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.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

I was in Darwin last year.  I highly recommend that anyone who visits Darwin, and has the time, do "The Darwin History and Wartime Experience" tour.  Well worth it.

 

 

[imastawka]

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

But I bluddy well know all about British history!  Oh yessiree

From that, I learned when Cook came here and that was it.

[not_for_sale2024]

If you have Foxtel, you can stream The Bombing Of Darwin: An Awkward Truth. It is a documentary and very much an eye opener. It reveals how the same pilots who bombed Pearl Harbor bombed Darwin, the sufferings of Australian sailors, the poor management of the crisis by Darwin authorities, the cowardice and the victims of the bombing. If you don't have Foxtel, I'm pretty sure you could track it down online.

[imastawka]

I will watch that one NFS, but in the meantime -

[countessalmirena]

It’s on Apple TV and Amazon Prime. (That is, Awkward Truth.) Thank you for recommending it; I’m aware of large gaps in my knowledge of Australian history.

[ambercat16]

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@dontmissthese wrote:

...............I need to know what othersaround 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

I think what the OP was asking wasn't what people now know about the bombing of Darwin, but what people of his age were told through the education system. (sorry if I have misinterpreted)

I was brought up in NZ so can't speak to the education system in Australia in the 50s and 60s but from what friends and family say, it's only since the late 80s that the bombings in Darwin, Townsville and Broome have been widely discussed and 'celebrated'.  Probably because of the 50 year anniversary in early 1992.

I've lived in Darwin now since the end of 1977.   Cyclone Tracy sort of dominated any disaster discussions back then but now there is information about the Bombing of Darwin everywhere you look.

My father-in-law was in Darwin during 1943 and 44 and he used to say the reason it was kept quiet at the time was not to scare the Australian people about how vulnerable the country (north of the country at least) really was.  Of course that doesn't excuse not teaching children about it a  generation and more later.

[imastawka]

I was in Darwin, briefly, in 2004 - holiday and only for 2 days - road trip and passing through.

The only thing I knew was it was bombed during the war, but not extensively - my bad.

I thought that everything was nice and shiny new because of Tracy.   My brother, wife and 2 kids were evacuated and never went back. 

I didn't know there was a history that I was unaware of, otherwise I would've delved deeper.

[viewmont1071]

It's a bit like the japanese submarine activity along the east coast of Australia. Not many know the extent that the incursion reached between 1940 and 1944. 19 ships were sunk and a further 10 were extensively damaged. approximately 214 merchant seaman/ military personel died in the attacks.

https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/-/media/OEH/Corporate-Site/Documents/Heritage/world-war-two-shipw...

[countessalmirena]

How the scene can change...

Now we count Japan as a friend, and the wounds of war have softened over time.