Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 10, 2022

Allied logistics in the Kokoda Track campaign played a crucial role in bringing the 1942 World War II campaign in the Territory of Papua to a conclusion. To transform its capital Port Moresby into a major base, engineers built airfields, wharves, roads, and warehouses. The interior was covered with dense rainforest and rugged mountains that wheeled vehicles could not traverse. Few aircraft were available, and they were restricted by the weather and subject to destruction on the ground by Japanese air raids. The loss of the airstrip at Kokoda led to the adoption of airdropping (pictured). Due to a shortage of parachutes, supplies were often dropped without them, with attendant losses and breakages. Trucks, jeeps, and pack animals carried stores, ammunition, and rations only part of the way. The rest of the journey over the Kokoda Track was on the backs of Papuan carriers, who struggled over the mountains lugging heavy loads. They often carried the wounded too, which earned them the sobriquet of "Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels".