces to move around.
- ^ a b "No survivors in PNG plane crash". News Online (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 2009-08-12. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/12/2653214.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
- ^ "'No survivors' at PNG crash site". BBC News. 12 August 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8196668.stm.
[edit] See also
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