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Kokoda Trail, Cadets from Scots College (1972)

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The Kokoda Trail education content clip 1

Original classification rating: not rated. This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

This clip shows students from Scots College on the final leg of their seven day trek through the Owen Stanley Ranges towards Kokoda in Papua New Guinea. They navigate their way across a makeshift log bridge over a fast flowing river. On the other side, the group gathers around as their teacher, and trek leader, talks to them. In the clearing at the next village, the students are openly elated as they near the end of their trek. Locals are filmed standing with their families in the village.

Curator’s notes

This amateur footage was filmed by either a teacher or parent of one of the students. This clip is an example of how the camera is often positioned ahead of the students and captures the group as they trek through the highlands. The boys are filmed crawling across a log over a river from a safe (and dry) position on the other bank.

Teacher’s notes

provided by The Le@rning FederationEducation Services Australia

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.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

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  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

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ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

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