In early March 1942 Allied forces in the Netherlands East Indies surrendered and the lightning Japanese conquest of South East Asia was complete.
Amid fears of a Japanese invasion of Australia, two understrength RAAF squadrons of Lockheed Hudsons began a brave fight back against the enemy from the Darwin area. These modest initial efforts were the beginnings of an unwavering campaign by Allied bombers waged from Northern Australia until the end of the war in August 1945.
As the Hudson squadrons were rebuilt throughout 1942, they were joined by a unique Dutch squadron operating B-25 Mitchells. From 1943 USAAF Liberators joined the fight, and their great range enabled them to attack targets deep within the NEI. From 1944 they were replaced by RAAF Liberators.
Other RAAF squadrons used an assortment of aircraft including Vengeances, Beauforts, Mitchells, Venturas and Catalina flying boats. The last type waged an important mining campaign against Japanese held ports in the NEI and later to the Philippines and beyond.
Drawing on a wealth of new sources, Bombers North presents for the first time the full story of a little-known bomber offensive waged from remote northern Australia.
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.
