Before 1941 there were very few people who considered a Japanese attack on Australia as a serious possibility. But after the sinking of the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour (7 December 1941) and the fall of Singapore (15 February 1942) Australia looked very vulnerable indeed. And so, unprepared and disorganised, Australia entered into a conflict that was moving towards its borders with an overwhelming speed.

This was the battle for Australia. A struggle of so many tragic and defiant stories: the suicidal Battle of the Sunda Strait, the 'naval' air war in The Coral Sea, the daring of the coastwatches throughout the Pacific Islands, the virtually unknown work of the merchant navy on small ships, the Battle of Milne Bay (the first time the Japanese Army was ever defeated), and of course, Kokoda. That narrow, mud-ridden, track cutting north-south across The Owen Stanely Range in New Guinea. The way that the Japanese army was never meant to come.

It's an astonishing thing to read the official briefings on the subject of the Kokoda track. Even the later ones. The Allied command didn't understand the conditions and the terrain. At first it was thought it was impossible to cross the mountains, and later, when the Japanese were crossing them, it was believed you could easily block their advance. With such poor intelligence, it is not surprising that the youngest and most untrained units of the Australian Army (the two militia battalions, the 39th and 53rd) were positioned there. By the time it was realised that the Japanese had assembled in force, these Australian battalions were vastly outnumbered and outgunned.

It was a campaign that lasted several months and the battle at Isurava (26-28 August 1942) was critical. It was here the 39th battalion held up the Japanese advance for three days until they were relieved by the regular Australian Army.