Although Australia did not suffer a large-scale aggression during World War II , But there are still air strikes, which breaks Australia’s self-discovered peaceful and peaceful life. Perhaps the most memorable thing for Australians was the airstrike on Darwin, the capital of the northern border region and the most important port on the northern coast of Australia. During the entire war, Darwin Port suffered about 100 attacks from Japanese aircraft at sea and on land from 1942 to 1943. Among them, the damage caused by the air strike on February 19, 1942 was the most serious, which was also Darwin. The first air attack on Hong Kong may also be the first attack on the Australian mainland since its discovery. After the war, many people compared the airstrike on Darwin Harbor to Pearl Harbor in Australia.
Regarding the losses caused by this air strike, there is still no conclusion. The official figures are about 243 deaths and about 350 injured or missing. According to a report on the fierce Japanese attack on Darwin Port by the "Brisbane Post" on February 20, 1942, "Property damage was very large, with many casualties, but the specific figures are not available for statistics." It has caused great trauma to the Australian people’s psychology. Almost everyone believes that Australia is at stake. This has also inspired Australians’ enthusiasm and fighting spirit for war.
Background The
Australian government tried its best to avoid the outbreak of war before the war and actively supported the British policy of tranquility. After the outbreak of the war, Curtin’s Labour government still did not actively prepare for war because the battlefield was far away from Australia, but the Australian soldiers were still far away. Go to North Africa to fight with the United Kingdom, and the Anzac has always been an elite unit of the British Commonwealth Army. When Australia started the war in Japan, there were only 4 infantry divisions in training on the mainland coast, and its long coastline was almost impossible to defend. When the Australian government realized that the war was no longer far away, they began to care about the war in Southeast Asia, especially the gains and losses of Singapore. The Australian government hoped that the war would not be as close to Australia as possible, but the hope was lost and Australia was facing the threat of invasion.
After the Japanese army attacked Pearl Harbor, they quickly began to attack Hong Kong, Malaya, the Philippines, Luzon and Brunei. At the same time, the Japanese army is in a bitter battle in mainland China, and Japan urgently needs to obtain oil supplies from the East Indies. Therefore, Japan hopes to occupy the East Indies as soon as possible and force the local Dutch army to surrender. By February 1942, their army had occupied Tarakan (Tarakan, located in the Celebes Sea, now part of East Kalimantan Province.), Borneo, Celebes, Anmon, Bali And the southern half of Sumatra. The Allied forces were divided into the Philippines, Singapore, Sumatra, and Java for recalcitrant resistance. The political and economic center of the entire East Indies was on the island of Java.
In order to better defend against the Japanese, in January 1942, the Allied Powers established the American, British, Dutch, and Australian Theaters (ABDA). The headquarters commanded the entire Southeast Asian battlefield, and the commander was Wavell of the United Kingdom. When ABDA first started its operations, the ABDA Command had taken Darwin Port as its main supply base. Almost all Allied supplies were transported through Darwin Port to Singapore, the East Indies and Mindanao in the Philippines. At the same time, Darwin Port is also the most important transit base for reinforcements of the Allied Air Forces on Java Island. Although Allied bombers can reach Java Island without stopping halfway, allied fighter jets cannot. They have to turn several stations to reach Java. Island, starting from Darwin Port, passing through Tiwen Island and Bali Island to reach Java. Without reinforcements, especially these fighters, the Japanese Air Force would soon smash Java’s resistance and collapse the entire East Indies. So these reinforcements are very important to the survival of Java, and their base is the airport in Darwin Port.
The Japanese quickly discovered the importance of Dal Harbor. They planned to occupy Tiwen Island, thereby cutting off the air reinforcements on Java Island, and at the same time provide them with a space only about 965 kilometers (600 miles) from the northern coast of Australia on February 20th. Air base. In order to conceal the intrusion attempt and at the same time undermine the supply and transportation of the Allied forces, the Japanese planned to launch a large-scale air strike on Darwin on February 19.
At that time, the population of Darwin Port was about 5,000 before the war, but many people were evacuated as the Japanese approached, leaving about 2,000 in February. At the same time as an important strategic naval base and air base for the Allied forces, there are approximately 15,000 Allied soldiers serving in this area.
