Education Centre

Below is a curated list of resources, publications, research and other material, ideal for teachers and students to access and read before or after visiting the Walkway, or for those with an interest in the Kokoda campaign.

Please note: if any of the maps are to be used for publication, please note the appropriate acknowledgment of the source.

1. Maps

Map 1: PNG Kokoda Track (commissioned by the KTMW)

Map 2: Kokoda Trail Relief Map (courtesy of Charlie Lynn’s Adventure Kokoda Trek)

Map 3: Wartime map – Kokoda coast (source: Our Spirit Adventures)

Map 4: Wartime map – Templeton’s Crossing (source: Our Spirit Adventures)

Map 5: Wartime map – Nauro to Templeton’s Crossing (source: Our Spirit Adventures)

Map 6: Wartime map – Ilolo to Nauro (source: Our Spirit Adventures)

Map 7: Kokoda Track Plaque/Map (attached to Education Centre. Sculptor: Ross J. Bastiaan, Donor: Charlie Lynn OAM OL)

2.  KTMW material

‘Stories from the Plaques’: read fascinating details of individuals and units who served in the New Guinea/Kokoda campaigns, based on plaques in our Memorial Rose Garden.

Details on the 22 Stations at the Walkway
Each Station explains the significant battles or locations in the campaign. The names of Australians KIA are on most of the relevant Station webpages where casualties occurred. Each Station webpage has an audio version of the Station text.

Overview history of Kokoda Track campaign.

3.  Publications/Research

i. General:

Australia in the War of 1939 to 1945 Series 1 Army Vol.V South-West Pacific Area – First Year: Kokoda to Wau (1st Edition 1959)

A digitised version of this volume in the Second World War Official Histories (Australian War Memorial [AWM]).

AWM ‘Remembering 1942-2002’ History Conference Papers: High Command and the Kokoda Campaign and Sacking the Generals in Papua.

‘Kokoda 1942 Australians in the Pacific War’

Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) commemorative booklet, 2014.

Not Yet Diagnosed: Australian Psychiatric Casualties During the Kokoda Campaign, 1942

Produced by the AWM in 2021, this study focuses on the mental health of Kokoda veterans.

The Track: A historical desktop study of the Kokoda Track

Commissioned by the Australian Government in 2009, this is a comprehensive historical study of the Kokoda Track (AWM).

‘Track’ or ‘Trail’ The Kokoda Debate

A paper from 2010 exploring the debate regarding the name of the Kokoda Track/Trail (Flinders Journal of History and Politics, Vol.26, 2010).

ii. Papuan perspective:

PNG Voices from the War

The oral history collection recording the memories and stories about Papua New Guinean’s during the World War II in PNG and significantly along the Kokoka Track, managed by Deakin University.

The “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels”: looking beyond the myth.

A paper published by the AWM in 2012 which explores the myths around the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels.

Villagers at war: some Papua New Guinean experiences in World War II: Neville K. Robinson (ANU, 1981).

Voices from the War: Papua New Guinean Stories of the Kokoda Campaign

A joint publication between the PNG and Australian Governments, 2015.

‘White man’s war’: Dr Seamus Spark (Battle for Australia Assoc. address 15 Feb 2019)

‘War, Race and Loyalty in New Guinea, 1939-1945’: Ken Inglis (The History of Melanesia pp.503-530)

4.  Podcasts/Other

‘On Kokoda’ with Dr Karl James: A Dead Prussian Podcast episode (32m.09s)

Kokoda (various podcasts on the 53rd Battalion): The Principles of War

‘Kokoda Campaign 1942 Beyond the Legend‘ with Dr Karl James: True Blue Conversations (1h.13m.50s)

The Kokoda Trail: Australian in New Guinea (YouTube – WW2TV, 2022) Dr Karl James provides an overview of the events leading up to and including the Australian campaign in New Guinea.

