Bombing of Darwin, February 19, 1942
Encyclopedia
The Japanese
air raids on Darwin
on 19 February 1942 were the largest attacks ever mounted by a foreign power against Australia
. They were also a significant action in the Pacific campaign
of World War II
and represented a psychological blow to the Australian population, several weeks after hostilities with Japan had begun. The raids were the first and largest of almost 100 air raids against Australia during 1942–43.
This event is often called the "Pearl Harbor
of Australia". Although it was a less significant military target, a greater number of bombs were dropped on Darwin than were used in the attack on Pearl Harbor
. As was the case at Pearl Harbor, the Australian town was unprepared, and although it came under attack from the air another 58 times in 1942 and 1943, the raids on 19 February were massive and devastating by comparison.
Most of the attacking planes came from the four aircraft carrier
s of the Imperial Japanese Navy
's Carrier Division 1 (Akagi
and Kaga
) and Carrier Division 2 (Hiryū
and Sōryū
). Land-based heavy bomber
s were also involved. The Japanese launched two waves of planes, comprising 242 bomber
s and fighters
.
It is claimed that Darwin was poorly covered by anti-aircraft
guns, there being only light automatic weapons and none of 20 mm or greater calibre. However, the 14th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery was stationed in Darwin at the time with their guns positioned at several locations, including overlooking the harbour.The operational Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) fighter squadrons were in Europe, North Africa
or the Middle East.
The only modern fighters at Darwin were 12 USAAF
P-40E Warhawks of the Far East Air Force's 33rd Pursuit Squadron (Provisional), which had arrived on 15 February after being diverted to cover a convoy that left Darwin before its arrival. There were a few lightly armed or obsolete training (five unserviceable Wirraway
s) and patrol (six Hudson
) aircraft belonging to the RAAF. An experimental radar
station was not yet operational.
Coincidentally, 10 of the P-40 fighters and a B-17E Flying Fortress had departed Darwin at 09:00 a.m. on the 19th, bound for Kupang
Airfield on Timor
, from which they would stage to Denpasar
Airfield on Bali, and then on to Java
(the B-17 was a navigation guide for the fighters). The fighters had turned back after just 20 minutes because of bad weather over Kupang. The fighter pilots were relatively "green", only one of whom, 2nd Lt Robert G. Oestreicher, had more than 20 hours flight time in the P-40,
The first wave of 188 Japanese planes, led by naval Commander Mitsuo Fuchida
, took off at 8:45 a.m.
At about 9:15 a.m. the force was spotted by an Australian Coastwatcher on Melville Island
(disputed by Robert Rayner in the book Darwin Fortress), and then also by Father John McGrath, a Catholic priest conducting missionary work on Bathurst Island. Father McGrath sent a message, "An unusually large air formation bearing down on us from the northwest". Darwin received both warnings at least twice by radio, no later than 9:37 a.m. The Australian duty officer assumed these reports were referring to the returning flight U.S. fighters and its B-17 escort. The warnings were not acted upon, so as at Pearl Harbor two months earlier, Darwin's final chance to make last-minute preparations for the impending raid slipped away.
A USN Catalina aircraft
near Bathurst Island was pounced upon by nine of the Zero fighters, and the plane caught fire although it defended itself. Its pilot, Lieutenant Thomas Moorer, managed to crash land upon the sea and the crew were picked up by a passing freighter, the Florence D. Lieutenant Moorer later became Chief of Naval Operations
and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
. Although the Florence D was later attacked and sunk, Moorer and most of his crew survived to be later picked up on land. Another nearby ship, the Don Isidro, was also sunk.
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The U.S. fighters had not yet entirely landed when the Japanese aircraft arrived. The second flight of five P-40s was still waiting to land when the reports were received and they climbed through 8000 feet (2,438.4 m) to patrol over the harbour, still holding their drop tank
s. With greater numbers, surprise, experience, and superior aircraft on their side, the Japanese fighters rapidly shot down all of the US planes except one piloted by Oestreicher. The other flight of five, which had already landed, attempted to take off again, but one crashed on the runway and two others were quickly shot down. The remaining two were shot down in the combat that followed. Four of the ten pilots were killed.
