GETTING STARTED

Overview

The Kokoda story is a quintessential Australian tale of the underdog beating the team expected to win. The Australian militia was a poorly trained and equipped group of soldiers who were sent in to Papua New Guinea (a tropical country north of Australia) during World War II to stop the Japanese from reaching Port Moresby, the capital. It was feared that if the Japanese invaded Port Moresby, they would then have easy access to Australia. The inexperienced militia, especially the 39th Battalion, was used as 'speed bumps', to stop the Japanese. They fought a 'fighting withdrawal' – in which they would fight the enemy, then retreat, then fight, then retreat – along the Kokoda Track.

In spite of the difficult conditions – fierce disease-carrying insects, mud, lack of food, supplies and communication, coping with the wounded and dead, orders that were at times inept – and negative propaganda by some officers (both Australian and American), politicians and the media – this was the 'first successful Allied offensive against Japan in the Pacific War in WWII' (p 3).

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Author profile

Peter Macinnis is a science writer who got his break by writing textbooks. He also wrote 'rude letters for a Minister of Education' – he says that this gave him the chance to be rude while somebody else took the blame.

He has been a teacher, a writer of science talks for radio and a writer of science for an online encyclopedia. He has also worked in museums.

Source: Black Dog Books (used with permission)

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Useful websites

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokoda_Track_Campaign
• www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww2/bfa/kokoda.html

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Focus questions

Before reading the book

• What does the cover photo show about these soldiers?
• How might a photo like this, featuring men pulling, represent what happened at Kokoda?
• Describe the expressions on the men's faces, and what may have caused them?
• What might the significance of the subtitle '101 Days' be?
• Why might a 'small, poorly trained group of Australian militia' be expected to stop the Japanese?

During and after reading the book

• The author gives strong opinions in the dedication and throughout the book about people involved in the war. Which of these seem to be fair and reasonable comments, and why do you think this? Which seem to be unfounded?
• Why may we be able to accept this book as a true version of events and people's actions during the events around Kokoda?
• Why was the militia, a poorly trained group, sent to Papua New Guinea?
• Was possession of the airstrip at Kokoda important or futile? Explain.
• How were the Japanese in a better position to win than the Australians?
• 'Why did it take so long to get reinforcements onto the Kokoda Track?' (p 136)
• After reading the book, what is the significance of '101 Days'?

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