Kokoda - 39th Battalion

Kokoda - 39th Battalion

New Guinea, 1942, Allied Australia is at war with Japan. A small platoon of reservist Australian soldiers have been sent as an advanced patrol up the Kokoda trail – a critical supply line that separates Australia from full blown invasion.

After sustained bombardment from the Japanese, the men are cut off from their supply lines. Isolated in the jungle behind enemy lines, they must make their way back through the most unforgiving terrain on earth to reunite with the main body of Australian troops.


After three days without food or sleep, carrying their wounded and suffering the horrifying effects of dysentery and malaria, they emerge from the jungle exhausted to the point of collapse. But on learning that Isurava is about to fall they pick themselves up and rejoin the battle…


Inspired by real events and the Kokoda / Isurava memorial inscription of 'courage, mateship, endurance and sacrifice', Kokoda evokes the visceral and terrifying realities of warfare and their devastating effects on the human condition.