Kokoda Missing: Japanese War Crimes, Orokaiva Trials and the Identification of an Unknown Australian Army Grave

Abstract

The Australian Army estimates there are 25,000 unrecovered casualties from its past conflicts including the world wars. Three of those are the topic of this article. They were combat commanders killed in the early days of fighting at Kokoda in World War II, leading the men in operations against the Japanese. Templeton was captured and killed after interrogation. Crawford was ambushed and murdered by hostile Papuans. Dean was killed in battle and buried in the field. Closely reviewing the evidence of how the men’s lives ended aims to provide resolution for their families, and thus to secure for them and the men who died appropriate recognition and commemoration by the Australian Defence Force. Illustrating how archival resources may be better utilised to establish identification, the following argues that an unidentified grave at Bomana War Cemetery contains the remains of Crawford.