6 September 1942

After being relieved by the 2/14th & 2/16th Battalions, the 39^th Battalion reaches Menari village. There, for the first time since he took command at Isurava three weeks earlier, Lt Col Ralph Honner is able to address his men as one body.

He thanks them for their remarkable achievement in holding on against overwhelming odds at Isurava long enough for the AIF troops to reach them and reinforce them. And then to fight alongside the 2/14th at Isurava until the massive Japanese numbers forced them to withdraw. Ralph passes on the congratulations of the Brigade commander, Brigadier Arnold Potts.

As Ralph speaks to his ragged young charges, the scene is filmed by war correspondent cameraman Damien Parer and is later included in his Academy Award winning doco, Kokoda Frontline, becoming one of the enduring images of the campaign.

At Brigade Hill & Mission Ridge near Efogi village, the 2/14th, 2/16th and 2/27th Battalions are feverishly digging in, awaiting an expected enemy onslaught as the Japanese try for a knockout punch that will open the way to Port Moresby.