Address by Colonel David Hafner CSC (Commandant Land Warfare Centre, Canungra)

May I begin with thanking you for the opportunity to attend this commemoration of Kokoda. The 8th of August is a special day chosen by the veterans who were there, to honour the men who fought and died during the Kokoda campaign.

I currently serve at the Land Warfare Centre at Canungra. A military school established initially in the Second World War to train reinforcements for the arduous operations in New Guinea and eventually the entire South-West Pacific area, and which continues to train Army’s soldiers and officers today with the lessons of our forbearers. Our barracks holds the name Kokoda and our facilities are named after the battles of the campaign and the men who fought it. So I am humbled to speak of the courage, character, fighting spirit and sacrifice shown by the men of all the units represented here today.

The Kokoda campaign began in July 1942 as fighting in the Second World War neared Australian shores. Japanese troops landed near Gona on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. Australian troops were stationed at Port Moresby in the south.

The Japanese objective was to take Port Moresby by an overland strike. For the Australian forces, holding Port Moresby was vital to the defence of Australia.

The scene was set for a bitter campaign that would last several months in some of the most difficult jungle terrain on the planet. It centered around the 160 kilometre long Kokoda Track through the Owen Stanley Mountain Range, a formidable physical barrier between the north and south crossing gorges and streams, and over ridges up to 2,500 metres high, from Buna to Port Moresby. The track was often measured in grueling hours rather than distance. It was regarded as one of the most inhospitable battlefield of World War 2.

Initially, the Japanese advance inland made rapid progress. Soldiers of the Papuan Infantry Battalion were the first to offer resistance to the Japanese invasion of their country. The Battalion was called the ‘green shadows’ because of an entry found in a Japanese diary. It was written that the Papuan Infantry Battalion moved silently in the jungle, inflicting casualties and then gone, like green shadows.

Also opposing the Japanese was an Australian militia unit, the 39th Battalion, later to be joined by the 53rd Battalion and the headquarters of the 30th Brigade, the 2/14th and 2/16th Battalions of the 21st Brigade, and the 2/27th Battalion.

Heroic soldiers fought with rifle, bayonet, grenade and fist. Progressively the Australian units withdrew down the track, heavily outnumbered but never defeated, fighting day and night, denying every mile until almost surrounded.

During those grueling days, the Papuan men employed as carriers played a vital role in the battle. They carried supplies forward and then, as the number of troops who were wounded or fell sick increased, carried back to safety those who were unable to walk.

By mid September our diggers had overcome overwhelming odds and atrocious conditions, outnumbered five to one, fighting against superior armed and experienced jungle troops, contesting every inch of the track back to the last line of defence before finally sapping the strength of the Japanese, bringing their advance to a halt.

The Japanese had been forced to fight hard to cross the mountains and had run out of many supplies, and following setbacks on other battlefields the Japanese on the Kokoda Track were ordered to withdraw. As Australian patrols pushed forward they found that the enemy had slipped away.

The battle ended when the Australians re-entered Kokoda on 2nd November, raising the Australian flag in the village on 3rd November.

Victory had been possible due to their self-belief, courage, endurance, mateship, sacrifice and resilience. Their trust, respect and dependence in each other, and their ability to never give up even when all seemed lost. This is reflected in the motto of the heroic 39th Battalion who bore the brunt of the initial Japanese assault on the Kokoda Trail. It reads ‘Factis non Verbis’ – ‘Deeds not Words’.

Kokoda took a heavy toll of the men on both sides who were engaged in the fighting. More than 600 Australian lives were lost, and over a thousand sustained wounds in battle; perhaps as many as three times the number of combat casualties had fallen ill during the campaign. Losses among the Japanese had been equally severe, with around 4,500 troops being accounted for as sick, wounded or killed.

Kokoda is representative of the fighting qualities evident in all of our campaigns in the South-West Pacific. Ordinary Australians became extraordinary Australians fighting a continual battle against the elements, inhospitable terrain and a voracious enemy.

Kokoda symbolises the Australian soldier’s courage, determination, fighting prowess, humour and mateship. Values that remain evident in our service men and women today. The essence of Kokoda was that in the face of adversity and potential defeat, the Australian spirit triumphed.

The importance of the battles along the track during 1942 has seen increasing interest evident through the growing number of Australian’s trekking across the track. These days it is considered a major feat just to walk the track, let alone doing this under fire. Today we acknowledge that just surviving the conditions on the track was an achievement in itself. Our current generations of Australian’s feel proud that they have walked in the footsteps of heroes. Spirited of the men who defeated an enemy who had never been conquered, an enemy that had never tasted defeat.

We have a proud and distinguished history from Kokoda that shows for a peace loving people, we have been a formidable adversary, when stirred to action. On every occasion when Australians have been called upon to protect freedom, they have done so generously, effectively and efficiently. This memorial is a reminder of the losses in doing so.

So today, as we take the time to commemorate this 74th anniversary, we remember and honour all those who gave their lives at Kokoda in the defence of our nation. We honour those who we are privileged to still have amongst us and those who survived but have since left us, including Mr Jim Stillman, the Rotary Kokoda Memorial Patron and a member of the 39th Battalion who fought at Kokoda who recently passed. His legacy and the indomitable Kokoda spirit lives on in us.

So today and always, we will remember them, and it is an honour for me to represent the Army today in doing so.

Thank you.

“Lest we forget”