A total of 81 Nakajima B5N
"Kate" torpedo bombers then attacked shipping — at least 45 vessels—in the harbour, while 71 Aichi D3A
"Val" dive-bombers, escorted by 36 Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter planes attacked Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) bases, civil airfields, and a hospital. Oestreicher was credited by USAAF with shooting down one of the two Vals he claimed (2nd Lt. John G. Glover claimed a Zero that was not credited) and managed to survive the attack, but no other Allied planes took off – all were destroyed or rendered unable to fly after the first attack. By about 10:40 a.m. the first wave of Japanese planes had left the area.
In spite of Fuchida's assessment of the anti-aircraft fire as "largely ineffectual", the lack of armour and self-sealing fuel tanks in many Japanese planes, as well as the prolonged low-level strafing runs carried out, made pilots and planes exceptionally vulnerable to ground fire. Most Australian sources say that four Japanese planes were destroyed in Australian airspace.
Fuchida later wrote of the raid:
Just before midday there was a high altitude attack by land-based bombers, concentrated on the Darwin RAAF Airfield
: 27 Mitsubishi G3M
"Nell" bombers flew from Ambon
and 27 Mitsubishi G4M
"Betty" from Kendari
, Sulawesi
. This second raid lasted for 20–25 minutes.
.jpg)
The number of people killed during the 19 February raids is disputed. The Lowe Commission, which investigated them in March 1942, identified 243 victims but assuming a few were unidentified concluded "the number is approximately 250". Some researchers and government officials, including John Bradford (author of In the Highest Traditions – RAN Heroism Darwin 19 February 1942), Dr. Peter Stanley (the Australian War Memorial’s Principal Historian and author of several books about Australian military history), Tom Womack (author of The Dutch Naval Air Force against Japan), Paul Rosenzweig (author of Darwin 1942: a reassessment of the first raid casualties), and Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce
(governor of South Australia) have said there were 250–262 fatalities.
However, a plaque unveiled in Darwin in 2001 gave the total as 292. The plaque indicated 10 sailors had been killed aboard the USS William B. Preston but the US Navy said there were 13 fatalities and Peter Grose, author of An Awkward Truth, said fifteen – he wrote:
In 2000, Darwin historian Peter Forrest, who spoke to survivors and researched the attacks for an unpublished book, said (as paraphrased by a journalist), "the first Japanese air raids on Darwin probably killed more than double the official figure of 243" but two years later lowered his estimate to "anything up to double that 243".
Other estimates put the toll far higher: one soldier who was there claimed to have seen barges filled with bodies towed out to sea, a member of one of the burial teams recounted seeing uncounted bodies "shoved in a large hole dug by a bulldozer” (paraphrase), according to some sources, Darwin mayor Jack Burton estimated 900 people were killed; Harry Macredie, who helped rescue survivors and recover bodies in the harbor said, "we definitely estimate over 1,000", Rex Ruwoldt, one of the soldiers attacked that day, says that a few days after the raid he was told over the field telephone that Army Intelligence estimated 1,100 were killed. According to an AP article about the 50th anniversary of the attacks "some estimates say as many as 1,000 died". Bradford and Forrest said they spoke to survivors who estimated as many as 1,500 people died.
Stanley, Grose, Rosenzweig and Tom Lewis rejected such numbers. The former said "it was certainly not the 1,024 claimed recently in unsubstantiated reports" and the Grose wrote "numbers such as 1,100 are fancifully high".
