SOC'S BLOG

WELCOME TO SOC'S COMMENTARY PAGE ON ALL THINGS KOKODA.

 THERE IS SO MUCH HAPPENING THESE DAYS AND SO MANY OPERATORS SEEM TO PUT THEIR BIB IN ABOUT EVENTS TO DO WITH KOKODA AND PAPUA NEW GUINEA IN GENERAL THAT I HAVE DECIDED I WILL JOIN THE QUEUE.

If you would like to comment on anything I have said please Contact me

KOMPLETE KOKODA supports the efforts of the Kokoda Track Foundation to improve the lives of the people along the Kokoda trail and we urge you to help them as much as you can:

http://www.kokodatrackfoundation.org/

LESSONS OF THE KOKODA AIR CRASH(posted 8th August 2010)

With the anniversary of the horrific aircrash at Kokoda on the 11th August, the article in The Australian on the 31st July was interesting if a little lacking in positivity.

Follow the Link to read the article

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/hopes-fade-for-the-lessons-of-kokoda-crash/story-e6frg95x-1225899267265

What the article does not value enough is the work that has been done on the Kokoda Airstrip during the last year.

 In our Newsletters at the time of the crash, we noted that I had spent some time with Kokoda Track Authority staff on the consulting trip I did with them in June-July expressing my concern at the state of the airstrip. The strip had shrunk to less than half the length it used to be in the 80s when I lived at Kokoda. It had no markers and only one ratty windsock. The grass was not mowed often enough and when it was, the clippings were left on the 'runway' creating a thick layer of mulch that meant the gravel base that our family was contracted to install in the late 1950s, was buried under several feet of vegetable matter. My concern was that an aircraft would flip- on landing or that and accident would be caused by the  lack of visibility of the strip from the air where, without markers and with the slapstick mowing jobs that were done, it was hard to distinguish airstrip from surrounds. My wife had also  raised her concerns at the meeting of  KTA meeting of Tour Operators held earlier in 2009.

Tragically, our concerns proved well grounded. Although, as mentioned in the Article above, no proper investigation has been carried out as to the cause of the crash, I , with my intimate knowledge gained over many many trips back and forth by air from Kokoda to Moresby over the years, and talking to the local people since the crash, believe it was a case of the pilot making an approach to land in weather that involved a series of scuds/cloud banks moving across the field that limited her visibility. Had the airstrip been properly maintained and clearly designated by markers and mowed area,she may not have needed to abort as it would seem she was all set to land then, still at some height above the field, she pulled out and tried to climb fast and head back to Port Moresby. She must have become disoriented because, if she had had the hours flying the Company claimed she had, including many succesful take-off and landings at Kokoda, she would have known you cannot head into the Kokoda Gap until you have reach an altitude of at least 4000 ft . Aircraft like the one she was flying cannot climb fast enough to get to the 7500 - 8000 feet required to cross the Gap in time it they head straight in.

The Kokoda Track Authority with funds from the Australian Government has now made significant improvements to the Kokoda Airstrip. The extremities of the field are now clearly marked with the required yellow cones, the mowed runway area has been extended to a far safer length and the grass is being cut more regularly and efficiently. This is a huge improvement to the safety of flying into Kokoda.

DESECRATION OF THE KOKODA MEMORIAL WALKWAY & CONCORD, SYDNEY( posted 27th July 2010)

The vandalisation of this magnificent KOKODA Memorial is an absolute disgrace and embarrassment to this Country as a Nation - that there are those amongst us that would do such a thing! My bet is , as was the case last time this happened, that the perpetrators  were of non-Australian backgrounds and as such, should be returned to the place of their parents birth and left to rot in a desert. If they are Aussies, then they should be named and shamed including preferrably a public flogging, & humiliation, made to repair the damage they have done, then prosecuted to the full extent of the law - a long prison term followed by many years of community work.

Where are we going wrong that our youth would do this? Well ,for starters, the history of all Wars that have affected our country should be a compulsory component of the School Curriculum, before Grade 10 by which time  most of these particular morons would have left school anyway.  The stories of Gallipoli because of its historical significance and KOKODA because of it was a huge part of the  war that saved Australia, should be given detailed emphasis.

Secondly, as mentioned above, the punishment should be long, strong and painful to send a clear message to any low-life with similar intentions that as Australians will not put up with this kind of behaviour.

