Partial remains of Australian World War II soldiers have been discovered in a grave site near the Kokoda Track, which has remained untouched for 80 years. The grave site, located on the Templeton’s Crossing off the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, was initially found by a local landowner in 2018 while he was terracing his land. The discovery was reported to the Australian Army’s Unrecovered War Casualties Team, but they were only able to reach the site in June of this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and inclement weather.
A team of experts trained in archaeology, human skeletal anatomy, and crime scenes was flown to the remote site to begin the excavation process. They recovered partial remains of 15 Australian soldiers from 65 graves, along with personal items such as a signet ring, pocketknives, and part of a bayonet. The remains were then sent to Port Moresby for forensic processing.
The archaeologists initially believed that the star pickets near the gravesite were commemorative. However, upon closer examination, they discovered that the star pickets were actually original and had not been moved since they were placed to mark the graves. This discovery was unexpected, as the grave site was located close to the popular Kokoda Trail, which had been frequented by trekkers for years.
The archaeologists will now work to identify the remains using anthropological analysis and DNA technology. Their goal is to confirm the identities of the fallen soldiers and transfer them to their proper graves. Templeton’s Crossing, where the battles between Australian and Japanese soldiers took place in October 1942, is only accessible by a several days’ walk or helicopter flight from Port Moresby. During the Kokoda campaign, more than 600 soldiers were killed, and 65 Australian troops were buried in temporary graves at Templeton’s Crossing.
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