By contrast, there is less dispute over the number of injured during the attacks. The Lowe Commission estimated "between 300 and 400" people were wounded. Lewis said the number was over 400, about 200 of which were seriously injured. Womack wrote that 311 were wounded. Australian military historian Chris Coulthard-Clark put the total between 250 and 320. Grose wrote:
Eight ships were sunk in Darwin Harbour:, a United States Navy
destroyer
, a large US Army
troop transport ship
}
}, a Royal Australian Navy
patrol boat
, a 5,436-ton US merchant freighter, a UK-registered merchant refuelling oiler
Among the ships damaged but not destroyed was a hospital ship
, AHS Manunda. The USS William B. Preston which had already departed Darwin was attacked at sea and docked at Derby, Western Australia
The USAAF lost ten P-40s, one LB-30 bomber, and three C-45
transport planes. The US Navy lost three PBY Catalina
flying boats and moorers outside the harbour. The RAAF lost six Lockheed Hudson
s.
The air raids caused chaos in Darwin, with most essential services including water and electricity being badly damaged or destroyed. Fears of an imminent invasion spread and there was a wave of refugees, as half of the town's civilian population fled. There were reports of looting, with Provost Marshal
s being among the accused. According to official figures, 278 RAAF servicemen were considered to have deserted
as a result of the raids, although it has been argued that the 'desertions' were mostly the result of ambiguous orders given to RAAF ground staff after the attacks. Following the second Japanese air raid, the local RAAF wing commander
Sturt Griffith:
While the Northwest area staff could see what was happening and issued countermanding orders, "the damage was done and hundreds of men were already beyond recall".
The Australian army faced difficulty controlling its own troops from looting private property including "furniture, refrigerators, stoves, pianos, clothes [and] even children's toys" due to the breakdown of law and order after the bombing and the ensuing chaos. Many civilian refugees never returned, or did not return for many years, and in the post-war years some claimed that land they owned in Darwin had been expropriated by government bodies in their absence.
navies largely abandoned the naval base at Darwin after the initial 19 February attack, dispersing most of their forces to Brisbane
, Fremantle
and other smaller ports. Conversely, Allied air commanders launched a major build-up in the Darwin area, building more airfields and deploying many squadrons.
The four IJN aircraft carriers (Akagi, Kaga, Hiryū and Sōryū) that participated in the Bombing of Darwin were later sunk during the Battle of Midway
in June 1942.
A memorial ceremony is held every year on 19 February at the Cenotaph in Darwin. It starts at 9:58am, the precise time of the first attack. The raid is also portrayed in the film Australia
as a major plot event.
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
air raids on Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
on 19 February 1942 were the largest attacks ever mounted by a foreign power against Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. They were also a significant action in the Pacific campaign
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and represented a psychological blow to the Australian population, several weeks after hostilities with Japan had begun. The raids were the first and largest of almost 100 air raids against Australia during 1942–43.
This event is often called the "Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
of Australia". Although it was a less significant military target, a greater number of bombs were dropped on Darwin than were used in the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
. As was the case at Pearl Harbor, the Australian town was unprepared, and although it came under attack from the air another 58 times in 1942 and 1943, the raids on 19 February were massive and devastating by comparison.
Prelude
Darwin had a population of about 2,000 at the time, the normal civilian population of about 5,000 having been reduced by evacuation. It was a strategically placed naval port and airbase, and there were about 15,000 Allied soldiers in the area.Most of the attacking planes came from the four aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s of the Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
's Carrier Division 1 (Akagi
Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi
Akagi was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy , originally begun as an . She was converted while still under construction to an aircraft carrier under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty...
and Kaga
Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga
Kaga was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy , named after the former Kaga Province in present-day Ishikawa Prefecture...
) and Carrier Division 2 (Hiryū
Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryu
was a modified Sōryū-class aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was one of the carriers that began the Pacific War with the attack on Pearl Harbor...
and Sōryū
Japanese aircraft carrier Soryu
was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. During the Second World War, she took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, Port Darwin and raids in the Indian Ocean before being sunk at the Battle of Midway.-Design:...