When I first visited this Walkway in November 2009 for the Raising of the Flag, I was thoroughly impressed with the work, love and devotion, not to mention the money, both fundraised and government provided, that had gone into this important reminder of  one of our our Nation's greatest historical events. It is in a format that anyone can enjoy, and is there, open to all the public for free - and therein lies its problem. In the organisers genuine good intention to give as many Aussie as possible the opportunity to learn about Kokoda, and Kokoda's History they have put the Memorial in harm's way - the temptation for ignorant scum like these is more than their small minds can control. Even the very expensive security cameras installed did not deter them.

What can the Memorial custodians try next? I am sure they would be open to suggestions. Maybe an armed guard with permission to 'shoot to kill' would do it! I know both David Howell and Gary Taynor our partners at Kokoda Historical who also do voluntary work at the Walkway, taking tours etc, would  also volunteer for such a duty!!

THE LOST BATTLEFIELD OF KOKODA” - posted 14th June 2010

I have kept my mouth shut until now on this issue because I don’t want to be accused of sour grapes or to upset the diggers who may be feeling some sense of remembrance and closure out of all this. However the PS/BS goes on and the phone has been running hot, so here I go again!
     When I first returned to walk the Trail in 2006, after an absence of many years, one of the things that surprised me was that people did not appear to know about or be visiting the infamous battle sites along the ridge above Eora Creek. This was a horrific battle in the campaign where the enemy literally rained down their firepower on the Aussie troops who were hunkered down in the dark, dank depths of the cold and clammy creek. Lucky for the Aussies the enemy had not spread themselves to the highest point and Major Ian Hutchinson had the gumption to lead a group of men up to the high point and carry out a surprise attack on the Japanese, giving them a bit of their own medicine so that they soon ran for their lives.
     In 2006, I met up with a village elder from Alola and suggested he should open up part of the ridge area and take tourists there, charging them a small fee in return for him protecting and caring for the area. I told him to protect the main area of the site or it would just be looted and destroyed. Things are quiet on the track this year and the young blokes of the village have obviously decided to cash in. They have always been great story tellers my Papuan mates. Their “ secret place” as they called it – I doubt any even knew it was there until 2006!! Being on a ridge it certainly is not suitable for gardens.
     As people who have trekked with me know, I take time on all my trips to teach the local porters and group leaders, whether from our group or working with some other tour company, as much of the history as I can at each point along the way. I tell it all in Motu so there is no misunderstanding. Most listen and soak it up like sponges, appreciating that someone is taking the time to share the correct history with them for the future. The result has been a renewed interest on behalf of these descendants of the ‘fuzzy wuzzies’, and a willingness to explore beyond the immediate track area – hence, “discoveries” like this.
     In the post war years of the late 40s, numerous patrols were sent out to locate and remove the bodies of Aussie diggers buried along the track. In most cases, those found from about Efogi to Kokoda ended up in the war cemetery at Kokoda, located where the school now is. They were then dug up again and moved to Bomana in the early 50s. In each case, only parts of the remains were dug up so bits and pieces of skeleton and bone were left behind. Those not identified were buried at Bomana as “Known unto God”. Usually these patrols were accompanied by some of Dad’s ‘fuzzy wuzzies’ from the war. I myself explored much of this “Lost Battle Site” in the 1960s. I would be surprised, but pleased for the families, if they find and identify any Aussies in this area who have never been officially located. Hopefully, DNA can be used to verify their identities.
     For an excellent map of the Australian and Japanese positions during this battle, refer to McCarthy’s official history or Bill James’” Guide to the Kokoda Track” which reproduces the map. Note however, that there was not a Village at Eora Ck before the War. There were a couple of old huts from the mail trail days, then the new ones Dad had built early in the piece that were damaged by the Japanese on their advance. Note also that the Battle for Eora Creek was the second major battle of the Australian Advance, the first was at Templetons’ Crossing ( of which there is only one – there was no such thing as Templeton’s 1 and Templeton’s 2 during the war) - the CROSSING OF TWO TRACKS named by my father in memory of Captain Sam Templeton. What is mistakenly called Templeton’s 1 was actually Station 1 or Dump 1 – one of the many supply depots Dad set up during the Campaign. Bill James is the one of the few modern authors on Kokoda who has got all this right.

How DO you lose a 130 ha battlefield? They have certainly never been lost to me. If those who thought they were "lost"  would just put their EGOs aside and ask me , my father and the true Fuzzy Wuzzies  told me where all the battle sites were and I visited most at some stage in my life. 

EMAIL RECEIVED AUGUST 2010 FROM IAN TABARA , A BINANDERE OF PAPUA( posted 5th September 2010

" I read your article about the lost battlefields at Kokoda and sad to say you're correct. By way of an explanation, I suggest that locals don't know because they were not part of the war effort. Lance Corpral Bagimo and Corporal Giae who encountered the Japs at Awala were two cousins from Binandere who had with them some of their cousins as carriers. I suggest that Kokoda people will not know the stories but Binanderes would know from stories told by those who returned".

ARTICLE IN WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN 12th JUNE 2010( posted 20th June 2010)

Like many of my fellow ex- Territorians, reading this article made me angry and makes us all want to say to Whitlam and his cohorts who rushed PNG into Independence I TOLD YOU SO!! Most signficant is the paragraph

"The final irony is that in those islands subject to continuing colonial rule such as Guam, New Caledonia and French Polynesia, so-called imperial administrations have delivered much higher standards of education and health, transport and infrastructure to the extent that economic growth exceeds population growth."

READ THE FULL ARTICLE  ON BELOW LINK:

www.cis.org.au/executive_highlights/EH2010/eh106910.html

Kokoda Historical & Komplete Kokoda  Interviewed by Radio Sport -  (posted 25th May 2010)

One month ago, on ANZAC eve David Howell, head guide and historian  for Kokoda Historical was on the Kokoda Track. Over the satellite phone he was interviewed by Andrew Kruse of Radio Sport 927.

I was also interviewed for the same radio segment.  To hear this interview, please follow the link

     www.kokodahistorical.com.au/audio/SOC Kokoda.mp3

Track vs Trail - (posted 21st May 2010)

This old debate has raised its head again in some circulating emails.Here was my response to all and sundry:

Hi All – wow , this debate still causes people to get hot under the collar. I used to be like that, mainly because I grew up at Kokoda and it was always called The Trail – in fact, if people said they were going to walk “The Trail” everyone knew they meant the Kokoda Trail. Of late, however, I realise “what’s in a name” – if the diggers remember it as a track and want to call it so, they have earned the right to do so – having said that, my father would probably beg to differ if he was alive – and he was called “The Man who blazed the Trail” and ” The Architect of the Kokoda Trail” in newspaper articles in Australia in 1943.

We need to distinguish here between the pre 1900s tracks that existed from village to village,(there were no real tracks over the vabula” – no man’s land areas between tribes), the more defined Mail trail that was developed in the early 1900s and used until the early 1930s, and the Trail that was ultimately used during the Campaign. Much of that War Trail was cut by my father and his helpers – often under instruction from his superiors. I don’t think anyone will truly appreciate this fact about my father until they have read his biography - my wife is about to sign with a publisher on this. Please remember that the diggers were young blokes who did not really know where they were or what they were doing a lot of the time ( no fault of theirs) - their focus was on the section of track they were walking and/or fighting along at any one time. As my father said. “ The route over the Owen Stanleys is made up of a myriad of tracks, but there is only one real War Trail” he often needed to make this distinction when locating lost personnel, identifying enemy positions from native intel etc. etc - I could go on.When I take people over the Trail, as we move from place to place we refer to the track from A to B – when they have finished the whole journey, I say you have now walked the Kokoda Trail – which goes from Kokoda to McDonald’s Corner. From Kokoda to the Coast is the Kokoda-Gona Road.Cec Driscoll recalls just before he set of with Dad and Capt Sam Templeton in early July ‘42, they were told they were going on the Kokoda trail across the mountains. When they got there it was just a bloody track, and that’s what they called it forthwith!!The PNG Govt gazetted it as the Kokoda Trail.My father was born in Fiji, a British Citizen – as were all Aussies until we started to be issued with Australian passports in 1949. He put his life on the line for Papua, his home and Australia – he certainly thought of himself as Australian. The word trail is an English word and is used all over the place in Australia to describe marked routes over significant distances. However, I agree that Australians use the term track a lot more than trail – ‘what’s the track like down to the beach “etc. so I empathise with the diggers on this.Anyway, call it what you like. What is important is to treat the track/trail, its people, its history and its heroes with the respect they deserve. Unfortunately, with the EGOtourism that is going on along the track these days, that is not happening and that concerns me more than any exercise in semantics. Let us never forgetCourage Endurance Mateship Sacrifice.Cheers to all
Soc Kienzle

More on Captain Sam Templeton (posted 7th May 2010)

 My comment on the recent Sunday program and all the other publicity of late surrounding this story, is this:

