Kokoda

The Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea is a narrow trail, winding through thick jungle and dangerous terrain. The steep slopes slip with mud and rain, and insects, snakes, and disease run rampant . During WWII, a group of Australian soldiers isolated from supplies and communication and led by Jack Scholt (Jack Finsterer) braved this route to rejoin their Battalion. These soldiers were not enlisted men, but the untrained and ill-equipped 39th Battalion Australian Infantry. The militia was made up of teenagers who volunteered for ancillary services, like building roads, but were called in to mount an offensive against the Japanese. Derisively referred to as ‘chocolate soldiers’, or soldiers who would melt in the heat of battle, these boys turned into men as they faced the gruesome scenes of war and the dangers awaiting them on the Kokoda Track.