). Land-based heavy bomber
Heavy bomber
A heavy bomber is a bomber aircraft of the largest size and load carrying capacity, and usually the longest range.In New START, the term "heavy bomber" is used for two types of bombers:*one with a range greater than 8,000 kilometers...
s were also involved. The Japanese launched two waves of planes, comprising 242 bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
s and fighters
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
.
It is claimed that Darwin was poorly covered by anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
guns, there being only light automatic weapons and none of 20 mm or greater calibre. However, the 14th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery was stationed in Darwin at the time with their guns positioned at several locations, including overlooking the harbour.The operational Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
(RAAF) fighter squadrons were in Europe, North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
or the Middle East.
The only modern fighters at Darwin were 12 USAAF
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
P-40E Warhawks of the Far East Air Force's 33rd Pursuit Squadron (Provisional), which had arrived on 15 February after being diverted to cover a convoy that left Darwin before its arrival. There were a few lightly armed or obsolete training (five unserviceable Wirraway
CAC Wirraway
The Wirraway was a training and general purpose military aircraft manufactured in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation between 1939 and 1946...
s) and patrol (six Hudson
Lockheed Hudson
The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter...
) aircraft belonging to the RAAF. An experimental radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
station was not yet operational.
Coincidentally, 10 of the P-40 fighters and a B-17E Flying Fortress had departed Darwin at 09:00 a.m. on the 19th, bound for Kupang
Kupang
Not to be confused with Tanjung Kupang in JohoreKupang is the provincial capital of East Nusa Tenggara province in southeast Indonesia....
Airfield on Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
, from which they would stage to Denpasar
Denpasar
Denpasar is the capital city of the province of Bali, Indonesia. It has a rapidly expanding population of 788,445 in 2010, up from 533,252 in the previous decade. It is located at .-History:...
Airfield on Bali, and then on to Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
(the B-17 was a navigation guide for the fighters). The fighters had turned back after just 20 minutes because of bad weather over Kupang. The fighter pilots were relatively "green", only one of whom, 2nd Lt Robert G. Oestreicher, had more than 20 hours flight time in the P-40,
Bombing of 19 February
Mitsuo Fuchida
was a Japanese Captain in the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service and a bomber pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy before and during World War II. He is perhaps best known for leading the first air wave attacks on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941...
, took off at 8:45 a.m.
At about 9:15 a.m. the force was spotted by an Australian Coastwatcher on Melville Island
Melville Island, Northern Territory
Melville Island or Yermalner Island lies in the eastern Timor Sea, off the coast of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is west of the Cobourg Peninsula in Arnhem Land and north of Darwin....
(disputed by Robert Rayner in the book Darwin Fortress), and then also by Father John McGrath, a Catholic priest conducting missionary work on Bathurst Island. Father McGrath sent a message, "An unusually large air formation bearing down on us from the northwest". Darwin received both warnings at least twice by radio, no later than 9:37 a.m. The Australian duty officer assumed these reports were referring to the returning flight U.S. fighters and its B-17 escort. The warnings were not acted upon, so as at Pearl Harbor two months earlier, Darwin's final chance to make last-minute preparations for the impending raid slipped away.
A USN Catalina aircraft
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
near Bathurst Island was pounced upon by nine of the Zero fighters, and the plane caught fire although it defended itself. Its pilot, Lieutenant Thomas Moorer, managed to crash land upon the sea and the crew were picked up by a passing freighter, the Florence D. Lieutenant Moorer later became Chief of Naval Operations
Chief of Naval Operations
The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...
and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is by law the highest ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces, and is the principal military adviser to the President of the United States, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council and the Secretary of Defense...
. Although the Florence D was later attacked and sunk, Moorer and most of his crew survived to be later picked up on land. Another nearby ship, the Don Isidro, was also sunk.