I sincerely hope that they find some proof of Captain Sam Templeton's resting place other than the word of a very old Japanese gentleman who has suddenly now, after nearly 70 years, remembered an incident he did not appear to have mentioned (?) in any other interviews, including all the interviews he had with Charles Happell for his book “ The Bone Man of Kokoda”. To ring Captain Templeton's son Reg Templeton who is a frail old man and give him what may be a false sense of closure would be too cruel if not true. Reg corresponded with my father Bert over the years in his search for a place to visit to honour his father. I also corresponded with him more recently when I sent him a copy of the letter my father received from Dr Hiroshi Yanagisawa which I learned had never been sent on to Reg.
I will tell you the facts as I know them - no more no less!
In early July 1942, a site had been chosen at Dobodura, inland from Buna for an airbase to carry the war closer to the Japanese now firmly entrenched at Rabaul, licking their wounds and regrouping. New Guinea Force was instructed to supply a rifle company to secure Kokoda then move on to protect the American Engineer Regiment assigned to the construction of this forward base. Captain Sam Templeton and his men were chosen for this job and they were to march to the site over the mountains, their supplies to be shipped by sea to Buna. Having recently traversed this route himself, Capt Bert Kienzle was the obvious guide for these troops and he arranged with Templeton that they would depart on the 8th July.
They arrived safely at Kokoda whence Bert went out to his properties at the Yodda and stocked up on food and other supplies most of which he gave to Templeton to see him and his men through to the Coast. Bert & Sam then spent some time catching up with Captain Grahamslaw who then left on 16th July, accompanying Templeton on his way to take over stores ex the “Gili Gili’ now supposedly docked at Buna, and to supervise the transport of these stores from the coast to Kokoda
The battle trained Japanese Nankai Shitai landed at Buna on the 21st July with over two thousand troops and hundreds of pressganged and enslaved Rabaul natives. They advanced virtually unopposed engaging Templeton and his B Coy at Awala through Gorari and on to Oivi only three days later. Just over ninety men of ‘Maroubra Force’ which at the time was made up of B Coy plus some PIB and ANGAU personnel, against just under nine hundred - yet the Japanese believed they were outnumbered two to one! “Uncle Sam” Templeton, who Bert had come to like and respect as they crossed the mountains together, was killed in this battle. His body was never found.

Les Arnel, a runner for Templeton, told the story some years later, and this is the story the way most of the diggers remember it.
Les recalls that they took up positions on the edge of the small plateau on which the village of Oivi was located but when they saw the Japanese swarming up the ridge, they pulled back to the actual village and spread around its perimeter. Sam told Les and the other men to stay put while he reconnoitred back towards Kokoda to see if there were any enemy along that route. Les said Captain Templeton disappeared fast into the jungle and not long afterwards a shot rang out. Les would never see Sam again and he writes that he understands all that was found was his holster and haversack. Les and his mates were the ones then were led to safety by the heroic Sanopa. There were also some rumours that Templeton may have been killed by natives who sympathised with the Japanese which Les says is possible as quite a few of their Orokaiva carriers did desert them around this time. He concludes that Sam was killed by a person or persons unknown and his body removed some distance away. I have always felt that his body is probably amongst the ‘graves of the unknown’ at Bomana.
In The Bone Man of Kokoda, according to what Nishimura told the author, I quote”
“Nishimura and his mates from the 5th Company were aboard the Kotoku-Maru and came ashore at Basabu Beach on 29th July. Immediately, they began marching west towards Kokoda village, at the head of the Track, encountering few obstacles and arriving five days later”
This puts Nishimura as passing through Oivi, where there was no longer any fighting occurring, on about the 2nd August. Templeton disappeared, thought shot, on the 26th July. Even if he had been kept alive until the first Japanese troops moved on from Oivi, his corpse would have been at least 4, more likely 6, days in the jungle. Decomposition is fast in this environment.
Nishimura says he came across his corpse by the track at a small stream, with a small waterfall that now, 68 years later he recognised without trouble. There are plenty of waterfalls and streams in the area and they change course regularly with floods and particularly, recent cyclones.
My biggest question!! How did he identify Sam? I don’t think it was policy for officers to wear a name tag. Nishimura apparently ‘guessed’ it was Templeton because of the sword in his chest and the story told him by a soldier who witnessed his death - but surely all those soldiers had moved on to Kokoda by this stage?? I have never heard of any other incident where a Japanese soldier left his sword behind, especially when on an advance. I could go on and on with the unanswered questions! For the best information on Sam templeton's story go to www.kokodahistorical.com.au

