Source: View of the Battleship California (BB 44) during the Pearl Harbor Attack on 7 December 1941. (National Museum of Naval Aviation, Emil Buehler Library, 1941).
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Jump to: Introduction | Places & events | Darwin bombing images
Pearl Harbor, located on the island of Oahu in Hawaii is a major base for the American Navy.
On the 7th of December 1941 the Japanese Imperial Navy launched an areal surprise attack on the base at Pearl Harbor. "The Pearl Harbor attack, unannounced beforehand by the Japanese..., unified the American public and swept away any remaining support for American neutrality in the war. On December 8 the U.S. Congress declared war on Japan with only one dissenting vote." (Alisha, 2016, p. 80)
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Singapore is located at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula on the Singapore Straits which is near the Strait of Malacca, a major shipping lane connecting Asia with the Indian ocean. At the start of World War II Singapore was a strategic British colony.
Background
"Singapore was the major British base in the Pacific and had been regarded as unassailable due to its strong seaward defenses. The Japanese took it with comparative ease by advancing down the Malay Peninsula and then assaulting the base’s landward side, which the British had left inadequately defended." (Alisha, 2016) This left Australia vulnerable and open to attack by the imperial Japanese armed forces.
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Changi is an area located on the eastern side of Singapore island. It is the location of the Changi prison and the former British Selarang army barracks, both of which were used as prisoner of war (POW) camps by the Japanese during World War II.
Background
"During the Pacific war, the Japanese captured 22,000 Australians: soldiers, sailors, airmen and members of the army nursing service, as well as some civilians. They were imprisoned in camps throughout Japanese-occupied territories in Borneo, Korea, Manchuria, Hainan, Rabaul, Ambon, Singapore, Timor, Java, Thailand, Burma and Vietnam and also Japan itself. At the end of the war only 13,872 of the POWs were recovered: one-third of the prisoners had died." (Department of Veteran Affairs, n.d.)
Source: Locations in South East Asia where Australians were captured, (Department of Veterans' Affairs, n.d.)
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Darwin, Northern Territory.
Background
"In early 1942, Darwin was used as a military base and as a transit point for forces and aircraft being sent to Timor, Ambon and Java (modern Indonesia) before these islands fell to the Japanese.. On 19 February 1942, Darwin suffered its first and most devastating air raid. The Japanese had assessed that the base threatened the success of their operations against Timor and Java." (Department of Veterans' Affairs, n.d.)
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Burma Thai border region.
Background
"The Burma-Thailand railway (known also as the Burma–Thailand or Burma–Siam railway) was built in 1942–43. Its purpose was to supply the Japanese forces in Burma, bypassing the sea routes which had become vulnerable when Japanese naval strength was reduced in the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway in May and June 1942... Aiming to finish the railway as quickly as possible the Japanese decided to use the more than 60 000 Allied prisoners who had fallen into their hands in early 1942." (Department of Veterans' Affairs, n.d.)
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The Kokoda track is located to the north of Australia in Papua New Guinea. The track crossed the rugged Owen Stanley Ranges and provides access from the north of Papua New Guinea to Port Moresby on the south coast.
Background
"The Japanese, rather than invading Australia, adopted a strategy of isolating it. They planned to attempt to blockade supply lines with the United States in an operation known as the FS Operation, under which Japan would invade New Guinea, New Caledonia, Fiji, and other islands in the South Pacific... The Japanese planned to form a defensive ring around the Greater East-Asia Co-prosperity Sphere and did not want Australia or Papua to be used as a base for an American counter-attack against their recently won territory... The Kokoda campaign fought between July and November 1942 was part of a larger campaign fought in Papua... During the four-month long campaign, more than 600 Australians were killed or died along the Kokoda Track and over 1,600 were wounded" (James K., 2009)
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Location
Hiroshima is located on the Japanese island of Honshu on the Inland Sea
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Source: Roy Hodgkinson, (1942) Unit: HMAS Katoomba, charcoal, watercolour, goauche on paper, item copyright: © Australian War Memorial. This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
"The SS Neptuna was bombed whilst berthed at the Darwin Jetty... Directly in front of the explosion the tiny Vigilant can be seen doing rescue work. In the foreground is the SS Zealandia which was dive bombed and which eventually foundered." (Australian War Memorial, n.d.)
Source: Ray Honisett, (1984) Units: 2/1 Australian Hospital Ship Manunda, HMAS Deloraine. Painting. Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial. This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
"Air raid, harbour; HMAS Deloraine." (Australian War Memorial, n.d.)
Source: Anonymous, (1942) Black & white - Film copy negative. Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial. This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
"The SS Neptuna was bombed whilst berthed at the Darwin Jetty. The ship was loaded with mixed cargo and depth charges, it caught alight and eventually blew up. Directly in front of the explosion the tiny Vigilant can be seen doing rescue work." (Australian War Memorial, n.d.)
Source: Anonymous, (1942) Black & white - Film copy negative. Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial. This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
The SS Zealandia, an munitions ship, on fire in Darwin Harbour after being fired upon by Japanese aerial bombers. (Australian War Memorial, n.d.)
Source: Frank Bagnall, (1942) Black & white - Film copy negative. Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial. This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
The first raid on Darwin, 19 February 1942. (Australian War Memorial, n.d.)
Source: Anonymous, (1942) Black & white - Film copy negative. Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial. This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
"Japanese bombs landing inland and along the foreshore of Darwin harbour during the first air raid." (Australian War Memorial, n.d.)
Source: Anonymous, (1942). Black & white - Film copy negative. Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial. This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Ships ablaze in the harbour during the first air raid on Darwin. (Australian War Memorial, n.d.)
Source: Anonymous, (1942) Black & white - Film copy negative. Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial. This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
A house on Myilly Point damaged by the air raid (Australian War Memorial, n.d.)
Source: Anonymous, (1942) Black & white - Film copy negative. Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial. This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
"Australian troops inspect bomb damage caused by Japanese air raids." (Australian War Memorial, n.d.)
Source: Geoffrey McInnes, (1942) Unit: Darwin Fortress. Black & white - Film copy negative. Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial. This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Burnt out shop caused by the Darwin air raids. (Australian War Memorial, n.d.)
Source: Anonymous, (1942). Black & white - Film copy negative. Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial. This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
The Darwin wharf was extensively damaged by the air raid. Australian War Memorial, n.d.)
Source: Anonymous, (1942). Black & white - Film copy negative. Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial. This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Wreck of the tanker SS British Motorist, sunk in the Japanese air raid of Darwin. (Australian War Memorial, n.d.)
Source: McNeil, (1942). Black & white - Film copy negative. Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial. This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Troops clearing away the wreckage after the Japanese air raid on Darwin. Australian War Memorial, n.d.)
Source: Anonymous, (1942). Black & white - Film copy negative. Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial. This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
What was left of an Australian Douglas dive bomber in its hanger after Royal Australian Air Force installations were attacked in the Japanese air raid on Darwin. (Australian War Memorial, n.d.)