Drop tank
In aeronautics, a drop tank is used to describe auxiliary fuel tanks externally carried by aircraft. A drop tank is expendable and often jettisonable...
s. With greater numbers, surprise, experience, and superior aircraft on their side, the Japanese fighters rapidly shot down all of the US planes except one piloted by Oestreicher. The other flight of five, which had already landed, attempted to take off again, but one crashed on the runway and two others were quickly shot down. The remaining two were shot down in the combat that followed. Four of the ten pilots were killed.
A total of 81 Nakajima B5N
Nakajima B5N
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Bridgwater, H.C. and Peter Scott. Combat Colours Number 4: Pearl Harbor and Beyond, December 1941 to May 1942. Luton, Bedfordshire, UK: Guideline Publications, 2001. ISBN 0-9539040-6-7....
"Kate" torpedo bombers then attacked shipping — at least 45 vessels—in the harbour, while 71 Aichi D3A
Aichi D3A
The , Allied reporting name "Val") was a World War II carrier-borne dive bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy . It was the primary dive bomber in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and participated in almost all actions, including Pearl Harbor....
"Val" dive-bombers, escorted by 36 Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter planes attacked Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
(RAAF) bases, civil airfields, and a hospital. Oestreicher was credited by USAAF with shooting down one of the two Vals he claimed (2nd Lt. John G. Glover claimed a Zero that was not credited) and managed to survive the attack, but no other Allied planes took off – all were destroyed or rendered unable to fly after the first attack. By about 10:40 a.m. the first wave of Japanese planes had left the area.
In spite of Fuchida's assessment of the anti-aircraft fire as "largely ineffectual", the lack of armour and self-sealing fuel tanks in many Japanese planes, as well as the prolonged low-level strafing runs carried out, made pilots and planes exceptionally vulnerable to ground fire. Most Australian sources say that four Japanese planes were destroyed in Australian airspace.
Fuchida later wrote of the raid:
Just before midday there was a high altitude attack by land-based bombers, concentrated on the Darwin RAAF Airfield
RAAF Base Darwin
RAAF Base Darwin is a Royal Australian Air Force base located in the city of Darwin, Northern Territory. The base shares its runway with Darwin International Airport.-History:...
: 27 Mitsubishi G3M
Mitsubishi G3M
The Mitsubishi G3M was a Japanese bomber used during World War II.-Design and development:...
"Nell" bombers flew from Ambon
Ambon Island
Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of , and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of 2 territories: The main city and seaport is Ambon , which is also the capital of Maluku province and Maluku Tengah Ambon Island is part of the...
and 27 Mitsubishi G4M
Mitsubishi G4M
The Mitsubishi G4M 一式陸上攻撃機, 一式陸攻 Isshiki rikujō kōgeki ki, Isshikirikkō was the main twin-engine, land-based bomber used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War II. The Allies gave the G4M the reporting name Betty...
"Betty" from Kendari
Kendari
Kendari is the capital of the Indonesian province of South East Sulawesi. The city lies along Kendari Bay. Moramo Waterfall is located 65 km east of Kendari. Kendari is divided into four subdistricts: Kendari, Mandonga, Baruga, and Poasia...
, Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
. This second raid lasted for 20–25 minutes.
Casualties, damage and consequences
Kevin Scarce
Rear Admiral Kevin John Scarce, AC, CSC, RANR is a retired officer of the Royal Australian Navy and the Governor of South Australia. He succeeded Marjorie Jackson-Nelson as Governor on 8 August 2007...
(governor of South Australia) have said there were 250–262 fatalities.
However, a plaque unveiled in Darwin in 2001 gave the total as 292. The plaque indicated 10 sailors had been killed aboard the USS William B. Preston but the US Navy said there were 13 fatalities and Peter Grose, author of An Awkward Truth, said fifteen – he wrote:
"With the William B. Preston total corrected to 15, a figure of 297 known dead is the best count anyone is likely to achieve...the full death toll is likely to be a little over 300, perhaps as many as 310 or 320."