A twist to this story that has been half reported in some books - if they had contacted us they would have learned the full story – was a tale told by Dr Hiroshi Yanagisawa who wrote a letter to my father in 1979 which opened up a whole other can of worms re Templeton’s eventual place of death. The full details of that letter will be in my wife’s biography of my father.
Apart from the mystery behind the location of his body, and the fact that he is considered the first officer killed in the Campaign, probablythe main reason for Sam Templeton’s apparent immortalisation is really the fact  TEMPLETON’S CROSSING was named after him.
Bert Kienzle named Templeton’s Crossing in early August 1942 when he was cutting a new track from Myola 1 to rejoin the mail trail towards Eora Ck. This new track that he and his boys cut in one day, eventually joined up with the Eora Ck-Kagi track, that is, the old mail trail which was now being walked by the troops, downstream adjacent to Eora Creek. This junction of two tracks, one old one new, he called Templeton’s Crossing in memory of Sam Templeton who he had grown to like and respect in their journey across the trail the previous month.
In conclusion, my personal thoughts are that the whole show proved nothing. Much of the evidence they were looking at ( Japanese foxholes etc)would have been part of the much bigger battle that occurred at Oivi in November. As a boy, I roamed that area countless times, led by the Papuans who worked with my father during the campaign – the real fuzzy wuzzies. These fellows showing people around these days are their grandsons and great grandsons. We found all sorts of bodies, bones, helmets, weapons etc etc and the boys even led me to the Mountain Gun. There was not much they did not know. They never mentioned Captain Templeton. I showed many Japanese, including Sadashige Imanishi who was interviewed on the ABC program, around the area as well and nothing was ever said about Templeton.There will be a lot more about this in Dad’s biography.

I hope for the sake of the Captain SamTempleton’s family, this is not just one big publicity stunt.

THE TRACK - A HISTORICAL DESKTOP STUDY OF THE KOKODA TRACK(posted 2nd April 2010)

Dr Karl James of the AWM has completed his report on the Kokoda Track/Trail. He spent quite a bit of time with me working on this and I appreciate his acknowledgement of my input, and of course of my father and the large part he played as the "architect" of the Kokoda Trail.

It makes interesting reading - check it out at

http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/publications/kokoda/awm-report.html

More on "Invade or not to Invade"(posted 19th April 2010)

If you look at further down in this blog in December last year I wrote about two books I had read with differing opinions on Japan's intentions during the war. One author was Bob Wurth who I met some years ago. He has just emailed me with the below information which is very interesting.

Bob writes that there is further compelling information available suggesting that the Japanese did in fact seriously consider an invasion of Australia. Wurth's book "1942, Australia's Greatest Peril", has been reprinted for the third time by Pan Macmillan Australia and in March is available in a compact format.

He writes the following in his website www.1942.com.au :

Japan's wartime foreign minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, in describing Japan's second phase of war operational planning after the initial victories, wrote in his memoirs about a Japanese move on Darwin.
Shigemitsu's words add to a long line of Japanese wartime officials who have spoken and written about invasion plans for northern Australia in 1942. Some Australian historians have labelled such plans nothing more than a 'myth.'

Shigemitsu was foreign minister from 1943 to 1945 and again from 1954 to 1956. He was the Japanese ambassador to the Soviet Union and then Britain before the outbreak of war in the Pacific.

Arriving back in Japan before the outbreak of war, he claimed he made every effort to prevent war and put his views to the Cabinet, service chiefs and in an audience with emperor Hirohito. He was charged with war crimes after the Japanese surrender and was jailed.

He wrote in 1958 about the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Kokoda campaign in 1942 in his memoirs, Japan and her Destiny, published by E.P. Dutton & Co. of New York.

Shigemitsu said the first stage in the plan of Japan's campaign had been completed and essential sources of supply had been captured undamaged, including oil wells on Sumatra and Borneo. He said the Japanese Army preened itself on the way its plan of campaign had worked out. "Within two months Singapore had fallen to the Japanese and the Army had occupied Manila and soon Rangoon, among numerous other victories."

Shigemitsu's words also help us understand the behaviour and thinking of the Imperial Navy: "It seemed as though the Navy were merely crossing a no-man's land, so completely did it extend its area of conquest before its enemies had time to prepare their defences. Their pride was overweening and a certain (Captain) Hirade, a naval propagandist, announced on the radio that the U.S. would be forced to capitulate on the steps of the White House. The mistaken impression that the war had already been won gained ground. The public lost their heads and any hope of their realising what a world war entailed was dispelled."

Shigemitsu wrote about the Battle of the Coral Sea, a series of naval engagements which occurred off the north east coast of Australia between May 4 and May 8, 1942. In the southern Pacific, Japan's field of operations had extended beyond New Britain to Guadalcanal at the south-east tip of the Solomons: "Southward again the capture of New Hebrides and New Caledonia would threaten sea-lanes between Australia and the U.S. and guard the stepping-stones behind them.