Japanese attacking force
in the evening of February 15, a powerful aircraft carrier task forces, which is Japan's first aviation fleet left the Palau under the command of Admiral Nagumo's a loyal, his power, including men The first aviation team ("Akagi" and "Kaga") and the second aviation team ("Feilong" and "Canglong"). Although the 5th aviation team ("Shouhe" and "Zuihe") returned to Japan after January, the training quality of the 5th aviation team is quite different from that of the 1st and 2nd aviation teams. The power of the cloud is actually not too far from that of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The Akagi and Kaga have just returned from Truk for refurbishment, while the Flying Dragon and Kaga have previously provided support to the Japanese troops who invaded Anmon Island. Nanyun’s forces also have the 1/3rd battleship squadron ("Kirishima" and "Hiei"), the 8th cruiser squadron (heavy cruises "Tone" and "Tsukuma"), and the 1st destroyer squadron (light The cruiser "Abukuma", the 17th Destroyer Division ("Tanikaze", "Isokaze", "Hamakaze", "Ukaze"), the 18th Destroyer Formation ("Hai", "Urakaze") "Xia", "Yangyan", "Shiranui") and destroyer "Qiuyun"). After receiving the order on February 8th, Nanyun entered the waters near Kendari Island on the 17th. On the evening of the 17th, Nanyun's fleet passed through the Banda Sea at high speed and appeared on the 18th. Wenhai. Their carrier-based aircraft will constitute the first wave of air strikes.
As early as February 10, a Mitsubishi G5M reconnaissance plane of the Third Air Force from the Ammon Island base circled over Darwin Port for reconnaissance. It discovered 27 ships in Darwin Port and about 30 aircraft in Darwin City. Civil airfields and airfields of the Royal Australian Air Force.
The 27 Mitsubishi G4M bombers (Allied designation "Betty") and 27 Mitsubishi G3M bombers (Allied designation "Neil") deployed on Anmon Island from the 23rd Team of the Third Air Force deployed on Kendari Island will be It constituted the second wave of air strikes, and the bases they used were all bases of the original Dutch Air Force.
Defense
At that time, all the fighter squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force were deployed in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The air force in Darwin Port has only a small number of Australian Air Force patrol aircraft in training (basically unable to take off) and Major Floyd Pell's 10 P-40s from the U.S. 33rd Interceptor Squadron. , Plus the two P-40s belonging to the 3rd Interceptor Squadron. Pell's fighter squadron was originally planned to be transported to Java by transport ship. When they arrived at Darwin Port, the US Navy transport ship "Houston" originally planned to carry them had already left. At this time, they were ordered to provide air cover for the "Houston", but the "Houston" ultimately failed to reach Java. Returned to Darwin Port on February 18. A P-40 of the 3rd Interceptor Squadron was shot down in this operation, and Pell only had 11 planes left.
The air defense forces deployed in Darwin at that time included the 2nd and 14th air defense batteries of the Royal Australian Artillery. Their antiaircraft artillery was deployed in Darwin city, Fannie Bay and other important strategic locations in Darwin. Some air defense units (mainly equipped with anti-air machine guns) of the 19th Hussar Mechanized Regiment of the Australian Army are deployed in oil depots near the harbour. The searchlight stations deployed around Darwin Port also used their anti-aircraft machine guns to participate in the battle. $dI] 5JDv
also deployed a detection radar in Darwin, but it was not turned on at the time.
The first wave of attacks
was dawn on February 19, Nan Yun took off from his terrifying fleet of 188 aircraft to form the first wave of attack forces, including 36 A6M2 "Zero" fighters, 71 D3A dive bombers (Allied designation) "Vol") and 81 B5N torpedo bombers (Allied designation "Kate", with bombs and no torpedoes). The first wave of attack forces was commanded by Mizuo Fuchita, who also commanded the first wave of attack groups in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The Japanese air force formation rushed toward Darwin Port violently. After flying to the northern end of Bathurst Island, the Japanese fleet spotted a U.S. Navy PBY "Katrina" seaplane. This seaplane belonged to the 22nd Patrol Squadron of the U.S. Navy, which was commanded by Captain Thomas Moore at the time. Moore's plane was on a cruise mission near Darwin. Nine Zero Fighters broke away from the Japanese formation and began to attack poor Moore and his plane. After the first attack, almost all engines of Moore's plane started to catch fire. The fire was very large. The Japanese plane saw the flames cover up." "Catalina" then left, but the plane did not explode. Moore drove the plane to make an emergency landing on the water. No one died on the plane, but everyone was injured. A Philippine cargo ship "Florence D" rescued them. But because the attack was too fast, Moore’s radio crews did not have time to inform Darwin Port, and Darwin Port was still unaware.
