The First Air Raid "We heard the drone of many aircraft and we thought good, the yanks have finally arrived. Shortly followed though they all drew the familiar sound of the whistling of the bombs as they fell. We realised then, that it wasn't the yanks at all, it was the first air raid on Darwin." ~Kym Bonython - Royal Australian Air Force Personnel~
Army personnel arm anti-aircraft gunners
The morning was quiet, the air humid, no one was prepared for the attack coming their way. They were unexpecting and unaware that an enemy force was right on their doorstep. By 0845 hours, four Japanese aircraft carriers launched a total of 188 aircraft into the skies to rain down hell on Darwin. These were the same planes, aircrews and leaders that had attacked Pearl Harbour just 2 months before. At 0915 hours, the Japanese force was spotted by an Australian coast watcher at Melville Island who radioed warning back to the mainland. The mainland however thought that the planes were their own aircraft returning from a failed flight to Timor. The air raid sirens were not sounded. At 0958 hours, the Japanese aircraft arrived over Darwin. 9 aircraft attacked the first ship - HMAS Gunbar. The overall raid lasted approximately 40 minutes, sinking 3 warships, 5 merchant vessels and damaging another 10 ships. Mainland sites bombed include the RAAF base, airfield, army barracks, oil store, civilian homes and the civilian hospital. All of these facilities were severely damaged. Allied air defences shot down 7 aircraft and the Australian army anti-aircraft gunners shot down 2 zero fighters and a D3A. The first wave of Japanese aircraft left Darwin at 1040 hours. At the time of the raid, there was no opposition to combat the enemy. Many were convinced that in the dawn of the next day, the Japanese would be landing in Darwin.
"We heard the drone of many aircraft and we thought good, the yanks have finally arrived. Shortly followed though they all drew the familiar sound of the whistling of the bombs as they fell. We realised then, that it wasn't the yanks at all, it was the first air raid on Darwin."
~Kym Bonython - Royal Australian Air Force Personnel~
The morning was quiet, the air humid, no one was prepared for the attack coming their way. They were unexpecting and unaware that an enemy force was right on their doorstep. By 0845 hours, four Japanese aircraft carriers launched a total of 188 aircraft into the skies to rain down hell on Darwin. These were the same planes, aircrews and leaders that had attacked Pearl Harbour just 2 months before. At 0915 hours, the Japanese force was spotted by an Australian coast watcher at Melville Island who radioed warning back to the mainland. The mainland however thought that the planes were their own aircraft returning from a failed flight to Timor. The air raid sirens were not sounded. At 0958 hours, the Japanese aircraft arrived over Darwin. 9 aircraft attacked the first ship - HMAS Gunbar. The overall raid lasted approximately 40 minutes, sinking 3 warships, 5 merchant vessels and damaging another 10 ships. Mainland sites bombed include the RAAF base, airfield, army barracks, oil store, civilian homes and the civilian hospital. All of these facilities were severely damaged. Allied air defences shot down 7 aircraft and the Australian army anti-aircraft gunners shot down 2 zero fighters and a D3A. The first wave of Japanese aircraft left Darwin at 1040 hours. At the time of the raid, there was no opposition to combat the enemy. Many were convinced that in the dawn of the next day, the Japanese would be landing in Darwin.