All Comments on 'Canny Mackenzie'

It was the Kokoda track, not trace. And the battle of the Coral sea preceded the Japanese landing at Buna and Milne Bay. These two landings were done because the battle of the Coral Sea prevented the seaborne attack on Port Moresby. Otherwise for people ignorant of the Kokoda campaign it was quite entertaining.

Canned beer was not available;abe in Australia until 1958.

Sorry, Anon. I researched before writing the story. Canned beer first appeared in Australia in 1936.

The Kokoda Track was also called the Kokoda Trace. I know from people who fought along it. Whenever the battle of the Coral Sea was, its effect was to make Japanese supply to the front line difficult and it was that which eventually led to the Allies' success in New Guinea. Thanks Americans!

Ignore the Nit-Pickers

Neither of the quibbles mentioned detracted from the story to any great degree. Readers are expected to be in a state of willing disbelief. So we can assume this story took place in an alternative universe. Thank you, Ogg, for yet another imaginative tale.

*****Great adventure story writing. Thanks for sharing.

5* — Another great Oggbashan story! Thanks from an enthusiastic fan!

Kokoda Trace or Track? Author's explanation. US troops tended to call it 'Track'. Australians called it 'Trace'. In Australian terminology, pre-war and during WW2, a 'Track' was a narrow ungraded dirt route only capable of being used by mule or horse. Post-war it would be called, and marked on a map, as a 'Jeep Track' passable with caution in a jeep or landrover. Calling the route a 'track' overstated its capacity. Large parts were impractical for any horse or mule and everything had to be man-portered by both sides, usually by New Guinea locals. Aussies usually called it 'Trace' with suitable expletives. As the story was written from an Australian perspective I have called it a 'Trace'.

Good yarn…..although…..not Kokoda “trace”…….Kokoda Trail. I am an Aussie. Following the war it was just about universally called the “trail” until more recent “history corrections” changed it to “track”. I believe this was an attempt to deAmericanise our history. Anyway, another good read Ogg. Pete.

Firstly it is a good story. But when a story is set in a historical context it is important to have names and places correct. I lived in TPNG(Territory of Papua New Guinea) in the early 1960's and had mates who were born there. I've talked with ex coast watchers and ex servicemen who fought along the track. I even visited the start of the track in 1963. There were only Australian enlisted servicemen fighting the Japanese along the Kokoda Track. Tracks are everywhere in Australia and have a common meaning like trail in America. The Kokoda Trace is definitely wrong and searching for it on Google only returns Kokoda Track articles where trace is used somewhere within the article. Except for a document titled Command and General Staff School, Military Review, Volume XXIII, 1943 which uses the term Kokoda Trace. I assume that it is an American Army Document, written by Americans who were not there.

I am sorry to everyone who considers the name wrong, but I'm not changing it. I was told it was 'trace' in the early 1960s by Australian veterans who had fought along it. It was usually accompanied by swearwords as they remembered just who difficult., and almost impossible to traverse. Until much later it was a very difficult route even for a man on foot.

Wonderful history based story about some of the unsung Heroes, and Heroines of WWII. Thank you so much for it. Five Stars.

Anon here. I researched the canned lager question too. You state that Canny loved canned Australian lager. Australian made beer was first put in cans in 1958, at least according to Victoria Bitter who made it. The 1936 beer was imported English beer according to the “Trove” record, not canned Australian lager.

I surrender. Canny was drinking American canned beer, I was misled by an Australian site that said canned beer was available in Australia in the late 1930s. Millions of cans of AMERICAN canned beer were supplied to the Pacific Campaign (along with millions of bottles of Coca-Cola). The WW2 cans were much stronger and thicker steel than later (as was the glass in Coke bottles). The cans were ideal for improvised bombs. As for the route? I met a few dozen ex-Australian Army veterans of New Guinea at an RSL in 1960. They all called it 'Trace' - maybe a unit peculiarity, but they emphasised just how narrow, treacherous and difficult to move on (or even find ) it was.

Before bashing me even more for minor mistakes, please remember that this is a fictional story not a documentary.

*****I had to read it again. Great bit of storytelling. Thanks again for sharing.

Amazing!! Thank you!!

My grandfather was born in Melbourne, fought for Australia in World Wat I

Great story, love it. AAAAAA++++++