Heavy Raid on Darwin, 1942

Title:
Heavy Raid on Darwin, 1942
NFSA ID
120418
Year
1942
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By the 1940s Darwin was still a small town but its location was important militarily. On 19 February 1942, 242 Japanese aircraft attacked Darwin’s airfields and harbour in an attempt to prevent the Allies from using them as bases to repel the invasion of Timor and Java. The air raids were the first and largest of over 60 attacks on Darwin during 1942–43.