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You are here: Exhibitions / Temporary Exhibitions / Kokoda
Tom D'Arcy poses ready for action 1942 photographer unknown Reproduced courtesy of Carl Johnson
It is 70 years since Australia fought a series of costly battles between July and November 1942 against Japanese forces in Papua and New Guinea. The Kokoda Trail, or Track, winding through the Owen Stanley mountain range, was the setting for a campaign which many believe is Australia's defining episode of the Second World War (1939-45).
The challenges presented by the rugged, 100 kilometre track, which rises to an altitude of 2,250 kilometres and is passable only on foot, coupled with deadly endemic diseases, logistical difficulties, tropical conditions and an implacable foe, tested the mettle of Australian soldiers. The story of their eventual triumph is one of our nation's greatest stories.