William McInnes did this movie for free. His part only required him to be on set for a day. In his own words he says: "I suppose in a minor way, doing this part is like tipping my hat to my father's generation. It's only a day's work and I decide to donate my fee to Legacy. So at least someone will get something out of it."
This movie's closing epilogue states: "The massively outnumbered Australians were eventually forced to withdraw from Isurava and fight a series of desperate rearguard actions back along the [Kokoda] track. After three more weeks of bloodshed, the Japanese, stretched to breaking point, were forced to retreat even though they were now in sight of their goal, Port Moresby [the capital of Papua New Guinea]. For the first time in the Second World War the Japanese army had been stopped. Australia would not be invaded. Chiselled into the memorial at the village of Isurava are four words: - Courage - Endurance - Mateship - Sacrifice - "
A mispronunciation of the name "Kokoda" has crept into Australian military history and general vocabulary. Australians uniformly pronounce Kokoda as "Kok-oh-duh" but the locals in PNG pronounce it "Kok-uh-duh".
Despite Australia coming to Britain's aid in both world wars without hesitation, Britain decided on a "Germany First" war policy, and did not send any troops to Australia. While both the Australian and American armies would arrive, Australia was able to stave off invasion due to men similar to those featured in the film.
From the 25-31 August 1942, Australia lost 99 men and had over a 100 wounded. The Japanese lost 140 and had over 230 wounded.