Adventure Kokoda Blog

Recent reports regarding the discovery of Captain Sam Templeton’s body by a trek operator, Wayne Wetherall of Kokoda Spirit, were widely reported throughout Australia and Papua New Guinea. According to Wetherall a 90 year old Japanese war veteran, Kokichi Nishimura, claimed to have buried Captain Templeton after he was killed by an enraged Japanese officer in July 1942.

The reports raise a number of questions, in particular:

. Why has Nishimura waited until now to suddenly ‘remember’ the incident?

. How was Nishimura’s claim tested?

. Why wasn’t the ‘discovery’ reported to the appropriate authorities i.e. the Australian High Commission, the Army Unrecovered War Casualties Unit or the Office of Australian War Graves so that a specialist forensic team could be formed to excavate the site?

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The PNG Government has officially proclaimed Kokoda Day as 3 November – the anniversary of the day the Australian flag was raised on the Kokoda plateau.  The day will be dedicated to the PNG War Carriers (of ‘fuzzy-wuzzy angel fame).  The inagural Kokoda Day ceremony will be held in Kokoda on 3 November 2010. 

The proclamation was the result of a proposal submitted by Charlie Lynn of Adventure Kokoda.  Charlie made the following speech to the NSW Parliament on 2 May 2006: (more…)