Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

provided by

This clip from a silent home movie shows cadets from the Scots College in the final stages of their trek along the Kokoda Trail (or Track), through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea in early May 1972. Early scenes show the cadets picking their way across a rocky ford in a river. They are then shown listening to their leader as the camera focuses on their trek guide, who wears a shirt with corporal’s stripes. The cadets are next seen clowning for the camera in a village along the Trail. This is followed by close-ups of groups of unsmiling villagers.

Educational value points

• This clip shows part of what was probably one of the first school expeditions to undertake the demanding trek along the Kokoda Trail and to experience the conditions that faced Australian and Japanese soldiers in the bitter fighting of 1942. Since 1972 when this footage was shot, thousands of Australians have trekked the Trail and for many senior school students it has become a rite of passage and an exercise in character and team building.

• The Kokoda Track, parts of which are seen in the clip, is a long and difficult foot track across the Owen Stanley mountain range in Papua New Guinea. About 166 km in length, it links Ower’s Corner, which is about 40 km north-east of Port Moresby, and Wairopi (pidgin for 'wire rope bridge’), a village on the northern side of the Range. Wairopi is a crossing point on the Kumusi River, and the Trail links from there on to Buna, Gona and Sanananda, which are settlements on the northern coast.

• The battle for the Kokoda Trail, scene of some of the most desperate fighting by Australian troops in the Second World War (1939–45), began on 21 July 1942 when the Japanese landed on the north coast of what is now Papua New Guinea. Their aim was to capture Port Moresby by crossing the Owen Stanley Range along the track. Australian troops were ordered to hold the Trail, which they eventually did at the cost of 625 killed and more than 1,600 wounded.

• Local guides and porters are almost as important to modern trekkers as they were to the Australian army in 1942. The logistics of the Kokoda campaign meant that Australian troops were reliant on local people to bring supplies along the Trail and carry back the Australian wounded. The bearers became known as 'fuzzy wuzzy angels’. Modern guides assist trekkers to deal with the difficult conditions of the Trail, setting up camps and organising food.

• As revealed in the clip, the Kokoda Track is very demanding. The terrain is rugged and the area’s infrastructure is limited. Although mountainous, the region is part of a coastal climatic area and is hot and humid, with torrential rainfall. Malaria is as much of an issue today as it was in 1942 and trekkers need antimalarial medication. In 1942, the health of many soldiers was compromised when they were sent into battle without having completed their courses of antimalarial drugs.

• This home movie was made possible by the revolutionary Super 8 film system introduced by the Eastman Kodak Company in 1965. The system used plastic film cartridges and simple point-and-shoot cameras. Users could easily load the cameras with film in daylight and under difficult conditions such as on the Kokoda Trail. Both film and camera were light and easily transported. By 1972, Super 8 was the system of choice for home movie enthusiasts.