Today marks the 62nd anniversary of the 1st time war was brought directly to Aust's doorstep, when some 250 Jap carrier-borne aircraft, lanuched from the Timor Sea, bombed Darwin, my current hometown, in northern Aust. The raid claimed some 250 ppl killed (altho there's been specualtion that the actual body count may've been as 4 times the official figure), 300-400 wounded, 8 ships in the harbour sunk (including the USN destroyer USS PEARY), and more than 20 aircraft destroyed, including 10 USAAF P-40 Kittyhawks caught just about to land as they were returning to Darwin after attempting to fly to Timor (but were turned back by bad weather). 20 mins prior to the actual raid, Father John McGrath, the priest at the Catholic mission on offshore Bathurst Island, had seen large nos. of planes overhead and radioed RAAF HQ in Darwin, but the militaary authorities chose to ignore the warning, assuming these planes were the P40s returning from their aborted flight to Timor. Similar story to Pearl Harbour, huh ?
Now, WI that warning from Father McGrath had been heeded by the RAAF ? How much of a difference could 20 mins have made to the under-equipped Aust and American defenders in being able to prepare for the attackers ?
Now, WI that warning from Father McGrath had been heeded by the RAAF ? How much of a difference could 20 mins have made to the under-equipped Aust and American defenders in being able to prepare for the attackers ?