"Further, in order to cross from Timor to Port Darwin in North Australia, it was necessary to have a firm grip on Papua (Australian Territory in New Guinea), for this would not only provide a useful base but would prevent the enemy counter-attacking from Australia."

Shigemitsu indicated how easy it would have been for Japan to occupy Darwin when he wrote: "Port Darwin had already been twice attacked by bombers and as a military bastation had been abandoned by the Australians.

"The capital of Papua was Port Moresby, which could be attacked both by sea and by land. The plan was for a task squadron to escort troopships from Rabaul round the eastern corner of New Guinea into the Coral Sea in order to attack Port Moresby from the sea. At this point it ran into an enemy aircraft squadron.

"The landing operation was thereby frustrated. Our squadron under Rear-Admiral Hara discovered the enemy squadron, led by the Lexington and theYorktown under Rear-Admiral Fitch, and attacked. The Lexington was sunk (May 8th). The Yorktown was seriously damaged but escaped... Our squadron also was badly damaged and the sea attack on Port Moresby was abandoned."

Shigemitsu continued his memoirs with a brief comment on the campaign across the Owen Stanley Range: "Later, an attempt was made to capture Port Moresby by land but this effort also failed. The plan to attack Northern Australia was thwarted and, to make matters worse, the rear of our Solomon Island expeditionary force was harassed by the American counter-attack that developed."

Shigemitsu's references about Darwin are at odds with historians of the 'internationalist school' in Australia who believe that Australia was never seriously threatened by Japan and that the war with Japan was largely decided nowhere near Australia. The 'internationalists', perhaps unwittingly, tend to minimalise Australia's role in the war and Japan's defeat.

Shigemitsu, when talking about attacking Darwin, is clearly not referring merely to bombing attacks. As he himself points out, at the time of this war planning, Darwin had already been bombed twice. The first devestating bombing attack on Darwin was February 15, 1942.

- Bob Wurth.

Health & Education ( posted 18th April 2010)

My greatest disappointment on my return to PNG in 2006 was the state of health and education in the Kokoda area( which I am sure is the same as in other areas of the country). The wonderful Rotary Hospital at Kokoda that my brother John and I attended to the opening of in 1995, along with PM Keating, was hardly being used. Each time I go up there now I take supplies for that hospital from Rotary Southport and I have also, greatly assisted by All Saints Anglican School on the Gold Coast, been helping Cecilie Kekedo with her English teaching Kokoda Infant School. She is now pretty well resourced - others including the Kokoda Track Foundation have been helping her too - and is building a new classroom thanks to ASAC. But this is all just a drop in the bucket so it is good to see the KDP putting some resources into both health & education along the Track. Below is their latest news:

In mid March, the Kokoda Development Program (KDP) began a major infrastructure exercise to position all construction materials (plus school supplies) to Central Province communities on the Track.

It is anticipated that all supplies will be delivered by the end of April (depending on weather conditions). Arrangements have been made with fixed wing and helicopter companies to make these deliveries.

The infrastructure drive will facilitate all segments of KDP’s 2010 schedule, especially impacting on the health and education programs.

The priority for the KDP Health program for the first six months of 2010 is to work with local communities to complete infrastructure projects in health clinics.

Track communities will continue to receive regular outreach visits over the year. There are six visits planned for the Efogi/Manari/Naoro catchment area in 2010, and monthly visits planned for the Kokoda rural catchment.

The KDP Health team will support Track community leaders to hold regular meetings with their health representatives to ensure good two-way communication channels.

Another feature of the KDP Health program for 2010 will be an intensive HIV Patrol, to be undertaken from 31 March to 15 April 2010. The aim of the patrol is to continue to provide support to communities with information on HIV prevention and care, plus counselling and testing. KDP Health aims to cover all Track communities with the HIV Patrol over 2010, which will include Track porters and guides.

THE STATE OF THE NATION ( Posted 11th March 2010, added to 23rd Mar 2010)

An interesting article from Keith Jackson's PNG Attitude struck a chord with me - here it is.