When the Japanese fleet passed through Melville Island, the Australian Reserve Navy Captain John Gribble spotted the aircraft at his observation station. He immediately notified the Australian Navy Liaison Station at Coonawarra Naval Base, but the aircraft were The personnel on duty identified 10 P-40s as Pell's, and Pell's air squadron planned to try to transfer to Tiwen Island that day. But if the U.S. and Australian forces were more coordinated, this error would not have occurred, because the Pell Squadron’s route was north of Melville Island. It was 9:15 in the morning.
The second warning was only 22 minutes later when Father John Macgrave on Bathurst Island spotted the unknown fleet and radioed the Darwin Regional Joint Command. When he was releasing this radio message, six Japanese fighter jets were shooting at the military airfield near the priest and destroying a C-53 belonging to the 22nd Transport Squadron. The Darwin Coastal Communication Station received this warning at 9:37 and delivered it to the Joint Command at Darwin Air Force Airport, but this information was ultimately not passed on to the commander with decision-making authority.
This makes the Japanese attack very similar to Pearl Harbor and can achieve the effect of surprise attacks. As a tropical cyclone swept across the Tiwen Sea from February 2 to 10, many merchant ships swarmed into Darwin Harbor to take shelter, and because porters in Darwin Harbor had just finished a strike, the unloading work in the harbor was slow. At this time, Darwin Harbor was full of merchant ships and unsuspecting.
The Japanese fleet crossed the coastline east of Darwin, then turned northwest and flew towards Darwin Harbor. The surprise attack started at 9:58 in the morning.
There are about 46 ships berthed in Darwin Port. Royal Australian Navy’s auxiliary minesweepers "Tolga", "terka" and "Gunbar", patrol boat "Coongoola", supply Ship "Pluty", as well as the minesweepers "Deloraine", "Kaumba" and "Lithgow" of the 24th minesweeper formation, and the medical ship "Mannuda" (Mannuda). The US Navy destroyer "Peary" and so on, the US Navy seaplane carrier "William B. Preston" (William B. Preston) is preparing to sail south along the coast, and the British oil tanker "British Car Driver" The British Motorist is fully loaded with new aviation gasoline and is ready to unload. Like it, there are 4 Australian freighters loaded with 200 tons of cargo ready to unload. There are also 6 Australian merchant ships in the port, 2 test steamships, and 2 belong to The Royal Australian Navy’s gunboats, four U.S. Navy transport ships and other ships.
At Darwin’s military airfield, there are 9 Henderson bombers from the 2nd and 13th Air Force Squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force, as well as several aircraft belonging to the US Army, mainly Pell’s fighter squadrons and some B-24s. . At Darwin’s civilian airport, there were five old Wirraway fighters belonging to the 12th Air Force Squadron that could not take off. The squadron's other nine "Villewe" type field fighters are deployed in the Butcherer field on the outskirts of Darwin. There are also eight Hendersons deployed at the Daly Waters Airstrip not far from Darwin. There are also many civilian aircraft parked around these military aircraft, and all these air bases have only a few anti-aircraft guns.
At 9:15 in the morning, Major Pell’s 10 P-40s took off for Tiwen Island, but they returned due to fog, while one of the P-40Es of the 3rd Interceptor Squadron failed to take off and stopped at To an airstrip in Darwin. After Major Pell's plane returned to Darwin, he and four other P-40s decided to return to Darwin for resupply, while the remaining five continued to perform cruise missions in the air.
At this time, a Japanese Zero that had just fallen behind due to the attack on "Katrina" appeared over Darwin. The pilot who flew the aircraft was the first class pilot Cao Changbin Fanghe. This should be the first Japanese aircraft to reach the target. The Zero fighter of Yoshiwa Nagahama invaded from high altitude and found 5 P-40s below, preparing for a dive attack. At this time, the five P-40s performing cruise missions in the air were commanded by Lieutenant Ostreicher. He immediately threw away his auxiliary fuel tank and ordered his wingman to prepare for battle. But Nagahama Yoshiwa’s attack was too fast. Lieutenant Jack Peres and Elton Perry’s planes were shot down before they could react. The two planes dragged the smoke and crashed into the ocean. inside. Then he shot down the plane of Lieutenant Max Wiecks. While the plane of Wiecks was falling into the sea, Yoshikazu Nagahama severely damaged William Walker's plane. He was seriously injured and forced his plane to land outside Darwin. When Oster Rachel’s plane and the Zero circling, the Japanese host group arrived over Darwin. Oster Rachel attacked two of these formations. The first formation was 18 B5Ns from the Flying Dragon. Oster Rachel injured 4 of them, and the second formation was 18 For the D3A, he shot down an aircraft and wounded one. Oster Rachel’s P-40 was also injured by the defensive fire of a Japanese bomber, but it landed safely in Darwin Port. The D3A he injured struggled outside the port and fell into the sea. A Japanese destroyer rescued the pilot.
