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Weather Quarters: Weather and war: the Kokoda Trail, 1942

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Old photos of soldiers, text reads "Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial"
Weather Quarters: Weather and war: the Kokoda Trail, 1942

SUBJECTS:  History

YEARS:  9–10


The Kokoda Campaign was tough.

The terrain was steep, the vegetation dense and the enemy close at hand and unseen. And then there was the weather!

In this clip from the Weather Quarter, find out how the weather in the winter of 1942 influenced the outcome of one of Australia's most challenging military operations.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Locate Papua New Guinea on a map of the world. Considering its latitude, what would you expect the prevailing weather conditions to be like during the months of July and August?
  2. 2.According to historian Jack Ford, what were conditions like for Australian troops in Papua during the winter of 1942? How did the conditions hinder soldiers on both sides of the conflict? In what ways did the weather conditions provide assistance? Why were Australian soldiers fighting in Papua?
  3. 3.Describe the state of the Kokoda Trail. In what ways did this compromise the wellbeing of soldiers? Host Jenny Woodward suggests that it is a 'huge tribute to our troops that they prevailed in the end'. From what you have learnt in this clip, do you agree? Explain your answer.
  4. 4.Jack Ford refers to the Battle of the Coral Sea, which took place in May 1942. Find appropriate sources to learn more about this conflict. It will be helpful to use a map of the western Pacific Ocean that features the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Why do you think the Japanese were intent on occupying Port Moresby?



Date of broadcast: 1 Jan 2014


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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