High-tech on the Trail
There were also no choppers to evacuate the wounded.
Instead, it was partly up to the famous ‘fuzzy-wuzzy angels’ to assist in
carrying the sick and wounded to makeshift hospitals along the trail.
Charlie Lynn, in his book 100 Treks Across the Kokoda Trail,
states that the Kokoda campaign was what the army would classify as a ‘small
arms war’ – there were no army tanks or heavy artillery because it was not
possible for them to operate in such a rugged and unforgiving jungle
environment. It was therefore man against man, mortars, grenades, rifles and
bayonets.
During the war, there was some knowledge of the terrain although, once again, by today’s standards, it was limited. It was more
geographic knowledge versus topographic knowledge.
According to Major General Sir Kingsley Norris, who was chief
medical officer of the Australian 7th division during the Kokoda campaign:
"The track is probably centuries old… it climbs the highest
ridges, plunges down into the deepest ravines, and ascends the longest spurs."
Read more about the Kokoda Trail here:
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CQJY7938
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CQWFZVZH
GPS and the Kokoda Trail today
While there was certainly nothing high-tech about Kokoda,
fast-forward to the 1990s and technology would come to play a huge part in the
renewed interest and rediscovery of the WW2 campaign.
The revival can be directly attributed to Charlie Lynn. His
knowledge of the Kokoda Trail, combined with his military experience and
training is second to none.
A former Australian Army major, and Vietnam veteran, Charlie
Lynn is the founder of Adventure Kokoda. He has received an Order of Australia
and PNG’s Order of Logohu for his development of the Kokoda track and his contribution
to bilateral relations between the two countries. He has led more than 100
expeditions across the track. He was also a Liberal Party member of the NSW
Legislative Council from 1995 to 2015.
So, with Charlie, the Kokoda Trail and its legacy has always
been in good hands.
He has successfully used portable Global Positioning System
(GPS) devices such as Garmin, which uses ground to satellite signals, to create
modern topographical maps of the Kokoda Trail. Along with original maps he
acquired from the Royal Australian Army Survey Corps, Charlie and his team have
been able to put Kokoda back on the map after its post-war obscurity.
You see, Charlie and his team are experienced military
veterans. They literally have had very real military training, experience in
harsh terrains, and ‘boots on the ground’ to create the maps that now identify
the original battle sites like never before.
According to Charlie, a true testament to the importance of
his maps came in 1999.
“Our work was recognised by the investigators into a fatal
air crash on the trail near Abuari in 1999. The Chief Investigator called to
see if we would allow them to use our map as part of their investigation as it
was the only accurate map he could find in Australia or PNG.”
About Garmin
Garmin is an American, multinational technology company
founded in 1989.
The company specialises in GPS technology for automotive, aviation, marine, outdoor, and sport activities. Due to their development in wearable technology, Garmin also now competes with activity tracker and smartwatch consumer developers such as Fitbit and Apple.
Learn more about Garmin here
About GPS
According to Wikipedia:
“The Global Positioning System (GPS), is
a satellite-based radio navigation system owned by the United States
government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one
of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geolocation and time
information to a GPS receiver anywhere on or near the Earth
where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. It
does not require the user to transmit any data, and operates independently of
any telephonic or Internet reception, though these technologies can enhance the
usefulness of the GPS positioning information. It provides critical positioning
capabilities to military, civil, and commercial users around the world.
Although the United States government created, controls and maintains the GPS
system, it is freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver.”
Unprecedented awareness of the Kokoda Campaign
The maps created by Charlie Lynn’s team provide useful,
detailed information on the Kokoda campaign, and are an invaluable tool for
modern-day trekkers and medical evacuation and recovery teams. They have also
helped us visualise the true nature of the harsh, unforgiving nature of the
terrain.
Readers may recall, it was one of Charlie’s topographic maps
of Kokoda that featured on Air Niugini’s Boeing 737 in 2012 to commemorate the
70th Anniversary of the Kokoda Campaign.
Charlie Lynn is passionate about upholding the dignity and
legacy of the Kokoda Trail campaign and all who served and, of course, the
local custodians of the land across the trail.
As a former Parliamentary Secretary for Veterans Affairs in
the NSW Government, a returned serviceman, a prominent and vocal member of the
RSL, a member of the Board of the Kokoda Memorial Walkway in Sydney, and
someone who has trekked Kokoda 100 times, Charlie is both highly informed and
vocal about the Kokoda Trail.
So, it comes as no surprise, that Charlie has called out the
organisers of the recent “walk” by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
and PNG Prime Minister James Marape.
One startling claim by Lynn is that they were on the wrong
track.
“The section of the Kokoda Trail they spent most of their
time on did not exist in 1942. They were therefore denied an emotional
connection to it as there was no action in the area and no engagement with the
‘fuzzy wuzzy angels’ between Deniki and the Isurava Memorial.”
Some may say that it’s the thought that counts.
Cartoon: John Spooner (The Australian)
Oh, and Charlie is only a phone call away… an email, a
WhatsApp message, a courier pigeon! [i]
As far as oversights go, there appears to be no excuse.
It also adds substance to the claim by many Australians that
the Kokoda walk was no more than a somewhat cynical publicity stunt, especially
given that Albanese’s government in Canberra allowed public servants to
substitute the Anzac Day public holiday for another day of leave.
To those Australians who have had loved ones fight and die
for Australia, this was downright disrespectful. The Australian PM’s Kokoda
stunt smacked of hypocrisy.
Not wanting to turn our humble tech blog into a political
shit-fight, but many folks down-under are not happy.
For more on this stoush visit Charlie’s blog
https://blog.kokodatreks.com/2024/05/05/albo-off-track-trek-on-kokoda
Or visit his Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/CharlieLynn
[i] During
WW2 there was actually an Australian Corps of Signals Pigeon Service. For more
on the fascinating story of the role of courier pigeons during the war read
this article from the RSL of Victoria’s website https://rslvic.com.au/news/essential-allies-the-history-of-the-wartime-homing-pigeon
Comments
Post a Comment