More travels about Darwin

I am getting myself in a bit of a mess here, crisscrossing backwards and forwards in time.  I was going to try to attack things chronologically as per my diary entries, but somehow I have gotten off track and have drafts relating to a much later time pending to be posted.

Following on from the next blog (good original name there) we spent the day at East Point reserve and Lake Alexander on June 2.

East Point Reserve

East Point Reserve

The kids Played at the playground and swam in the lake.  We had a BBQ lunch.
I took lengthy phone calls from Peter and Gary.  Each pressuring me in opposite directions about coming back to Canberra.

Peter was laying on the heavy guilt trip and urging me to make it back to Canberra before it was too late.  Insisting that I would forever carry regrets if I didn't manage to see dad before he died.
Gary, on the other hand, was insisting that I not come back as there was nothing I could do it it was a major waste.

Murray called too with a more moderate view.
Steve called his parents.
Steve's dad, Eric, had very strong views against me going.

I felt incredibly torn.

Tongue in cheek it was suggested a 1900 number be set up with voting lines, so the people of Australia could vote on whether I should go or stay.  It seemed everyone had an opinion and were not afraid to voice it.

Naturally I feel quite stressed about the whole situation.  I need a few days break to stew over it all.  It is surprisingly exhausting, all of this tension.

Sunday June 3

East Point Military Museum

We watched an interesting video about the bombing of Darwin.  They endured 64 air raid attacks over 21 months.  More bombs were dropped on Darwin on the first sortee, 10am on 19 February 1942 then were dropped on the first Pearl Harbour attack.

It's amazing that people count this stuff.  How hard would it be to count how many bombs are dropped in a sortee, or do they rely on records from the attacking forces?

We walked around the reserve looking at ammo magazines and gun emplacements.

Site where the first bomb landed

When I got back to Coffs I dug out a speech that I produced in High school circa 1985 about the bombing of Darwin.  I remember at the time be absolutely flabbergasted at what I found out, as I had previously had no idea that Australia was attacked during World War II.  Here it is:

With the attack of Pearl Harbour, Japan and the US were now in the war. An urgent consultation took place in Washington in December 1941 between the British and American leaders. A decision then reached to beat Germany first.  This decision was not communicated to the Australian Government for some months.

The US undertook the main responsibility for prosecuting the war against Japan and for aiding Australia and New Zealand to defend themselves against Japanese invasion.

Australian Chiefs of Staff warned of the possible invasion of Australia if the Japanese captured Malaya, Rabaul, Port Moresby and Noumea.  They also warned of the possible Japanese drive on Australia, particularly Darwin, Port Moresby and the Eastern coast. 

Prime Minister Curtin was becoming concerned and announced that "Australia was a nation stripped for war" and he added that "our minds are set on attack rather than defense".  So it was then decided that the so called "Battle for Australia" be fought in New Guinea.

Mr Curtin approved the directive with reservation that Australian forces should not be moved outside Australian territory without agreement by the Australian Government.

In January 1942, there were 168800 troops training in Australia and there were only 27 RAAF squadrons.  These were  470 Wirraways and 92 Hudson bombers.  39 of these were not yet armed and a few hundred training planes.

The war cabinet decided to call up 114000 men to bring the infantry to full strength and increase the air strength to 60 squadrons.

On 16 February 1942 the fear of invasion by the Japanese was increased when Japanese aircraft were reported over Darwin. Two days later Japanese aircraft were reported over Bathurst Island.  On the 19th February Darwin Suffered its first air raid.........the first direct attack on the Australian Mainland.

The harbour was dangerously congested with ships whose cargoes had not yet been unloaded, and by a Timor bound convoy that was forced to turn back.

The Japanese attacking force comprised of 54 single engine bombers, 18 zero fighters and 27 twin engine heavy bombers.  The air fields the crowded harbour and the hospital at Berrima were attacked.

The US destroyer "peary", two US transports, a British Tanker and the Australian transport "Zealandia" were sunk. The "Neptuna" loaded with explosives blew up at the wharf.

An hour later, a second raid was made on Darwin by 56 twin engine bombers. In this raid the hospital ship "Manunda" was badly damaged> In the two raids, 243 people were killed, including 53 civilians and 350 people were wounded. Troops and townspeople were steady during the raids, but a panic evacuation of some sections of the community followed.

Many of the Northern Aboriginal tribes migrated inland as a result of the raids.

During the invasion 24 allied aircraft and 5 Japanese planes were certainly destroyed and possibly five more.

Darwin was not the only Australian town to be bombed by the Japanese.  Along with constant raids on Darwin, the Japanese frequently attacked the towns of Wyndham, Broome, Derby, Port Hedland and Exmouth Gulf.  These raids were varied only by one unsuccessful bombing of Townsville on 26th July 1942.

The Japanese did not only confine their raids on the northern part of Australia. Japanese submarines advanced down the eastern coast. In mid-May, 5 Japanese submarines carrying 3 midget submarines and an aircraft set out for Sydney.  On the 31st of May the aircraft flew unobserved over Sydney.  On the same day, three midget submarines entered Sydney Harbour.  One became entangled in the harbour boom and her crew blew her up. A second one successfully entered the harbour and fired a torpedo at the USS Chicago, but it missed and hit the barracks ship "Kuttabul" , a converted ferry,instead, killing 19 men.  A third submarine was destroyed by depth charges before it has fired any torpedoes.

On the night of the 7th and 8th of June, one of the large submarines which was operating with some success against the shipping off the east coast, fired 7 shells into the Sydney suburbs of Rose Bay and Bellevue Hill.  Most of the shells were duds.Another submarine fired shell into Newcastle, no serious damage was caused.........