"PNG – too many dreams without meaning" by Joe Wasia

WHERE IS my country heading?
Sure, liquefied natural gas looks like it will be the major pillar of the
country's economy. But will the so-called leaders and bureaucrats manage
revenues from this project with the mindset of developing this nation?
We gained independence from Australia in 1975. Since then, the country has
remained stagnant in terms of development for 35 years. I often ask myself
whether the much talked of multi-billion kina LNG project in the Southern
Highlands will really change the lives of the people.
Much of the infrastructure we see today was built before independence,
including schools, hospitals, health centres, roads and bridges. These
facilities are in critical condition as they have not been maintained. Most of
our people are living in remote places where there are no basic services such
as aid posts, schools or even roads.
Goods and services are not distributed equally to the people. About twothirds
of the population is living in poverty. Another thing affecting Papua
New Guineans is the constant increase in the price of goods and services.
Basic items like rice, tinned fish, fuel and school fees have spiked
dramatically in recent months. I doubt people earning less than K500 a
fortnight can survive for a fortnight in such an environment.
The people of PNG know that we have a big problem with our economy and
the development of this country, but the government keeps mentioning
things like “National Alliance stability”, “kina stability”, “economic boom”,
“full of hope” and “PNG on the right track”.
These are positive statements but we do not know what they really mean and
how our lives can be improved. We are rich in natural resources compared to
Singapore, New Zealand and many other countries. Yet, they are highly
developed, and we are not.
If they can achieve such development status, what is happening in PNG? What
are we going to do when non-renewable resources such as gold, copper,
nickel and natural gas run out?
We have too many dreams without meaning. We shouldn’t expect miracles of
LNG. If we can’t manage the revenue from these resources and continue the
current system of bribery and corruption, there won’t be anything for us
enjoy.
Poor people will continue to live poorly and politicians and bureaucrats will
live luxuriously in mansions. The leaders and the people of PNG must now
stand up to put an end to corruption and bribery. Otherwise, we have no one
but ourselves to blame for ruining what could have been a great and
wonderful country.

My comment? Those responsible for rushing PNG into Independence long before it was ready have a lot to answer for! Tom Leahy of the famous New Guinea pioneering family, comments in his latest book

" I always thought Australia acted more as a referee than as a colonial power, although politics and independence were the 'in' things. Our basic role in the evolution of politics and education is PNG was as a guiding hand: totally different from Africa and other parts of the world......I was always proud of our partnership in progress... health and educations programs were racing ahead ( in the 60s) but now nothing works. Schools are gone, aid-posts are gone and roads are barely tracks. We too are gone  and they wish with all their hearts that we were still there instead of the corrupt leaders, Members of Parliament and big foreign companies that buy up everything and have no communication with the local people."

SAM TEMPLETON

Been a bit in the news of late about the search for Sam Templeton's remains at Oivi. Log on to our mates at www.kokodahistorical.com.au for lots of information about Sam and the theories of when and how he died but I will tell you a little what I know of Sam's movements before his death.

In early July 1942, my father Captain Bert Kienzle ( then a Lieutenant) was called to Ilolo( McDonald's Corner) where he began his many duties, mainly control of all native labour on what was to become the  Line of Communication we now know as the Kokoda Trail.

No sooner had he commenced his duties than he was advised by Captain “Ned” Kelly of the 39th Btn, now, OIC of the L of C,  that a Captain Sam Templeton CO of B Company of the 39th Battalion had been waiting for some days for someone to guide him across the Owen Stanleys to Kokoda. The Australian Army was no better off than the Japanese when it came to maps of this region; they had nothing worth using. A site had been chosen at Dobodura, inland from Buna for an airbase to carry the war closer to the Japanese now firmly entrenched at Rabaul, licking their wounds and regrouping. New Guinea Force was instructed to supply a rifle company to secure Kokoda then move on to protect the American Engineer Regiment assigned to the construction of this forward base. Templeton and his men were chosen for this job and they were to march to the site over the mountains, their supplies to be shipped by sea to Buna. Having recently traversed this route himself, Bert was the obvious guide for these troops and he arranged with Templeton that they would depart on the 8th July, giving him four days to get things organised at Ilolo.

 Bert then put together a group of one hundred and forty carriers made up of a mixture from about fifteen different tribes from all over Papua – mainly Tufi, Kapakapa, Orokaiva, Goaribari and Kiwai - to escort Templeton and his troops. He intended to carry out his assignment of commencing establishment of an efficient Line of Communication across the Owen Stanleys even as he led B Coy to Kokoda. The Japanese were now regularly flying low over the Trail area, especially around Iorabiabiwa. They had obviously been ordered to recky the area on their way back from their bombing forays over Moresby and it was now becoming apparent that they did have plans to cross the Owen Stanleys.So,throughout this journey, Bert seconded the village people, Koiaris and Biagis, to improve the trail in their area and to build, improve and extend the accommodation facilities at the various staging camps along the way. Perhaps this, along with the other tracks he cut as the campaign progressed, is why many people believe that Bert really blazed much of what was to become the War trail.

