On 19 February 1942, the Imperial Japanese Navy struck Darwin with four of the aircraft carriers they had used at Pearl Harbor; their devastating attack which had brought them into World War II.
That northern Australia was hit by the ravages of war – and not just once, but for years – is something many Australians do not know about. The Japanese returned again and again, and across northern Western Australia and Queensland, but primarily against the Northern Territory, they used bombers and fighters, often in assaults of scores of aircraft at a time.
That first attack holds the key to why Japan attacked Australia. Australia Remembers 4: The Bombing of Darwin 1942 explains that day and beyond. It brings forward some of the personalities who fought and died, and others who fought and lived.
This book highlights the story of the first Japanese who was captured as a Prisoner of War, by an Aboriginal Tiwi Islander; the tale of the fighting destroyer USS Peary, battling to the end as she sank, and much more – including the vital statistics of the day.
Non-fiction, Military History
About The Author
Military historian; public speaker, author of 25 books, and a retired naval officer, Dr Tom Lewis received the Order of Australian Medal (OAM) for services to naval history.
He served in the Iraq War in 2006 as an Intelligence analyst, and also in East Timor. He has worked as a divemaster, high school teacher, and journalist.
Tom is an expert on World War II, especially in the Pacific, but has also written in areas including medieval battle, and the reality of battlefield behaviour.
His latest books are Cyclone Warriors – the Armed Forces in Cyclone Tracy; The Secret Submarine, revealing the RAAF’s sinking of the Japanese I-178 off Sydney in 1943, and Australia’s Coastal War, which brings together all of the submarine, surface, and air attacks around WWII Australia.
The Sinking of HMAS Sydney has just won the 2024 Australian Naval Institute’s Commodore Sam Bateman Book Prize.
