The bombing of Darwin during WW2

[dontmissthese]

Not really sure if it's the Mandala effect but I need to know what others
around my age were told about the Japanese bombing of Darwin during WW2.
I am 73 years old and during my primary school days I was told that the only destruction

in Darwin was a post office and some other minor damage.
I just read an article that claims our history books didn't mention Darwin because they

hadn't been updated since WW1. If so then how could ANY bombing have been mentioned

( unless it occurred during WW1 which I guess would have been impossible ). 

I also remember our Australian history book with a lithograph showing a guy

on the prow of a ship using a rifle shoot first nation people on the shore.

[dontmissthese]

Thank you for seeing what I was actually asking.

[dontmissthese]

Perhaps I should have asked "Does anyone have access to an Australian history book first printed between 1950 ( my birth year ) and 1955."
I can understand that the Australian public was shielded from the true extent of Japanese bombing of Australia at the time ( to prevent panic ) but it appears that we were shielded for quite some time after the events took place.

 

[not_for_sale2024]

I don't recall any school lessons on the Wars. They mainly taught us about the early explorers - the focus was on British-Australia. The only ways I knew of to learn more was to ask my parents or visit the library. I did both, but it wasn't very helpful. Later on I briefly studied Humanities at University which touched on the subject and raised my interest. It wasn't until the advent of the internet that I slowly learned more about the events I was interested in, including the bombing of Darwin.

If The Bombing Of Darwin: An Awkward Truth documentary is factual, then it makes sense why we were not taught about it. I am guessing it was still being investigated during the 50s, 60s and even the 70s. The findings would have been very sensitive and I'm confident the governments at the time would not have wanted to reveal them to the public. I doubt any book printed between 1950 and 1955 would contain much about the actual truth. There's not a lot of national pride there.

[tezza2844]

"I went to a Catholic school and we weren't taught any Australian history at all"

So did I , but lack of Australian history was the norm for all schools. As you said all British history, no European history or very little of anybody elses. I was surprised when I found out that the Polish-Latvian empire cover most of central Europe at one stage.

[the_great_she_elephant]

My husband's uncle was in Darwin with the army when it was bombed.  When he came home on leave and told people about it they accused him of making it all up, because there had been virtually nothing said about it either on the radio or in the newspapers.

[domino-710]

The Argus - mentioned it.

[imastawka]

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@tezza2844 wrote:

"I went to a Catholic school and we weren't taught any Australian history at all"

So did I , but lack of Australian history was the norm for all schools. As you said all British history, no European history or very little of anybody elses. I was surprised when I found out that the Polish-Latvian empire cover most of central Europe at one stage.

Off topic reply, sorry, but an excellent read is Poland by James A. Michener.  It was well researched.

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