It was important in keeping a valuable position in Port Moresby in Allied hands without a doubt. However it would quickly be overshadowed by a much larger campaign several hundred miles to the East.

About 3 weeks after the start of the fighting along the Kokoda, the Allies began their first counterattack of the war. On August 7th a task force supported by carriers landed the 16k men of the first Marine Division in Operation Watchtower, starting the fight for Guadalcanal.

On both sides Guadalcanal and its precious airfield became the focus of almost all efforts in the South Pacific. Air formations that had been based in Rabaul and meant to support efforts on Hew Guinea found themselves forced to operate at the furthest extent of their range in near daily runs to try to knock out the US defenders of what was codenamed CACTUS(Hence CACTUS Air Force). So long as the Allies had control of a base in the Solomons and a naval presence they could neutralize the advantages gained should Japan seize Moresby, in order to cut off Australia Guadalcanal absolutely had to be retaken.

However after in the end after 6 months of fighting on land, sea, and air the Japanese were thoroughly beaten. japan lost 3 to 4 times as many men in the fighting for the island than they did in New Guinea, along with many warships and precious hard to replace air crews. While the Allies achieved operational momentum which they would never give up and were able to secure their hold and begin to challenge Japanese air superiority everywhere in the South Pacific not just in self defense, and begin the march up the Solomons. While the loss of Moresby would have been a demoralizing blow, it would not have been the catastrophe the Guadalcanal could have been.

Ian W. Toll Conquering Tide

Lundstrom First Team at Guadalcanal

Ultimately, there was not a lot of significance, given the later efforts at Guadalcanal, however, the Kokoda campaign, combined with the Battle of Milne Bay and the later Northern Beachheads campaign (the battles for Gona, Buna and Sanananda) marked the first land based victories of the counter-offensive against Japan. At the time, there was a fear of an invasion of Australia, though it wasn't ever a realistic option.

The Kokoda campaign bore significance as it was the last line of defence against the fall of Port Moresby (which was also one of the objectives of the Battle of the Coral Sea). Australian troops initially held Kokoda, but were forced to retreat against superior numbers, and began a campaign of attrition. Outside of small villages and clearings along the track, the frontline was at times one man wide, and eventually the first troops were reinforced by troops from the 7th Australian Division as they returned from North Africa. Retreats occurred until the Japanese overstretched their supply lines, and then the counter-offensive launched, though not without large scale interference from MacArthur and Thomas Blamey, who demanded results faster than were being delivered, and they relieved several commanders before the counter-offensive started.