History of Kokoda: The Life and Death of Sam Templeton

Talks on Tuesdays is a live event series bringing big ideas, real experts, and curious minds together – at your favourite local venues. Think thought-provoking lectures, audience questions, and post-talk mingling over drinks and dinner.

This isn’t a uni lecture. It’s a social, intelligent night out.Come alone or with friends, leave with something to talk about.

Event Schedule:

6.30pm Arrival & Doors Open

7pm Lecuture Starts

7.45pm Q&A

8pm Talk Concludes

8.30pm Event Closes.

*Please arrive close to 6.30pm

A La Carte menu and full bar available throughout the night – pay as you go.

Your Topic:

History of Kokoda: The Life and Death of Sam Templeton

Captain Sam Templeton was the first Australian officer to be captured by the Japanese in the Kokoda Campaign. After being interrogated by his captors he was executed on the battlefield.Prior to facing his enemy, Templeton had predicted his fate, telling one of his platoon commanders, that if ‘he went into action, he wouldn’t come back’. Having resigned himself to his destiny, Templeton misled his captors on the numerical strength of the Australian forces waiting in Kokoda and Port Moresby.Did the misinformation given by a militia officer slow the initial push by the Yokoyama Advance Force into the Owen Stanley Range, allowing the Australian Imperial Force to join the fight earlier? Did Templeton create doubt in the mind of the commander of the South Seas Force, influencing an operational change for the attack on Port Moresby?

A quiet and often aloof character originally from Belfast, Captain Sam Templeton is mentioned in just about every book written about Kokoda. Prior to fighting in New Guinea, Templeton is reputed to have helped quash the Irish rebellion, served in submarines with the Royal Navy during the First World War and to have fought with the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War.

Your Speaker:

David Howell is a Melbourne-based author, tour guide and historian specialising in the South-West Pacific Area of Operations during the Second World War. With extensive experience as a guide at the Friends of Kokoda at the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway in Concord and the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, educating visitors about the significance of the Kokoda Campaign. David created and was the editor of the Shrine’s history magazine-Remembrance at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne and also created and ran the Friends of the Shrine program. In 2015 he returned full-time to his business Kokoda Historical. He has personally led over eighty treks across the Kokoda Track.David also served for eighteen years as an infantry soldier in the Australian Army Reserve. In 2008 he deployed on peacekeeping operations in the Solomon Islands. David is well published on Australian Military history and a regular guest on many radio and television history programs including the award winning SBS series Who Do You Think You Are.David is a life member of the 39th Battalion Association and resides on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria.