The 75th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin to commemorate devastating raids

Seated as if in the cockpit of a war plane, visitors are plunged into the cacophony, the confusion, the utter mayhem of that February morning. Suddenly, it seems, the morning sky is raining bombs. They explode everywhere, releasing huge clouds of smoke, setting ships on fire, triggering more sirens, blowing Australian sailors – and the visitor – into the smoky sky and the oily, black sea.

This interactive display raises funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, whose activities are showcased in the same building. The new centre is only one of many extraordinary war sites across the city. Indeed, it is difficult to travel anywhere through thoroughly modern Darwin without running into stunning reminders of the World War II bombings.

There are remnants of gun emplacements, slit trenches, oil-storage tanks, abandoned bunkers, lookout posts, vast airstrips and, on a smaller scale, telltale shell damage to buildings, public and private.

Eight kilometres out of town are the East Point Military Reserve and the Military Museum, which showcase an extraordinary collection of World War II memorabilia and wartime stories. Here, at East Point, on a site established as Darwin's main defence point to protect precious oil stores at Stokes Hill Wharf, can be found the remains of 9.2-inch gun emplacements, ammunition magazines, lookout towers, searchlights, command posts and anti-submarine boom nets.

The neighbouring museum boasts relics ranging from radios through to restored guns to military vehicles, and an extensive display of wartime instruments, uniforms, paintings, photographs and stories of those based at East Point during the war.

Through the latest "immersive, interactive, multimedia" techniques, the museum's Defence of Darwin Experience provides a unique opportunity for visitors to understand the impact of the war on the city.

One section captures the flavour of pre-war Darwin in the 1920 and 1930s, when it was little more than a "Frontier Town". Exhibits include a sign from a Chinese shop, pearl ornaments, a souvenir piece of the submarine telegraph line connected Darwin, and thereby Australia, to the rest of the world, and the white dress jacket worn by the Northern Territory administrator at the time, Charles Lydiard Aubrey Abbott.

The centrepiece "Bombing of Darwin Experience" offers a stunning "surround-sound, all-immersive experience" of what it must have been like to have woken on that distant February morning in 1942 to the deadly cacophony of 188 Japanese aircraft.

Visitors are warned – the experience is multi-sensory and realistically scary. Less technically advanced and less noisy – though no less moving – are the remnants of war to be found in nearby Charles Darwin National Park. They include the explosives bunkers that made up the Bombing Road Bomb Dump, one of which has been used to display memorabilia, such as lurid posters showing Japanese soldiers marching into Australia, under the caption, "HE'S COMING SOON … It is fight, work or perish".

Almost 75 years on, Darwin may still have more than its fair share of "colourful characters". But it's a more confident, more sophisticated city, and certainly a much bigger place, with top hotels and eats, especially along the Waterfront.

Tourism has become Darwin's biggest industry, and the recollection of the Japanese bombing a major attraction.

It is a growth industry supported by guide companies, including SeaDARWIN, which explores the bomb sites on foot, by bus and by boat, Bombing of Darwin Tours, and The Darwin History and Wartime Experience.

Inevitably, the story they tell is not all of Australian valour, still less of sensible preparation for an identifiable threat.

As war expert Peter Grose writes in An Awkward Truth, there was much to be proud of on February 19 – courage , mateship, determination, improvisation. "But the dark side of the story lingers ... looting, desertion and a calamitous failure in Australian leadership."

And, it must be added, preparation. Those defending Darwin were poorly equipped. Many of the weapons used were relics of World War I or were unsuitable for use in tropical climates.

Of course, visitors do not have to catch a bus, go to a museum or hire a guide to find evidence of the bombing. The lush waterfront parklands – a favourite destination for walkers, runners, cyclists, newlyweds and sightseers – contain many war memorials. They are also close to the memorials dedicated to the American air force, whose Kittyhawk pilots protected Darwin from the Japanese attack, and to the destroyer USS Peary, which was sunk during the first attack.

Stickley – who transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force, where he enjoyed a distinguished flying career – lives in Glenbrook, in the Blue Mountains. The walls of his house, not far from where his daughter Christine, lives, are covered with his paintings of planes.

He may not make it back to Darwin for the anniversary but he still reflects on his wartime activities there: "When you come to think of it, the Japanese were cheeky little fellars, flying all that way to bomb us."

AUSTRALIA UNDER ATTACK: JAPAN'S WORLD
WAR II TARGETS

DARWIN

On February 19, 1942, Japanese aircraft – more than were used in the bombing of the American Pearl Harbour – attacked the city in two raids. About 240 people were killed, and up to 400 wounded. The Japanese raided Darwin 64 times and the Top End more than 200 times.

BROOME

The then-remote pearling port was attacked by Zero fighters in early 1942. At least 88 people were killed, many of them Dutch refugees from the East Indies, fleeing the Japanese. More than a dozen flying boats were sunk. Wyndham was also attacked by Zero planes.

TOWNSVILLE

This important military base, and the North Queensland town of Mossman, were bombed by Japanese flying boats in July, 1942. One child was injured. Otherwise, the only serious damage was to a coconut plantation.

SYDNEY

In late May and early June Japanese midget subs attacked shipping in the harbour. The converted ferry HMAS Kuttabul was sunk, killing 21 sailors. Over the next few months Japanese fleet subs, that carried the midget subs, attacked merchant vessels, killing about 50 sailors.

NEWCASTLE

On June 8, 1942, the Japanese submarine I-21 arrived offshore, firing on local shipyards, and possibly BHP's iron ore mines. Months later it returned and sank the bulk carrier Iron Knight off Montague Island, with loss of 36 lives.

TRIP NOTES

MORE INFORMATION

northernterritory.com
rfdsdarwin.com.au
darwinmilitarymuseum.com.au
bombingofdarwintour.com
seadarwin.com

GETTING THERE

A platinum fare aboard the Ghan passenger train from Darwin to Adelaide costs $3699pp and $2489 in gold class (the journey can also be taken between Adelaide and Darwin). See greatsouthernrail.com.au

Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin have regular flights to Darwin.

STAYING THERE

The Adina Apartment Hotel, Darwin Waterfront, has doubles from $118.

REMEMBERING THERE

As well as the official commemorations, several tour companies will offer tours of the "battlefield" on land and sea. See the official Darwin and Frontline Australia websites at darwin.nt.gov.au and frontlineaustralia.com.au

John Huxley travelled as a guest of The Ghan and Tourism Northern Territory