Japanese air attacks on Australia in the Pacific War
An Australiangun camera photograph of two JapaneseMitsubishi G4M2 "Betty"medium bombers of753rd Air Group during a raid on Darwin in June 1943."Fighter Guide Map No. 1B, Darwin Area", March 1944. Produced for air defence purposes by the Royal Australian Air Force. The map includes many of the air fields which were targeted by Japanese aircraft.
In thefirst and deadliest set of attacks, 262 aircraft hitDarwin on the morning of 19 February 1942. Killing at least 235 people and causing immense damage, the attacks made hundreds of people homeless and resulted in the abandonment of Darwin as a major naval base.
Although the main defence was provided by RAAF and Allied fighters, a number ofAustralian Army anti-aircraft batteries in northern Australia also defended against Japanese air raids.[1]
The explosion of theMV Neptuna, hit during the first Japanese air raid on Darwin. In the foreground isHMAS Deloraine, which escaped damage.
The bombing of Darwin on 19 February 1942 was both the first and the largest attack mounted by Japan against mainland Australia, when four Japaneseaircraft carriers (Akagi,Kaga,Hiryū andSōryū) launched a total of 188 aircraft from a position in theTimor Sea.[2] These 188 naval aircraft inflicted heavy damage on Darwin and sank eight ships. A raid conducted by 54 land-based army bombers later the same day inflicted further damage on the town andRAAF Base Darwin and resulted in the destruction of 20 military aircraft. Allied casualties were 235 killed and between 300 and 400 wounded, the majority of whom were non-Australian Allied sailors. Only four Japanese aircraft (all navy carrier-borne) were confirmed to have been destroyed by Darwin's defenders.[3]
On 3 March 1942, nine JapaneseA6M2 Zerofightersattacked the town of Broome, in northernWestern Australia. AlthoughBroome was a small town, it had become a significant air base and route of escape for refugees and retreating military personnel, following theJapanese invasion of Java. During the attack, which consisted ofstrafing runs only by the Zeros, at least 88 Allied civilians and military personnel were killed and 24 aircraft were lost. As Broome was almost undefended, Japanese losses were light, with only a single Zero being shot down over Broome and another one failing to reach its base.[4]
Two Australian soldiers searching for fragments of a bomb dropped during the third raid on Townsville.
Japanese naval flying boats conducted four small air raids on thenorth Queensland city ofTownsville and the town ofMossman in late July 1942. Townsville, which was an important military base, was raided by JapaneseKawanishi H8K1 "Emily"flying boats operating from Rabaul on three nights in late July 1942. On the night of 25/26 July, the city was attacked by two flying boats but did not suffer any damage as the six bombs dropped by these aircraft fell into the sea. Townsville was attacked for the second time in the early hours of 28 July when a single flying boat dropped eight bombs which landed in bushland outside the city. SixP-39 Airacobras unsuccessfully attempted to intercept the Japanese aircraft. The third raid on Townsville occurred in the early hours of 29 July when a single flying boat again attacked the city, dropping seven bombs into the sea and an eighth which fell on an agricultural research station atOonoonba, damaging a coconut plantation. This aircraft was intercepted by four Airacobras and was damaged. The fourth raid on north Queensland occurred on the night of 31 July when a single flying boat dropped a bomb which exploded near a house outside of Mossman, injuring a child.[5]
(09:20)Broome, WA.Attack on Broome: astrafing raid by nineA6M2 Zeros. At least 88 people were killed and 24 Allied aircraft were destroyed. A Sikh pilot of the Royal Indian Air Force Flying Officer Manmohan Singh, in one of the RAF Catalina flying boats died. He was the first Indian casualty on Australian soil.
(~10:30)Carnot Bay, WA.PK-AFV (Pelikaan)—aDouglas DC-3 airliner owned byKLM—was shot down by Zeros returning from the attack on Broome. It crash-landed 50 mi (80 km) north of Broome. Four passengers were killed.Diamonds worth£150,000–300,000 were lost or stolen following the crash.
Wyndham, WA. Strafing attack by Zeroes. No casualties.Koolama, which is in port by this time (see above), sinks as an indirect result of the attack.
Darwin, NT. Sgt. Albert Cooper, 28, (RAF, 54 Squadron) fromWolverhampton,Staffordshire, England, shot down, and killed, in his Spitfire over Darwin harbour[11]
^Tom Lewis (2003).A War at Home. A Comprehensive guide to the first Japanese attacks on Darwin. Tall Stories, Darwin. Page 16.
^David Jenkins (1992),Battle Surface! Japan's Submarine War Against Australia 1942–44. Random House Australia, Sydney. Pages 118–120 and Lewis (2003). Pages 63–71.
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