In 2000, Darwin historian Peter Forrest, who spoke to survivors and researched the attacks for an unpublished book, said (as paraphrased by a journalist), "the first Japanese air raids on Darwin probably killed more than double the official figure of 243" but two years later lowered his estimate to "anything up to double that 243".
Other estimates put the toll far higher: one soldier who was there claimed to have seen barges filled with bodies towed out to sea, a member of one of the burial teams recounted seeing uncounted bodies "shoved in a large hole dug by a bulldozer” (paraphrase), according to some sources, Darwin mayor Jack Burton estimated 900 people were killed; Harry Macredie, who helped rescue survivors and recover bodies in the harbor said, "we definitely estimate over 1,000", Rex Ruwoldt, one of the soldiers attacked that day, says that a few days after the raid he was told over the field telephone that Army Intelligence estimated 1,100 were killed. According to an AP article about the 50th anniversary of the attacks "some estimates say as many as 1,000 died". Bradford and Forrest said they spoke to survivors who estimated as many as 1,500 people died.
Stanley, Grose, Rosenzweig and Tom Lewis rejected such numbers. The former said "it was certainly not the 1,024 claimed recently in unsubstantiated reports" and the Grose wrote "numbers such as 1,100 are fancifully high".
By contrast, there is less dispute over the number of injured during the attacks. The Lowe Commission estimated "between 300 and 400" people were wounded. Lewis said the number was over 400, about 200 of which were seriously injured. Womack wrote that 311 were wounded. Australian military historian Chris Coulthard-Clark put the total between 250 and 320. Grose wrote:
...if 900 or 1100 died, why were the numbers of injured so low? The count of the injured is more accurate, because they were treated in hospital or shipped out aboard the Manunda [a hospital ship]. The hospitals and Manunda noted names and numbers of those they treated.
Eight ships were sunk in Darwin Harbour:, a United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
, a large US Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
troop transport ship
- Two Australian passenger ships, being used as merchant troop transports:
}
}, a Royal Australian Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
patrol boat
Patrol boat
A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defense duties.There have been many designs for patrol boats. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, or police force, and may be intended for marine and/or estuarine or river environments...
, a 5,436-ton US merchant freighter, a UK-registered merchant refuelling oiler
- KelatKelat (1881)Kelat was a 1894 gross ton iron hulled fully rigged three masted sailing ship built in Stockton-on-Tees, England in 1881. She was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy in 1941 and sank as a result of damage suffered during the Japanese air raid on Darwin on 19 February 1942.-Construction and...
, a 1,849-ton coal storage hulkHulk (ship)A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Although sometimes used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, the term most often refers to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipment removed, retaining only its flotational qualities...
Among the ships damaged but not destroyed was a hospital ship
Hospital ship
A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital; most are operated by the military forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones....
, AHS Manunda. The USS William B. Preston which had already departed Darwin was attacked at sea and docked at Derby, Western Australia
Derby, Western Australia
Derby is a town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. At the 2006 census, Derby had a population of 3,093. Along with Broome and Kununurra, it is one of only three towns in the Kimberley to have a population over 2,000...
The USAAF lost ten P-40s, one LB-30 bomber, and three C-45
Beechcraft Model 18
The Beechcraft Model 18, or "Twin Beech", as it is better known, is a 6-11 seat, twin-engine, low-wing, conventional-gear aircraft that was manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas...
transport planes. The US Navy lost three PBY Catalina
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
flying boats and moorers outside the harbour. The RAAF lost six Lockheed Hudson
Lockheed Hudson
The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter...
s.
The air raids caused chaos in Darwin, with most essential services including water and electricity being badly damaged or destroyed. Fears of an imminent invasion spread and there was a wave of refugees, as half of the town's civilian population fled. There were reports of looting, with Provost Marshal
Provost Marshal
The Provost Marshal is the officer in the armed forces who is in charge of the military police .There may be a Provost Marshal serving at many levels of the hierarchy and he may also be the public safety officer of a military installation, responsible for the provision of fire, gate security, and...
s being among the accused. According to official figures, 278 RAAF servicemen were considered to have deserted
Desertion
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...
as a result of the raids, although it has been argued that the 'desertions' were mostly the result of ambiguous orders given to RAAF ground staff after the attacks. Following the second Japanese air raid, the local RAAF wing commander
Wing Commander (rank)
Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
Sturt Griffith:
While the Northwest area staff could see what was happening and issued countermanding orders, "the damage was done and hundreds of men were already beyond recall".
