The Battles for Kokoda Plateau: Three Weeks of Hell Defending the Gateway to the Owen Stanleys

On July 21, 1942, a large Japanese reconnaissance mission landed along the north-eastern coastline of Papua, soon turning into an all-out attempt to capture Port Morseby. This is the powerful story of the three weeks of battle by a small Australian militia force to keep the Japanese at bay. Outnumbered by at least three to one, they fought to hold the Kokoda Plateau—the gateway to the Owen Stanleys. Desperately short of ammunition and food and stranded in the fetid swamps and lowland jungles, they did everything they could to keep the Kokoda airstrip out of Japanese hands. Not far away, desperately trying to reach the Australians, were two groups of Anglican missionaries trapped behind enemy lines. With each passing day the parties grew, joined by lost Australian soldiers and downed U.S. airmen. Using letters, diaries, and other first-hand accounts, David W. Cameron has for the first time written a detailed, compelling account of what occurred at the northern foot of the Owen Stanleys in late July and early August 1942.