The Cove: Australia’s Kokoda Campaign. Two highly informative animated videos on the campaign itself and the ‘delay defence’ techniques used in the campaign.

5. Website resources/other

PNG Remembrance Trail

DVA launched a new site in November 2022, honouring those who served in PNG during World War Two.

The Kokoda Initiative

A partnership between the governments of Papua New Guinea and Australia, featuring videos and other resources.

Timeline of events in the Kokoda campaign (July 1942 – January 1943): DVA resource.

Kokoda Track Museums

Explore the museums dedicated to the Kokoda Track campaign, administered by the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery.

Kokoda Track stamps from Australia & PNG: variety of postage stamps commemorating the Kokoda Track campaign.

Rising Tide Walking Tour App: an historical walking tour app (developed by the City of Canada Bay) for the 11km walk around the foreshore areas of the Parramatta River, including the KTMW. Other historical local people and places associated with Australia’s efforts in the World War II are included.

Charlie Lynn’s Adventure Kokoda Trek

Charlie Lynn OAM OL is a long-time supporter of the Walkway. His company offers individuals or groups the opportunity to walk the actual Track in PNG.

Please also refer to the Further Reading and Lists page for more useful resources, publications and historical records/images/search engines from many organisations that feature Australian military history records.

We have been fortunate to be the recipients of some meaningful and touching poems related to the Kokoda Track, and we are also pleased to highlight other works related to the campaign (note: language in poems written during the 1940s may include language that is now considered inappropriate).

The Kokoda Track (by ‘Barry from the Bush’ 2002)

Sapper Bert Beros (NX6925, 7th Australian Division): wrote many Kokoda-related poems, the most famous being ‘Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels’. (Source: Papua New Guinea Association of Australia) and ‘The Crosses on the Track’. See here for a copy of his book of poetry The Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels and Other Verses. (Image: NAA)

Corporal Percy (‘Peter the Poet’) Coverdale (NX110812, 2/31 Battalion) wrote several Kokoda-related poems: ‘Jungle Patrol’, ‘Native Stretcher Bearers’, ‘Kokoda Trail Walking Wounded’.

(Image: 2/31 Battalion)

‘Vale Ivan Clarke’: a touching poem written following the death of a well-respected officer Lieut. Ivan Stanley Clarke (NX67914), killed at Sanananda on 29 December 1942. This version was signed by his grieving fellow officers and the men he commanded.

(Sources: Poem – Ian Clarke; image – AWM P07080.001)

Howarde Tilse (23413 RAAF): Pre-war, Tilse was a freelance journalist. He served in the RAAF from 1940-1945. In 1944 he published Musings of a Moresby Mouse, a collection of poetry and other work he wrote while serving in Papua. His poems included ‘Fuzzy Wuzzy’ and ‘The Owen-Stanley Track’.

Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin was commissioned by the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway to write Meeting The Sun to commemorate the 2015 centenary of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landings at Gallipoli in 1915.

Elena sought to encapsulate and communicate concepts of hope, freedom, grace, reflection, and the future, and the sacrifices made by men and women who have served.

Five education kits support students and educators in their learning and experience. The education kits are structured in accordance with the Music Curriculum key learning areas for students in Year 7/8 or Stage 4 (NSW Board of Studies). Importantly, the education kits integrate elements from the Human Society and its Environment (HSIE) History curriculum within this context.

Kit 1: Movement 1: I Wish I Was Young

Kit 2: Movement 2: Hearts on Fire

Kit 3: Movement 3: This Lovely Day

Kit 4: Movement 4: Wipe Away Your Tears

Kit 5: Movement 5: Lest We Forget

While Meeting the Sun is not specifically related to the Kokoda campaign, it reflects the unique character, courage, and sacrifice of all Australians who have served or supported our armed forces over the past 100 years since the 1915 Gallipoli landings. Those who served at Kokoda share these same characteristics.

Teachers and students will find this an invaluable resource.