'It seemed to be a body from WWII': The Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea
A team of Australian investigators is preparing an expedition to the arduous Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea, after a hiker spotted what is believed to be the body of a World War II airman hanging from a tree. The BBC's Becky Branford found out more.
History is alive on the densely forested slopes north of Port Moresby, the Papua New Guinea capital.
The hillsides around what is known as the Kokoda Trail are littered with rusting guns, grenades and mortars - reminders of the strategically crucial battles that raged there in 1942 and 1943.
Hundreds of Australians lost their lives fighting off an invading Japanese force that probably planned to use Port Moresby as a bridgehead for an assault on the Australian mainland. Japanese losses were several times heavier.
David Collins, who leads treks along the Kokoda Trail, is used to imagining how the stench of death, sickness and starvation once hung heavy in the air in what is now a verdant and peaceful landscape.
But he little imagined that he would one day be confronted with what is probably the corpse of one of the many fighters who lost their lives.
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History is alive on the densely forested slopes north of Port Moresby, the Papua New Guinea capital.
The hillsides around what is known as the Kokoda Trail are littered with rusting guns, grenades and mortars - reminders of the strategically crucial battles that raged there in 1942 and 1943.
Hundreds of Australians lost their lives fighting off an invading Japanese force that probably planned to use Port Moresby as a bridgehead for an assault on the Australian mainland. Japanese losses were several times heavier.
David Collins, who leads treks along the Kokoda Trail, is used to imagining how the stench of death, sickness and starvation once hung heavy in the air in what is now a verdant and peaceful landscape.
But he little imagined that he would one day be confronted with what is probably the corpse of one of the many fighters who lost their lives.