Wartime History
Used by the Japanese Army, 144th Infantry Regiment during the Kokoda campaign. Assigned to 1st Lt. Takaki Yoshijo, a graduate of the 53rd class of the Army Military Academy.

On November 10, 1942, the Japanese were ordered to withdraw from the Oivi area. Reaching Gorari, the Japanese found the river crossings to the east were flooded from rains and heavy weapons were to be buried and abandoned in favor of carrying their wounded across the river.

Although 1st Yoshijo protested, he and his men carried out the order to destroy their gun and bury it. After saying his farewells and ordering the wounded to be evacuated, he returned to the buried gun, sat down and shot himself in the head with his pistol.

Wreckage
Postwar, the gun barrel was dug up by locals near Gorari and displayed on the Kienzel property at Yodda. During the late 1960s, installed at the Japanese Memorial at Kokoda when it was constructed, mounted into two concrete blocks. This gun remains at the monument to this day.

During October 1968, the gun barrel was identified by Nakahashi, a former Japanese Army clerk who returned to New Guinea to recover Japanese remains. Seeing the Japanese monument, he identified this gun barrel as Takaki's gun, presumably from the serial number or the story about it being found at Gorari.

References
Field Guide to the Kokoda Track pages 387

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Last Updated
October 23, 2019