Darwin is a ‘survivor’ – 70th bombing anniversary

The Neptuna exploding at Darwin wharf on February 19, 1942. (Ref – PH0238/0885) Northern Territory Library

The Darwin City History is short and very dramatic. A city that has survived all man and mother nature can throw at it. The history includes the Overland Telegraph, gold, crocodiles, world war bombings, uranium, cyclone Tracy and a population of hardy pioneers. On Sunday Darwin marks the day seventy years ago when the Australian mainland came under attack for the first time since European settlement with Japan launching two air raids.

The attacks on Darwin, two of 64 made on the city, claimed at least 240 lives. Seven ships in the harbour were sunk, almost every plane at the town’s airfield was destroyed. Those first two raids on February 19, 1942 involved 242 Japanese aircraft, many of them launched from the aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu and Soryu, which had been involved in the attack two months earlier on the US Fleet at Pearl Harbour.

A service on the Darwin waterfront is the highlight of two weeks of commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the bombing of the city.

Dense clouds of smoke rise from oil tanks hit during the first Japanese air raid on Australia’s mainland, February 19, 1942. In the foreground is HMAS Deloraine, which escaped damage. (Ref – 128108) Australian War Memorial

From ABC NEWS www.abc.net.au

On February 19, 1942, shortly before 10:00am, Japanese forces launched air raids on Darwin, the first on Australian soil.

More than 260 enemy planes, including land-based bombers and planes flying off aircraft carriers in the Timor Sea, attacked US and Australian shipping, the town’s harbour, military and civil aerodromes and the local hospital.

The attacks, which came in two waves, were part of Japan’s efforts to damage Australia’s morale, hinder Darwin’s use as a military base, and ultimately secure neighbouring Timor.
At least 243 people were killed in the attack, and up to 400 people were injured.

Twenty military aircraft were destroyed and eight ships in the harbour were sunk. Air attacks continued over a space of almost two years, with about half of Darwin’s population ultimately fleeing south.