The Australian army faced difficulty controlling its own troops from looting private property including "furniture, refrigerators, stoves, pianos, clothes [and] even children's toys" due to the breakdown of law and order after the bombing and the ensuing chaos. Many civilian refugees never returned, or did not return for many years, and in the post-war years some claimed that land they owned in Darwin had been expropriated by government bodies in their absence.
Further Japanese raids
After the massive 19 February 1942 Japanese raid, the Northern Territory and parts of Western Australia's north were bombed 62 more times between 4 March 1942 and 12 November 1943. One of the heaviest attacks took place on 16 June 1942 when a large Japanese force set fire to the oil fuel tanks around the harbour and inflicted severe damage to the vacant banks, stores and railway yards. The AlliedAllies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
navies largely abandoned the naval base at Darwin after the initial 19 February attack, dispersing most of their forces to Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
and other smaller ports. Conversely, Allied air commanders launched a major build-up in the Darwin area, building more airfields and deploying many squadrons.
The four IJN aircraft carriers (Akagi, Kaga, Hiryū and Sōryū) that participated in the Bombing of Darwin were later sunk during the Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
in June 1942.
A memorial ceremony is held every year on 19 February at the Cenotaph in Darwin. It starts at 9:58am, the precise time of the first attack. The raid is also portrayed in the film Australia
Australia (2008 film)
Australia is a 2008 epic historical romance film directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. It is the second-highest grossing Australian film of all time, behind Crocodile Dundee. The screenplay was written by Luhrmann and screenwriter Stuart Beattie, with Ronald Harwood...
as a major plot event.
See also
- Battle for AustraliaBattle for AustraliaThe Battle for Australia is a contested historiographical term used to claim a link between a series of battles near Australia during the Pacific War of the Second World War...
- Christmas Island Invasion
- Planned invasion of Australia during World War IIPlanned invasion of Australia during World War IIIn early 1942 elements of the Imperial Japanese Navy proposed an invasion of Australia. This proposal was opposed by the Japanese Army and was rejected in favour of a policy of attacking Midway Island and isolating Australia from the United States via blockade by advancing through the South...
- Axis naval activity in Australian watersAxis naval activity in Australian watersAlthough Australia was remote from the main battlefronts, there was considerable Axis naval activity in Australian waters during the Second World War. A total of 54 German and Japanese warships and submarines entered Australian waters between 1940 and 1945 and attacked ships, ports and other targets...
- Military history of Australia during World War II
- Military history of Japan during World War II
- East Point Military museumEast Point Military museumThe Darwin Military Museum was originally established as an artillery museum by the Royal Australian Artillery Association Inc to exhibit photographs and artefacts from Darwin's history during World War II. The Museum now has a large exhibits of items from the war, including Navy, Army and Air...
, Darwin - Gunner (dog)Gunner (dog)Gunner was a stray male kelpie who became notable for his reliability to accurately alert allied airforce personnel that Japanese aircraft were approaching Darwin during World War II.-Career:...
External links
- Tom Womack, 2005, "Australia's Pearl Harbor: the Japanese air raid on Darwin"
- National Archives of Australia, 2000, "Fact Sheet 195 The bombing of Darwin"
- "A Darwin Eyewitness Account – Stoker 2nd Class Charlie Unmack"
- "A Darwin Eyewitness Account – Leading Aircraftman Stanley Hawker, No 2 RAAF Squadron"
- Darwin Defenders 1942–45 Inc, an association for veterans, their families and friends