After the Japanese host group arrived, its fighter jets began to attack the air defense gun positions and other targets. The Japanese pilot’s first target was the auxiliary minesweeper "Gumbal" passing through the port. The "Gumbal" was hit hard and one person died. , 8 people were injured. The ship was the first ship to be attacked in Darwin Port.
The five P-40s of Major Pell who were resupplied at the Darwin Military Airfield attempted to take off to meet the enemy. Major Pell was the first to take off. When he tried to fly the plane to a height of about 30 meters, a group of zero fighters from the "Canglong" immediately rushed up, knocking Pell's plane into flames and crashing. Pell's parachuting height Too low and fell to death. The second one to take off was the plane of Lieutenant Charles Hughes, who was killed in the cockpit before he could pull it up. His plane taxied off the runway. Lieutenant Robert McMahon's P-40 successfully took off and successfully approached the Japanese host group. When he was aiming at a D3A, several Zero fighters attacked him from behind, his plane He was severely damaged, and he was forced to parachute in the bay. After falling into the sea, he was rescued by the 10th Patrol Squadron of the US Navy, but they were evacuating the people from the burning "Katrina" seaplane base in the bay. Lieutenant Burt Rice's plane was also shot down in the air. He also parachuted in the bay, but he tossed all night in the mangroves and was rescued the next day. John Glover's plane circled and fell just as soon as it took off. He was forced to make an emergency landing at Darwin Air Force Airport. He himself suffered minor injuries. When he was rescued, he watched his plane with his own eyes. Destroyed by zero fighter jets. Only Oster Rachel’s P-40 successfully attacked the Japanese fleet.
At 9:57, Japanese horizontal bombers entered Darwin Port at an altitude of 14,000 feet. At this time, Darwin’s air defense alarm began to sound. Japanese B5N torpedo bombers began horizontal bombing at 9:58. Starting from the dock, they destroyed most of the water supply system, oil pipes and docks. Then the bombing began to attack the administrative area of Darwin. The hospital, post office and police station were all bombed. , Causing many casualties of workers. As the water supply system was bombed and the fire caused by the air strike could not be extinguished, the fire began to spread in Darwin.
After a large number of B5N torpedo bombers passed, 71 D3A dive bombers began to appear over Darwin Port in several batches. Among them, 27 D3A were divided into groups of 1 to 3, and dived and attacked ships in the port. At that time, the two Australian Navy’s gunboats "Swan" and "Warrego", the US Navy’s destroyer "Pirie" and seaplane carrier "William B. Preston" were sailing in the harbor. Become the most obvious target of Japanese aircraft. The "Piri" was violently attacked. Two aerial bombs that hit the stern of the ship destroyed the ship’s propulsion system, broke the propulsion gong, and caused serious water in the wheelhouse. The third bomb hit the galley. It exploded inside, and the next fourth aerial bomb penetrated the main deck and detonated the ammunition depot under the front deck. The fifth bomb hit the engine room, and the "Piri" quickly exploded. , The sound of the explosion cut the entire Darwin city. Ninety-one people were killed on the "Perry", including its captain John Bermingham and most of his officers. Only about 40 sailors survived the disaster. The only surviving officer was the captain. WJ Catlett (WJ Catlett), he was in the hospital on the shore when the airstrike occurred.
The medical ship "Mannuda" quickly dispatched a lifeboat to rescue those who fell into the water. At this time, the "William B. Preston" was sailing at high speed and tried to leave the port. Due to too much panic, it almost ran into the "Mannuda". "The bow of the ship. Although the "Mannuda" has a clear red cross symbol on a white background, it was still attacked by the Japanese army many times and missed many bullets. After the war, the Japanese claimed that this was caused by an inevitable error. Yes, but who knows what the Japanese pilots were thinking at the time? In the entire air attack, the "Mannuda" withstood four fatal attacks. There were 76 bullet holes and more than 100 wounds on the hull. One of the aerial bombs directly hit the stern of the ship. The bridge was blown to pieces and caused a large number of casualties and seven fires. Nevertheless, the "Mannuda" still stopped in the port to continue to rescue the wounded, and finally survived the airstrike. In the entire airstrike, 12 of the sailors and medical personnel of the "Mannuda" were killed, 48 were injured, and 18 of them were seriously injured.
