Albanese also paid tribute to the villagers who risked their lives to feed,guide and shelter Australians in desperate need along the Kokoda Track.

He also spoke of Maiogaru Gimuleia Taulebona,a nurse who risked danger by hiding wounded Leading Aircraftman John Francis Donegan from the Japanese.

“They were angels walking tall through the hell of war,” he said.

“For the Papua New Guineans,this was not a theatre,a backdrop or a battlefield. It was home.”

Standing beside four stone pillars etched with the words courage,endurance,mateship and sacrifice,Marape thanked Albanese for his “kindness of heart and generosity of time” by becoming the first Australian prime minister to walk the track.

Noting that global leadership was being contested in our current age,Marape urged world leaders to pursue “peace at all costs”.

Watching in the crowd was Louise Mundie from Wodonga,Victoria,who was preparing to embark on the final day of a nine-day hike of the track.

“It was a beautiful service,” she said.

Mundie said she had undertaken the walk in honour of her great-grandfather who fought in New Guinea during the war.

“It has been very,very challenging,” she said of the trek.

Albanese and Marape laid wreaths together at the memorial to symbolise the close bond between Australia and Papua New Guinea.

As the sun began to rise over the mountains,an Australian Army soldier played the Last Post before the crowd observed a minute’s silence.

After returning to Australia,Albanese will attend an Anzac Day event in Townsville later on Thursday.

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