The Architect of Kokoda

Robyn Kienzle

Hachette Australia (2011)

The battles along the Kokoda Trail are fairly well documented but the general perception is that the trail was always there. As we see in this book, this is not correct. It is the story of Bert Kienzle, an unsung hero, written by his daughter-in-law. She has access to Bert’s family papers and his war memoirs and her book gives us a deeply personal look at a remarkable man. As well as developing the Kokoda Trail to the point that it could handle large numbers of troops Bert organised many of the native carriers (known affectionately as the “fuzzy wuzzy angels”), built airstrips, and constructed field hospitals and rest camps along the Trail.

It was originally just an old mailman’s track between some of the villages and a few footpads between villages. It started around Port Moresby and headed off into the interior. Various sections crossed the Owen Stanley mountain range, exposing users to its dreadful weather and other hazards. In places creek beds were a part of the network of tracks that worked around the worst obstacles to reach remote rubber and copra plantations and goldfields. One of these plantations was Bert’s. He.settled in an area of the Yodda Valley near a gap in the Owen Stanley Ranges close to the government outpost at Kokoda. He mined the area for gold, and used the profits to build a rubber plantation. It was served by the track system to Port Moresby as the trail to the north coast went through the territory of hostile natives who had only recently given up cannibalism. Everything was carried in or out by native carriers, who were treated well by Bert. He learned the native languages rather than use the more common “pidgin English”. His plantation workers were well looked after. As well as regular supplies from Bert they supplemented their diet with food grown in small gardens attached to each of the natives’ company-built houses. Bert’s popularity as a good man was to stand him well in the war to come.

The development of the Territory was aided by the arrival of engineers to aid in the mining ventures, and by the introduction of aircraft and radio communications. A small airstrip was built at Kokoda but it was often out of use due to flooding. Bert then hacked out an airstrip at Yodda which was closer to his plantation and less often out of service.

As the threat of war grew Australian military leaders made some bad decisions. Without consulting the men who lived and worked there, they assumed the Japanese would not be able to move along the Kokoda Trail because it was unsuitable for mechanised transport. Land troops could be cut off at what was inaccurately named the “Kokoda Gap”. The “gap” was actually eleven miles wide and completely indefensible. Port Moresby was left unprotected against air attack as it was believed any attack would come from the sea. The same mistake was made by the British at Singapore.

A troop of soldiers was sent to the north coast to patrol for any enemy presence. They had great difficulty finding their way along the Trail. Bert was not conscripted, but was told to keep producing gold for the war effort. Other white people, including Bert’s family, were evacuated. Finally Bert was told to close down the goldfields and make his way to Port Moresby. This was his first foot trip across the Owen Stanleys. He found most of the old mailman’s shelters and buildings on the trail were now in ruins. He and his “boys” had to hack their way through the growth on the old tracks. He passed through a number of places that were to feature in the New Guinea campaign – Alola, Kagi, Eora. At Port Moresby Bert was enlisted in the Citizens Military Force as a Warrant Officer. When a Japanese message was intercepted making it clear that they would invade across the Owen Stanleys, Macarthur’s headquarters ignored it. New Guinea officers took the message more seriously. Bert was ordered to build a road from Post Moresby to Kokoda and given two months to do it. This ludicrous order was based apparently on what few maps were available, not the reality of the topography. Eventually eleven kilometres of road was made, constantly churned into mud and inadequate for anything bigger than a jeep.

Bert then went to Ilolo to build local roads. His rapport with the natives headed off a potential revolt and mass desertions. The next job was to escort a company led by Capt. Sam Templeton over the Trail to Kokoda. Their job was to protect a U.S. Engineers group who were to build an airstrip at Dobodura while the Japanese were regrouping at Rabaul. Bert was also encouraging local villagers to improve the trails in their areas.

Gradually the Kokoda Line of Communication as it was known was improved but many sections were still in poor repair. Again the load fell on the native porters. Templeton’s small company alone needed 140 porters. The section from Kagi to Kokoda was the worst and would need a lot of work if it was to handle large troop movements. There was already a proposal to move 600 troops to Kokoda. Bert was setting up decent rest houses and food dumps along the Trail, but few native porters were coming through. He knew that airdrops were the only way to get enough supplies in.

The Japanese landed at Buna on the north coast and were faced only by the 60 men of Templeton’s group. A signalling line was laid to Efogi at Bert’s suggestion, speeding up communications,. He returned to Port Moresby to pick up a force of 500 carriers to resupply the troops in the forward areas. This was his fourth traverse of the Trail. The Japanese took Kokoda and the remaining troops fell back to Deniki. Air dropping of supplies was finally being tried but results at first were not good. The resupply still mostly consisted of Bert’s carriers, who were now taking out wounded as well as bringing up food and ammunition. They simply couldn’t carry enough.

