Bombing of Darwin and BroomeThe Darwin Bombings (19th February, 1942)
On 16th December 1941, an official order was issued by the Administrator to evacuate women and children from Darwin, which was primarily organised by the A.R.P (Australian Raid Precaution) with assistance from Police and Military personnel. Most of the 1066 women and 900 children went by sea, with the first group leaving Darwin on December 19 aboard the Koolinda. The troop carrier Zealandia, USS President Grant, Montoro, and Koolama also evacuated civilians with the last ship sailing on February 15, just before the bombing of Darwin. Others left by plane, train and road. Civilians were evacuated on very short notice (often with less than 24 hours) and were allowed very little luggage. Ships which were used to evacuate citizens were often over-crowded, and short on food and water. They were also on the look out for the enemy, and at night were blacked out to avoid detection. |
The Japanese first attacked Darwin on the morning of 19th February 1942. The Japanese attacks did not have as many casualties due to women and children already evacuated. However many civilian facilities were targeted: the Post Office (where several civilians were killed due to a direct hit on the Post Office and the bomb shelter next to it), the Telegraph Office, the Cable Office and the Postmaster's Residence, where many postal workers were killed. The second attack saw that most civilian facilities were destroyed, including civilian aerodromes.
After the first attack, much of the town was destroyed and hundreds of people were killed and wounded. Darwin's remaining population feared that the Japanese were about to invade which led to widespread panic and about half of Darwin's remaining civilian population fled in the confusion and panic. Three days after the attack, 278 servicemen were still missing. The majority of women and children had been evacuated previously under government orders during December 1941 and January 1942. |
Bombing of Broome (3rd March, 1942)
Broome was a significant military and civilian staging post for air evacuees from Java, then part of the Dutch East Indies (part of latter day Indonesia), both military and civilian. Evacuees were ferried in Dutch, American and Australian military and civil aircraft, including flying boats of Qantas Empire Airways. In the last two weeks of February, 8,000 mostly Dutch refugees, including many women and children, passed through Broome on their way south. On the day of the attack, Japanese fighter planes attacked without warning. As there were no Allied fighters in the area, the Japanese faced minimal opposition. Dozens of people lost their lives during the attack on Broome on 3 March 1942. Many Dutch women and children were trapped in flying boats in the harbour. Others were incinerated, drowned or taken by sharks as they attempted to swim ashore. The Dutch bodies recovered were first buried in the Broome War Cemetery but were later removed and reburied in a special area in the Karrakatta cemetery in Perth. Many were not identified and they lie in unmarked graves. |