Isurava is a small village in
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
, located in
Oro Province
Oro Province, formerly (and officially still) Northern Province, is a coastal Provinces of Papua New Guinea, province in the Southern Region, Papua New Guinea, Southern Region of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Popondetta. The provinc ...
, on the
Kokoda Track
The Kokoda Track or Trail is a single-file foot thoroughfare that runs overland – in a straight line – through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The track was the location of the 1942 World War II battle between Japane ...
. It is near the site of the
Battle of Isurava
The Battle of Isurava, also sometimes referred to as the Battle of Isurava – Abuari or the Battle of Isuraba, took place between 26 and 31 August 1942. Forming part of the Kokoda Track campaign of the Second World War, the battle involve ...
that occurred over the period 26 to 31 August 1942, as Australian forces were being pushed back toward
Port Moresby
(; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...
by the advancing Japanese. The present site is to the north of the wartime village. It is the site of the
Isurava Memorial, constructed in 2002 in remembrance of all those Australians and Papua New Guineans who fought and those who died on the Kokoda Track in 1942.
On 11 August 2009
Airlines PNG Flight 4684 crashed into a mountain on the opposite side of the valley from Isurava, high above Misima village. It was attempting to
go-around
In aviation, a go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on Final_approach_(aeronautics), final approach or has already touched down. A go-around can either be initiated by the pilot flying or requested by air traffic control for var ...
at
Kokoda Airport
Kokoda Airport is an airport in Kokoda, Papua New Guinea. The airfield was a focal point of the intense battle along the famous Kokoda trail, during the second World War. It was taken and retaken several times by both Japanese and Australian tro ...
. All 13 passengers and crew died in the accident.
See also
*
Kokoda Track campaign
The Kokoda Track campaign or Kokoda Trail campaign was part of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign consisted of a series of battles fought between July and November 1942 in what was then the Australian Territory of Papua. It was primar ...
References
Populated places in Oro Province
{{OroProvince-geo-stub