What happened
On 19 February 1942, Japanese aircraft — including forces that had attacked Pearl Harbor — struck the harbour and airfields of Darwin in two waves. Ships were sunk and the town was badly damaged.
Background
At least 235 people are thought to have been killed. As Japan’s advance southward continued, Australia faced its first serious attack on the mainland.
Consequences
Northern Australia was bombed repeatedly thereafter. The bombing of Darwin, as the shock of a distant war reaching home soil, profoundly changed the country’s sense of its own defence.