Darwin Bombings

The Bombings of Darwin

On the 19th of February 1942, 242 Japanese aircraft attacked ships on Darwin’s harbour and inland. Bombs fell all around Darwin’s harbour, and small neighbouring islands became patches of red and black, contrasting to the blue sea.  Although Darwin was a less significant military target, more bombs were dropped on Darwin than Pearl Harbour.

During this unexpected devastating raid, approximately 250 – 320 died and up to 400 were wounded. Ten ships sunk from bomb explosions, with some carrying hundreds of head of cattle. 25 ships were heavily damaged. 23 aircraft were destroyed (Of Australia, Japan and United States origin.)

Although at the moment of time it was unexpected that Darwin was to be the targeted, Australia declared war on Japan on the 8th December 1941. During the first raid, 81 bombs were dropped, but due to authorities believing the aircraft was of Australian origin, the air raid sirens at Darwin were not sounded.  The second raid occurred around two hours later; the sirens were sounded, with the opposing airplanes killing many who were in ships at the harbour.

As seen in the movie Australia, those who died were either directly from the bombings, from ground invasions from grenades or guns or from side affects / complications of the injuries obtained since being hit by a bomb.

In consequence, water and electricity sources were hardly hit, with not only being damaged from the raids, but thousands of litres of water were used to put out spot fires caused by the bombs. Fear struck the small town, with many evacuating inland, closing down their businesses, and fearing their lives in case of another raid. Drovers, cattle transporters and owners of holding yards feared that their cattle would be lost from another invasion. The crime rate in Darwin spiked, with even troops from the Australian Army looting private property such as clothes, fridges, pianos and children’s toys from houses - inhabited or abandoned.