Excellent two part documentary on perhaps the most famous Australian campaign of World War Two (only the siege of Tobruk would match it). Watching it I was struck how little I knew about the actual fighting that went on there – Kokoka was a series of defeats at the hands of the Japanese, okay yes a fighting retreat but we keep retreating until just outside Port Moresby, when the Japanese were ordered to retreat. Their commanding officer always thought they could have won and maybe they could have through sheer bluff. Certainly retreat wasn’t a great decision militarily – the Japanese went further and further back, then when the Australians finally did beat them it was a slaughter. So the first time they won, they really won.
I was also unaware just what a prat MacArthur was. Stung after his failures in the Philippines, he was constantly demanding the Australians advance and attack, and kept having Australian commanders replaced. (It does seem Australian commanders were always whingeing about supplies and giving excuses for retreating). Later on when American troops landed in New Guinea, they made a meal of their initial fighting efforts and the Aussies had to come to the rescue. But in the interests of fairness, this documentary does report on a time when fresh Australian troops basically ran away from the Japanese, and points out the fuzzy-wuzzies were basically slave labour.
Some terrific talking heads, including Paul Ham and several veterans, and good footage. One Japanese veteran admits to cannibalism on the trail – starved of food, the Japanese weren’t adverse to nibbling on their opponents. Some of the re-enactments are a bit hokey.
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