After resting at Kokoda while Bert went out to his plantations at the Yodda and collected supplies, some of which he gave to the 39th boys to see them on their way to Buna, Sam set off to supervise transport of stores due in on the "Gili Gili" from Buna to Kokoda. This was the last time Bert saw Sam but when he heard of his death as he made the track from Myola Lake #1, that he had just discovered, along Eora Creek ridge to join the old mail Trail, he decided to name the JUNCTION where these two tracks met - his track from Myola and the old mail Trail  - 'Templetons' Crossing' - out of respect for this man who he had come to like and admire on their hard slog across the Owen Stanleys.

We also have in our possession a letter Bert received from a member of the 39th Btn, Les Arnel, who was a runner with Templeton at the time he disappeared. Les recalls that they took up positions on the edge of the small plateau on which the village of Oivi was located but when they saw the Japanese swarming up the ridge, they pulled back to the actual village and spread around its perimeter. Sam told Les to stay put while he reconnoitered back towards Kokoda to see if there were any enemy along that route. Les said Sam disappeared fast into the jungle and not long afterwards shots rang out from the direction Sam had gone - confirming his suspcions that the enemy had now virtually surrounded the village. Les would never see Sam again and he writes that he understands all that was found was his holster and haversack. He concludes that Sam was killed by a person or persons unknown and his body removed some distance away

To read more about what Bert learned of Sam's death over the ensuing years, keep an eye out for my wife's biography of Bert "Architect of Kokoda" which should hit the bookshelves later this year. There are a few interesting twists to the story.

At the many talks and presentations I have given lately, I am invariably asked two questions – is it Track or Trail ( we won’t go into that one just now) – and “what’s this rubbish we hear these days that Japan never intended to invade Australia ?– this usually from people who were alive and adult in 1942.

I have recently read two books - PETER STANLEY’s - “INVADING AUSTRALIA” and BOB WURTH’s - “1942” and seen an article on the net by Hank Nelson, Professor Emeritus of Pacific & Asian History at ANU titled “Tracking Kokoda”. I strongly support the conclusions reached by Bob Wurth that at the time the Kokoda campaign was occurring, the Japanese had every intention of using Moresby as a staging post to reach Darwin and ultimately all of Australia.

Let’s look back to what was happening at that time.January 1942 found Japan in the midst of good war news in southern Asia and Tokyo was considering ways to protect these gains in a strategy called “ Fringe Outposts Campaign”. There were two such fringe outposts, Guadalcanal on the left flank and Port Moresby on the right which guarded an entrance they later called Hells’ Gate. The left flank anchors on the south east tip of the Solomons while the right flank is the only important port of the south east shore of Papua, Port Moresby. Moresby was practically unknown to most Japanese and the Imperial Army had only one map of New Guinea which they had located amongst their dusty files – a British War office reference map dated 1915. Yet, on the 10th March when a detachment of South Sea Corps was attacked off Lae by sixty allied carrier planes, sinking several transports, the hot heads at Supreme HQ Tokyo were inflamed enough to give orders that Port Moresby should be taken with minimum delay.

The purpose of this exercise was to protect their large base at Rabaul. By taking Port Moresby not only could land based aircraft then not bomb Rabaul but it would open up Australia to direct and much closer land invasion.I have in my possession samples of the money the Japanese had printed for use when they landed in Australia. In Stanley’s book he says this money means nothing as they did not put “Australia” anywhere on the notes - so why issue it to the troops in the first place? No doubt because they intended to change the name anyway! There is also a map available of which I have a copy, that shows all the places in Australia that were bombed and/or flown over by Japanese planes during the war – there are 21 of them. WHY BOTHER IF THEY HAD NO INTENTIONS OF INVASION.

The point is that in hindsight it is easy to appease the victors by saying they had no intention of invading. The fact remains that in 1942, up until they were defeated at Milne Bay then Kokoda and Guadalcanal, they were heading our way like a runaway freight train and our diggers strongly believed that they were fighting for Australia’s very survival – this no one can deny!

REPLIES RECEIVED:

24/07/09

Hi Soc
Whilst we have never met I feel I know a lot about yourself and family.Being friends with Gail and Nathan as well as trekking Kokoda last September experiencing my 70th birthday whilst on the trek. I am great freinds with Wallace Lemeki whom I know you know well also. After my trek I stayed on in Kokoda for a few days as I could not see the point in walking so far just to fly out the next day.Whilst there together with Wallace I visited your old family home although accompanied by a security guard I was only allowed to walk around the outside in its days it must have been a magnificent home. Also visited Saga villlage a few times with Wallace and the Anglican Church there that your father built. I have just read your recent blog and can say that I agree with it and your comments fully.
Great to see some one who actually knows what is going on reporting on it.
Best Regards
Brian