Education Centre

Teachers and students are encouraged to access and read the following resources before or after visiting the Walkway.

Please note: if any of the maps are to be used for publication, please note the appropriate acknowledgment of the source.

1. Maps

Map 1: PNG Kokoda Track (commissioned by the KTMW)

Map 2: Kokoda Trail Relief Map (courtesy of Charlie Lynn’s Adventure Kokoda Trek)

Map 3: Wartime map – Kokoda coast (source: Our Spirit Adventures)

Map 4: Wartime map – Templeton’s Crossing (source: Our Spirit Adventures)

Map 5: Wartime map – Nauro to Templeton’s Crossing (source: Our Spirit Adventures)

Map 6: Wartime map – Ilolo to Nauro (source: Our Spirit Adventures)

Map 7: Kokoda Track Plaque/Map (attached to Education Centre. Sculptor: Ross J. Bastiaan, Donor: Charlie Lynn OAM OL)

2.  KTMW material

Overview history of Kokoda Track campaign.

Details on the 22 Stations at the Walkway
Each Station explains the significant battles or locations in the campaign. The names of Australians KIA at each location will be gradually added to each webpage. Each Station webpage has an audio version of the Station text.

‘Stories from the Plaques’: read fascinating details of individuals and units who served in the New Guinea/Kokoda campaigns, based on plaques in our Memorial Rose Garden.

3.  Publications/Research

‘Kokoda 1942 Australians in the Pacific War’

Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) commemorative booklet, 2014.

Voices from the War: Papua New Guinean Stories of the Kokoda Campaign

A joint publication between the PNG and Australian Governments, 2015.

The Track: A historical desktop study of the Kokoda Track

Commissioned by the Australian Government in 2009, this is a comprehensive historical study of the Kokoda Track, produced by the Australian War Memorial (AWM).

Not Yet Diagnosed: Australian Psychiatric Casualties During the Kokoda Campaign, 1942

Produced by the AWM in 2021, this study focuses on the mental health of Kokoda veterans.

4.  Podcasts

‘On Kokoda’ with Dr Karl James: A Dead Prussian Podcast episode (32m.09s)

Kokoda (various podcasts on the 53rd Battalion): The Principles of War

‘Kokoda Campaign 1942 Beyond the Legend‘ with Dr Karl James: True Blue Conversations (1h.13m.50s)

5. Website resources/other

PNG Remembrance Trail

DVA launched a new site in November 2022, honouring those who served in PNG during World War Two.

The Kokoda Initiative

A partnership between the governments of Papua New Guinea and Australia, featuring videos and other resources.

Kokoda Track Museums

Explore the museums dedicated to the Kokoda Track campaign, administered by the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery.

PNG Voices from the War

The oral history collection recording the memories and stories about Papua New Guinean’s during the World War II in PNG and significantly along the Kokoka Track, managed by Deakin University.

Timeline of events in the Kokoda campaign (July 1942 – January 1943): DVA resource.

Kokoda Track stamps from Australia & PNG: variety of postage stamps commemorating the Kokoda Track campaign.

Rising Tide Walking Tour App: an historical walking tour app (developed by the City of Canada Bay) for the 11km walk around the foreshore areas of the Parramatta River, including the KTMW. Other historical local people and places associated with Australia’s efforts in the World War II are included.

Charlie Lynn’s Adventure Kokoda Trek

Charlie Lynn OAM OL is a long-time supporter of the Walkway. His company offers individuals or groups the opportunity to walk the actual Track in PNG.

Please also refer to the Further Reading and Lists page for more useful resources, publications and historical records/images/search engines from many organisations that feature Australian military history records.

Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin was commissioned by the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway to write Meeting The Sun to commemorate the 2015 centenary of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landings at Gallipoli in 1915.

Elena sought to encapsulate and communicate concepts of hope, freedom, grace, reflection, and the future, and the sacrifices made by men and women who have served.

Five education kits support students and educators in their learning and experience. The education kits are structured in accordance with the Music Curriculum key learning areas for students in Year 7/8 or Stage 4 (NSW Board of Studies). Importantly, the education kits integrate elements from the Human Society and its Environment (HSIE) History curriculum within this context.

Kit 1: Movement 1: I Wish I Was Young

Kit 2: Movement 2: Hearts on Fire

Kit 3: Movement 3: This Lovely Day

Kit 4: Movement 4: Wipe Away Your Tears

Kit 5: Movement 5: Lest We Forget

While Meeting the Sun is not specifically related to the Kokoda campaign, it reflects the unique character, courage, and sacrifice of all Australians who have served or supported our armed forces over the past 100 years since the 1915 Gallipoli landings. Those who served at Kokoda share these same characteristics.

Teachers and students will find this an invaluable resource.

We have been fortunate to be the recipients of some meaningful and touching poems related to the Kokoda Track, and we are also pleased to highlight other works related to the campaign.

The Kokoda Track

The Crosses on the Kokoda Track

Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels: See here for another poem, which was written during the Kokoda campaign in 1942 by Sapper Bert Beros (NX6925, 7th Australian Division, RAE). (Source: Papua New Guinea Association of Australia)