Blog 328 –The 39th Battalion and The Kokoda Track, Part 2 – 19 September 2025

My purpose is to give hope to those who have lost hope. Without hope, we remain lost in the Shadow Lands.

This is a photo of Platoons 10, 11 and 12, B Company, 39th Battalion at McDonald’s Corner on 7 July 1942.  On the 15th of July they reached Kokoda and then began dying while opposing the Japanese Imperial Army.  The Japanese were determined to cross the Owen Stanley Ranges and capture Port Moresby.  Photo from Mud and Blood Revisited.

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Shown above is an extract from the 30th Brigade summary of Japanese air raid activity on the 24th of March 1942 over Port Moresby.  Being billeted at 7 Mile Strip was hard – but easier than fighting along the Kokoda Track.  Photo from Mud and Blood Revisited.

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Above is a poem called Green Hell by Lieutenant HN Sorensen describing life at 7 Mile Strip in Port Moresby.  (Photo from Blood and Mud Revisited).

I was particularly moved by the words

… never a foreign foot shall soil A sod of the land we love. We know that sooner our blood will pour Like a flood on this tropic land, than proud invader shall seize our shore In the grip of the yellow hand.

The blood of the 39th did indeed pour like a flood across the Kokoda Track.

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The Chocolate Soldiers in the 39th Battalion arrived in Port Moresby on Aquitania on 3 January 1942.  Aquitania was too large to enter Port Moresby Harbour, so the Battalion was transferred to HMS Achilles, to HMAS Swan and to lifeboats before it could land on the Port Moresby wharf.  Once back on land, the Battalion had a very long march with full packs and equipment to their eventual destination at 7 Mile Strip.  In January 1942, Jackson’s 7 Mile Airstrip offered no facilities at all.  There were no barracks, no kitchen and no toilets – not even a latrine   The 39th Battalion had to find somewhere in the flat, dusty surroundings of the airstrip where they could lie down and rest.  The local mosquito population was enormous and the mosquitoes swarmed over the unprotected 39th Battalion.

The immediate job of the 39th was to protect the airport from the Japanese.  To do that, the Battalion had to construct its own facilities – while avoiding death from attacks by the Japanese Air Force and the multiple tropical diseases endemic to Port Moresby.  Between tge 24th of February and 20th of September 1942, there were frequent attacks by the Japanese Air force.

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Jackson’s 7 Mile Airstrip is now called Port Moresby Jackson International Airport.  I flew into the airport early in the afternoon of Saturday the 2nd of August 2025.  With my fellow trekkers, I was ushered into a bus and driven to the Hilton Hotel, Port Moresby.

There were no mosquitoes and although the weather was sunny, it was not humid.

The reception area at the Hilton Hotel had a grand piano.

Dinner for us trekkers was served at 6.00 pm in a private dining room.  

Some of us trekkers were there for adventure. 

One married couple was celebrating twenty-five years of marriage.  

A father and son were trekking as a bonding exercise.  

There was a surgeon, a lawyer, a construction worker and there was one author - me. 

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On the 7th of July 1942, troops of the 39th Battalion were taken by truck to McDonald’s Corner and ordered to make their way to Kokoda along the Kokoda Track.  Once in Kokoda, they were to prevent the Japanese from capturing Kokoda.  Kokoda had military importance because it had an airstrip.  

When the 39th set off on the 7th of July across the Owen Stanley Ranges, the men had to carry extra ammunition, their rations, and the stores and equipment they would need to fight the Japanese.  They were heavily burdened and their equipment was not appropriate for the climate or the terrain.

When the 39th reached Kokoda on the 15th of July, although many of the troops were completely worn out they had no time to rest.  They had to immediately establish a defensive perimeter around the airstrip so they could repel the Japanese

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Our party of trekkers was back on the bus to the Port Moresby airport in the morning of Sunday the 3rd of August 2025 and we flew to Popondetta on the north coast of Papua New Guinea.  Although there is an airport at Kokoda, it is subject to closure because of fog from the nearby mountains. Popondetta airport is less likely to be fog bound. 

At Popondetta we climbed onto what trek leader Dave called a bus.  It was not really a bus but a one-tonne utility with bench seating down each side of the rear tray and it had a canvas canopy over the tray. Every time we breathed, the bus rattled as it lurched along the rough dirt track to Kokoda.

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To be continued …

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By helping others to heal We help ourselves heal Remember those who preceded us. Give abundant Love Always The Chocolate Soldiers of the 39th Battalion always did.