At the same time, the gunship "Swan" was severely damaged by a near-missing bullet. The oil tanker "British Car Driver" was also violently attacked, the bow of the ship began to sink, and the crew abandoned the ship to escape. The American transport ship Mauna Loa was hit by a bomb directly in the back half of the ship and began to sink. The anti-aircraft artillery fire of the Australian Navy’s supply ship "Pluckbill" tried hard to repel the attackers, but several near-missing bullets still caused serious damage to it. Among them, the engine room of the "Pluckbill" was severely damaged, making it impossible to move. The moored barge "Mavie" was worse than the "Pluty". An aerial bomb directly hit it and sank it. Although the minesweeper "Kaoomba" moored in the dry dock was unable to move, its anti-aircraft artillery fired fiercely and forced the Japanese to give up multiple attacks. The Australian cargo ship "Zealandia" (Zealandia) was hit by a bomb in its No. 3 cabin, which caused an explosion, blasting a large hole in the ship, and the ship was quickly plunged into flames. The captain of the "Silandia" gathered his crew on the bow and stern and decided to abandon the ship. The patrol boats "Teolga", "Teka" and other small ships quickly went to rescue. Although the Sealandia was burnt down, only three of its crew were injured during the entire airstrike. Those boats also rescued the survivors of the "British Auto Driver".
The two Australian cargo ships "Neptuna" and "Barossa" that were unloaded at the pier were also attacked. Both ships were damaged and unable to move. At this time, the fire on the burning oil pipes at the pier became more intense. The coming bigger and bigger, and slowly began to spread to the two cargo ships, causing the two cargo ships to burn violently. At this time, a naval tugboat "Wato" bravely entered the fire site to tow the "Neptune" that had become a fireboat, and then returned to the dock to tow the "Bunosa" to the shore A safe place allows the crew of the "Bunosa" to leave the ship safely before it is sunk. However, the "Neptune" fire was relatively large, and the attack itself was more violent. Its casualties ranked second among the ships moored in the harbor, with a total of 45 deaths. The "Watu" also caught fire due to its own wooden hull. The cargo ship Tulagi was also violently attacked, but it did not sink due to the shallow water level at its berth. Soon after the airstrike, the ammunition cargo on the violently burning "Neptune" exploded, destroying the entire left half of the dock and most of the town. Although the stern and main body of the "Neptune" quickly disappeared, the bow was still floating at sea after the explosion.
The U.S. Navy's 10th Patrol Squadron's seaplane base in Darwin Port was also attacked, and three Catalinas were destroyed at the base. Other air bases in Darwin also received fierce attacks. Zero fighters and D3A dive bombers carried out fierce attacks on aircraft on the airport. Ten zero fighters fired frantically at the civilian airport. A private passenger plane was destroyed. The hangars, warehouses and headquarters of the 13th and 12th squadrons were shot. Among them, the hangar of the 12th squadron was directly hit, and one was unable to The "Villewe" fighter jets that took off were also destroyed. The Japanese army also fired at Darwin Military Airfield and Daley Waters Airstrip. Six Hendersons on the ground were destroyed, and one Henderson in the hangar was also destroyed. In addition, there were A U.S. B-24 was destroyed at a military airfield, as well as the P-40 from the 3rd Interceptor Squadron of the U.S. Army that fell behind and the P-40 from Glover, the entire Darwin port. Only Ostrachel’s P-40 survived the airstrike.
The Australians, like the Americans after the raid, began to wake up. Soldiers all fired at the air with all kinds of weapons, even British World War I rifles. The anti-aircraft fire suffered by the Japanese army gradually became fierce, and they were forced to give up bombing of some targets. A D3A was shot down by an anti-aircraft machine gun at the Australian Army’s searchlight station. This aircraft was the first aircraft to be fired by ground artillery in Australia during World War II. Downed enemy plane. The aircraft of the Japanese naval aviation finally left before 11 o'clock, and the first wave of air strikes ended.
