The bombing of Darwin was the first of 44 sepearate air raids by the Japanese over Darwin, Northern Territory. The bombing of Darwin to this day is considered the worst of all the air raids and the largest single attack mounted by a foreign power on Australia.
The bombing of Darwin occured on the 19th of Febuary 1942 in two individual air raids, one roughly two hours after the first. Approximately 300 people died during the bombing and another 350 were wounded.
In total, the damage caused to the Australian and allied forces that were in Darwin Harbour at the time included 23 aircrafts destroyed, 10 ships sunk and 25 additional ships damaged. However only 7 Japanese aircrafts were destroyed and pilots killed.
In the first raid a total of 188 Japanese aircrafts launched from four aircraft carriers by 8:45am and had the objective of attacking the ships in Darwin Harbour as well as the town's port facilities. This raiding force was led by Commander Mitsuo Fuchida who had also commanded the first wave of attackers during the raid on Pearl Harbour and the similarities between the two attacks are some of the reasons why the bombing on Darwin is considered the "Pearl Harbour of Australia".
The Japanese raiders began to arrive over Darwin at 9:58am. This attack resulted in the sinking of three warships and five merchant vessels and damage to another ten ships. The first wave of the planes left the Darwin area at about 10:40 and returned to their aircraft carriers before the second wave was launched. The second wave of 54 land-based bombers arrived over Darwin just before midday and left the Darwin area at about 12:20pm. This raid inflicted extensive damage on the RAAF base in Darwin specifically, one of the reasons being that due to defective fuses the Australian heavy anti-aircraft gunners were unable to damage the high-flying Japanese aircrafts.
SYDNEY JAPANESE SUBMARINE ATTACKS
On the 31st of May 1942 three Japanese midget submarines were able to sneak pask defences to get into Sydney Harbour. While the damage and loss of life was insignificant compared to an event like the Bombing of Darwin the effect it had on the Australia was large. When news of this attack came out to the public there were cases of hysteria due to the distance and effort the Japanese would have faced to enter the Harbour made Australians fear that the prospect of Japan invading and overthrowing Australia's power was a serious possibility.
The government controlled what details were released about the attack, refusing to let media speak of the 21 naval sailors killed, calling the damage done as 'slight' and the Harbour defences '...made promptly aware of the raiders presence, responded rapidly and efficiently...'
This description was meant to calm citizens but they still panicked because Sydney was considered one of the largest war ship ports during the war with many ships, not only Australian, but also from our ally America and people feared that a second attack could happen with serious damage to our naval fleet.
No investigation or official inquiry was ever launched into why it actually took Sydney Harbour defences almost two hours until they acted agaisnt the Japanese submarines. The government wanted to control the impact of this event, reduce panic, keep morales high and not have to admit to their own incompetance. With no investigation comes no justice to the 21 lives lost, the other 10 whom were injured or any of their families who will never know why it took the general in charge so long to send out defensive measures to stop these submarines.