- On this day in 1942. During World War II, Japanese forces attack Kokoda on the island of New Guinea, forcing Australian troops to retreat. There at Kiokoda, at 2:30 in the morning on the 29 July 1942, the Australian troops were attacked by Japanese forces led by Captain Ogawa. Within an hour, the Australian defence line collapsed. Major Watson of the Papuan Infantry Battalion, ordered the forces to retreat to Deniki. Seven Australians had been killed and 6 wounded, compared to the Japanese losses of 12 dead and 26 wounded. Months later, with much assistance from the Papua New Guinean natives, dubbed “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angles”, the Australian troops turned back the Japanese forces, which then retreated to bases at Buna, Gona and Sanananda. Here, the Japanese were eventually defeated in a hard fought campaign which lasted through December 1942 to 23 January 1943, one year after the Japanese first landed at Rabaul.
- On this day in 1981. Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer marry. Buckingham Palace announced the engagement on 24 February 1981 of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. When they married on 29 July 1981, it was classed as a fairytale wedding. Charles, 32, and Diana, 20, were married at St Paul’s Cathedral in a ceremony attended live by 3500 guests and viewed by a television audience of 750 million. Difficulties within the royal marriage were reported within a few years, in 1985. Fifteen years after the “fairytale wedding”, the marriage ended in divorce. Diana agreed to relinquish the title of “her royal highness’, to be known in the future as Diana, Princess of Wales.
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A map of the Kokoda Trail/Track as it was in 1942. It has been rotated so the trail which runs roughly NE from Port Moresby runs up and down the page. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Princess Diana’s Wedding 1981
The Princess of Wales on her wedding day (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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