On the way back from the Japanese aircraft, the pilot of the "Kaga" dive bomber reported that it had spotted a cruiser. Soon, the "Flying Dragon" and the "Canglong" took off 9 D3A aircraft. One hour later, these aircraft found the so-called cruiser, which was actually the merchant ship "Don Isidore" with a displacement of 3,200 tons. Isidore), this ship serves the U.S. Navy and is responsible for carrying supplies from Darwin Port and stealing the Japanese Navy’s blockade, transporting supplies to the Philippines.
Of course, the Japanese aircraft would not let go of the prey in front of them. The "Don Isidore" was hit by five bombs and suffered heavy losses. The captain immediately issued a distress signal. 30 miles south, the "Florence D" that rescued the pilot received a distress signal, and its captain immediately decided to go to rescue at high speed. But at this time, an Aichi E13A1 seaplane taking off from the battleship or cruiser of the Nanyun Fleet followed them. When the "Florence D" failed to get rid of tracking many times, his captain decided to try his luck. They ordered his crew to hide and stop. The Japanese seaplane dropped two 100-pound bombs after circling several times. However, due to the poor aiming skills of the Japanese pilots, the bombs exploded far away from the ship. After several bursts of fire, the Japanese seaplane moved towards Xifei left.
After the Japanese aircraft disappeared, the "Florence D" continued to sail, and about 90 minutes later, it found the "Don Isidore" floating out of control to the shore. As the "Don Isidore" has lost control, the "Florence D" cannot be rescued. "Don Isidore" eventually ran aground at the northern end of Bathurst Island, and its crew was rescued by the Royal Australian Navy's light cruiser "South China Port" (Warrnambool) the next day. At this time, the captain of the "Florence D" thought the waters were too dangerous and decided to return to Darwin Port. But the decision was too late. Nine D3As from the "Flying Dragon" appeared again. The "Florence D" was hit by two bombs, detonated the ammunition it carried, and finally sank within a few minutes. Moore and others finally struggled back to the north coast of Australia. They were also rescued by the light cruiser "South China Port" on the 23rd.
The second wave of airstrikes
was approaching Darwin Port at the time of the Fubuta fleet. 54 horizontal bombers from the 23rd Team of the 3rd Air Force in Kendari Island and Anmon Island had already taken off. Their target was Darwin’s airport. . At 11:58, the bomber group arrived at Darwin Port. At this time, there was no fighter from either side over Darwin, and Oster Rachel’s P-40 had already landed. The Japanese fleet rushed directly to Darwin Port. Two planes including Oster Rachel and Volker were destroyed. The Japanese fleet also destroyed airport dormitories and many other civilian facilities, including hospitals and post offices. After dropping all the bombs, the Japanese fleet left and the Darwin airstrike came to an end.
Postscript The
Japanese successfully carried out this airstrike and lost only 5 planes. They sank 29 of the 46 ships in Darwin Port. More importantly, they severely damaged the port facilities of Darwin Port. Due to severe damage to port facilities, Darwin Port was unable to operate as a supply base in the next phase of the Battle of the East Indies. The Japanese army easily occupied Temon Island without being obstructed by allied air power. Allied air support in Java was also interrupted, and the entire Dutch East Indies fell shortly afterwards. This air strike once again proved the power of the aircraft carrier, and it was also one of the successful cases of the Japanese navy using aircraft carriers to attack ports in the early days.
The number of casualties in Darwin Port is still being debated, but the number of casualties is far less than the official announcement, because the Australian military did not make casualty statistics in time. In order to avoid unrest, the Australian government only announced that there were only 76 casualties. The serious losses suffered by Darwin Port have a lot to do with its own lack of combat readiness. It is hard to imagine that an important strategic allied base has only such a weak air defense force. It is normal for the Japanese to achieve great success.
This air strike shocked the Australians very much. Many people thought it was an outpost of the invasion. Australia is no longer a paradise outside of war. The war has already burned to Australia. Although the Japanese believed that the airstrike had hit the morale of the Australians, they were wrong. Since then, Australia has completely entered a state of war. The Curtin government no longer argues with Churchill over the use of the Australian army, and the Australians began to get rid of it. With the idea of isolationism, countless Australian youths enthusiastically joined the army. During the entire war, Australia sent nearly 1 million soldiers. Not only from the military point of view, the air raid on Darwin Port was Australia’s Pearl Harbor incident, but also from the perspective of its impact on the spirit of Australians.
Reprinted from:
http://www.cww2.net/bbs/
Author:
Milosevic
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