No hard evidence in this article. We'll see what follows. Interesting though that the Japanese thought they were up against 1200 when the opposing force was only 77 ... and then Williams goes on to say Japanese sources showed the Australian forces were actually much bigger in other battles. If they got it wrong once... Kokoda campaign exaggerated, says university researcher | National News | News.com.au
Man man o man i would like to see all of his sources. The Japanese even at the last battles on the southern side of PNG the IJA still out numbered the AIF and AMF by up to 3 >1. In the first battle of Kokoda the IJA were up against B Coy 39 Btn AMF, by the end of that battle the rest of the 39th had arrived and tried to retake Kokoda and failed. If any of what this man says was true I would expect that it would of come out by now. It is accepted that everyone underestimated the amount of the others forces. However untill the IJA were pushed back over the track and over the Kumusi river the Australians were able to for the first time use elements of two (2) Bgds in attack. . Of course the Japanese history of Kokoda would be different as they lost and in loosing they lost honour something that is almost as important to them today as back then. As no matter how many thousand's of troops were thrown at the Aussies the IJA kept geeting a bloody nose and their timetable was about a month out of whack.
