Saving Port Moresby

Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Battles in New Guinea, David W. Cameron, one of Australia's leading military historians, presents his new Kokoda Campaign series, which will take you from the Battle for Isurava to Port Moresby and finally the retaking of Kokoda. For the first time, these significant battles of Australian troops are comprehensively explored.

After taking Kokoda Plateau in late July 1942, Japanese forces entered the Owen Stanley Range; their mission was to capture Port Moresby. Following the battles for Deniki and Isurava, the Japanese pushed south through the mountains while the Australians were engaged in a determined fighting withdrawal. After a delaying action at Templeton’s Crossing, they took up a position along Mission Ridge, south of Efogi Village. After two days of bloody hand-to-hand fighting, in a battle known as ‘Butcher’s Corner’, the Australians were again forced to withdraw.

After further delaying actions, fewer than 300 Australians took up a position on Ioribaiwa Ridge, just 50 kilometres north of Port Moresby. They were reinforced by the 25th Brigade. After a week of fighting, the Japanese cut through the 25th, forcing the Australians to fall back to Imita Ridge, the last defensible ridge in the Owen Stanleys – immediately behind lay Port Moresby.