There were two dry lakes near The Gap. Although the land was swampy in the middle, the smaller lakebed was a good spot for air drops. Bert named it Myola after the wife of one of his friends. The Myola dropping ground was later hailed as the saviour of the campaign. Bert cut a new track from Myola to the old Eora - Kagi track along the ridgeline. It met the track at a place Bert named Templeton’s Crossing after Sam Templeton, who had lost his life in the earliest fighting. The new track cut the carry time to the front to three or four days and allowed a stockpile to be built up at Myola. Many carriers were now being used to move the wounded to the first aid post at Templeton’s Crossing and thence to Port Moresby. Each wounded man took eight carriers. The carriers were perpetually cold, hungry and exhausted but still they kept going and their care of the wounded earned them a respected place in Australian history.

Bert felt the second, larger dry lake at Myola might be suitable for an airstrip. So it proved but the project was put on hold following a determined Japanese attack. Meanwhile Bert was bemoaning the loss of his house and all the mementoes at Yodda. The house had been looted by the Australians, smashed by the Japanese, and machinegunned by aircraft. As the Japanese steadily advanced against an undertrained Australian force Bert was warned that Myola may have to be evacuated. He cut an escape trail to Menari just in time for the soldiers to escape the Japanese advance.

Brigadier Potts was using strategic withdrawal along the Trail to lengthen the Japanese supply lines while allowing his own men time to resupply. Unfortunately Australia’s General Blamey wanted scapegoats for what he saw as a simple retreat. Potts lost his job. His replacement, Brigadier Porter, saw the logic of Potts’ plan and continued the policy. Bert was kept busy talking to the porters and reducing the number of malingerers and potential deserters among the native carriers. Once again his credibility with the natives saved the day and improved the natives’ morale.

Now it was the turn of the Japanese to suffer supply problems. They had only been issued with eleven days rations so most had to withdraw to Kokoda. Refreshed and reinforced Australian troops were now able to push the Japanese back, a move for which Macarthur and Blamey naturally took credit. After their terrible treatment by the Japanese many carriers were only too happy to serve with the Australian Army. This time the importance of airdrops was understood but it was still mismanaged from the top. In a controversial statement Robyn Kienzle says that Blamey ordered supplies dropped AHEAD of the troops to encourage them to hasten their advance. This meant that some supplies were dropped into enemy territory. Bert had an airstrip built on the big lake at Myola. It proved invaluable for the prompt delivery of essential supplies and much later for rapid evacuation of the wounded from the battles being fought around Templeton’s Crossing. Macarthur and Blamey continued sending telegrams complaining about the slowness of the advance. As the Japanese were pushed back Bert was sent back to Yodda to get the rubber plantations, now taken over by the government, back into production.

Finally Bert’s declining health led to him being hospitalised and sent back to Sydney where his family was waiting for him. His war was over. He was awarded an MBE for his work and was demobilised with the rank of Captain. His home at Yodda had been completely destroyed so he set about rebuilding. His family could come home at last. Even then his problems were not over. The price of rubber was fixed at so low a level that it was only marginally profitable. This was resolved finally when the Korean War began and rubber for truck tyres once again was in demand. Synthetic rubber had proved unreliable and costly to work.

His next problem was when the Australian government decided that Papua New Guinea should become independent. The position of the white population was in doubt although the new country still didn’t have the policemen, administrators, planters or doctors it would need. There was talk of nationalising the rubber and copra plantations. Seeing the troubles to come, Bert sold his plantation to the Development Bank for a tenth of its value and retired to Australia.

Robyn Kienzle raises a number of interesting points. The Kokoda Trail was Bert’s preferred name rather than Track. It was not a single track but a network of tracks and footpads that evolved to meet the needs of the military and the natives. Bits had been added to work around difficult areas and to move the Trail to higher ground and out of the enervating jungle. When the Trail was opened to the growing tourist industry Bert, the man who knew the Trail best, was not consulted. As a result some of the new Trail is not the section walked by the exhausted troops.

Bert was always concerned with the welfare of the natives and even tried to have a medal struck for each of the thousands of carriers in recognition of their work. He arranged (and partly paid for) a number of memorials to these brave men. He even arranged a memorial at Kokoda to the Japanese who had died along the Trail. Not all plantation owners were as compassionate but Bert still had the respect and affection of his native workers. He is a part of Papua New Guinea’s history as well as Australia’s. Let us hope this book brings his work to greater recognition.

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