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Australia marks 70 years since Japan's bombing of Darwin

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YuriOtani - Does not say a firm gone date but I have British Empire stamps of the coronation of QE II. These included stamps from all over the empire. Also have visitation stamps of Australia from the late 40's.

From this conversation the Aussies do not like Americans, Japanese or even British.

I'm not sure if there are any movies or comics that covered the topic but the British Commonwealth of Nations was still established in 1931.

FYI - the posters in this thread don't appear to be arguing with Americans, Japanese or even the British. They are arguing with you.

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Readers, stay on topic please. Pearl Harbor is not relevant to this discussion.

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YuriOtani - My stay in the United States is an odd one. I seem to spend most of my time locked in my house or in the back yard. Some old fart spit in my face last December 7th said he was in Pearl Harbor. Oh I get to carry a special card in America and get referred to as an "alien". There is another difference, the names of the fallen allies are at the peace park in Okinawa and Hiroshima.

Just to be clear, are you saying that a 90 year Pearl Harbor survivor kicked your butt? Who locked you in your house, the spitters father? I've noticed over the years that some people just can't seem to get along with other's and they always manage to claim it's someone elses fault.

Moderator: Sorry, but we ruled earlier that Pearl Harbor is not relevant to this discussion.

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YuriOtani - .....pearl harbor was still during peacetime. Darwin was when the war was over 2 months old. Anyhow it is also a book, old and new versions. This is not kiddie pap like Disney. Anyhow you made a mistake, WWII is pre Commonwealth. They had no choice to fight the war. In fact part of the reason for the Darwin disaster was that so much of the Aussie military was in Egypt and Churchill refused to let them came back and defend Australia.

And you're wrong again. The British Commonwealth of Nations was established in 1931 which included Australia.

What book are you referring to? Are there pictures in it? Does it mention that Australian troops in Malaya were subject to a surprise attack from Imperial forces on Sept 7, 1941? The Darwin raid was 2 months after Pearl and 5 months after Australia and Japan were at war. Darwin and Pearl were still the first attacks on Australian and U.S. home soil.

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Readers, Okinawa is not relevant to this discussion.

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I think the number is closer to 10 million. 200,000 people died on Okinawa alone. 700 Aussies died in the war, more people died in my hometown. Oh I was not referring to a natural storm, the typhoon of steel is of course the American invasion. As to the Japanese living in Darwin, are they resident aliens or citizens? If they are citizens why did you label them Japanese? When do they become Aussies? As to the "remembering" it has a rather nasty sound to it. The Americans sent their young men and women to protect Australia and a lot of them died. They died fighting for you and your family. They died fighting for your independence and a lot of them died. The battle of the Coral Sea was a defensive battle of your country. So again I do not think this "remembering" is done for the right reasons.

Yuri, you're clearly not reading what people have posted in response to things which you have claimed, and you are also happy to pick things out and misinterpret them. I quite clearly stated that the remembrance also had to do with honouring those who died on the USS Peary but you chose to ignore that and continue to carry on about Americans defending Australia as though I never mentioned it and don't care. If you're not going to read the responses other post, there's not much point in me or anyone else continuing to respond to you. You claim that the event in Darwin was an excuse to bash Japan, yet your responses seem to be an excuse to bash Australia and Australians. Please try to have a little respect for the people of Darwin as they honour their dead, those who survived, and those who helped defend them.

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"My stay in the United States is an odd one. I seem to spend most of my time locked in my house or in the back yard. Some old fart spit in my face last December 7th said he was in Pearl Harbor. Oh I get to carry a special card in America and get referred to as an "alien". "

What year were you in the United States? 1946?

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YuriOtani

More than a million Japanese died from the war and the effects of the war. Can you say famine? At least the Americans did not spoil the food in their garbage like in Germany. I think the number is closer to 10 million.

Really Yuri where do you pull your figures from. The civilian death toll in Japan including post war famine is estimated at around 1 million. The total war dead including military and civilian as listed on your own shrine is under 2.5 million so where on earth do you get 10 million. You are trying to make out things that never existed.

200,000 people died on Okinawa alone.

Wow how your figures change. Lets see the other day you claimed 1/3 of Okinawans died. So that would put the pre US attack population at 600,000 right? Yet your own prefecture government says only 1/4 died and that the death toll was around 100,000. The US says 142,000 including Okinawans fighting for the Japanese. So again you slightly over state your figures to make things look worse. Sorry Yuri but you credability is gone.

700 Aussies died in the war, more people died in my hometown.

Try 39761 deaths in total

Oh I was not referring to a natural storm, the typhoon of steel is of course the American invasion.

Funny how you are very fast at blaming the US for the deaths of you Japanese on Okinawa, yet you forget to point the finger at your own countrymen who forced your people to commit suicide, and starved you pre invasion. I guess that wouldnt fit in with your US bashing though.

As to the Japanese living in Darwin, are they resident aliens or citizens? If they are citizens why did you label them Japanese? When do they become Aussies?

This point is hilarious, you know nothing about Australia Yuri and this proves it. You see we Australians dont refer to other nationalities living in our country as aliens (unlike you Japanese), we dont force them to register and carry a special card (like you Japanese) and we dont treat them like an oddity or second class citizen (like you Japanese), we dont stare, abuse or spit in their face (unlike you Japanese). Maybe you should try etting out from behind your keyboard and visiting. And you could even try your theories out on the locals, my guess you would last oh about 10 seconds.... Be fun to see though

A piece of truth is Japan had no plans to invade since they did not believe it was possible. While it was an American movie, it was written by an English writer. Truth comes where you find it. I have read the comics which is different but very serious.

Glad you find your facts in comic books, most of use dont use them for research but hey.... Oh and the IJN wanted to invade Australia in 1942, however the IJA didnt and favoured a different approach so sorry Yuri wrong AGAIN

About the remembrance, it was full of itself. Do not know how President Obama can compare it to Pearl Harbor. It has nothing to do with it.

How dare you! How dare you sit there and lecture us on what we as an independent nation can and cant remember. Do l say your Hiroshima or Nagasaki rememberances are full of itself. Do l dishonor you Okinawans and say your rememberances are full of themselves. How would you feel Yuri if come the anniversary of the invasion of Okinawa and you are remembering this event l say to you, get over it your so full of it.

They owe a debt to the Americans since they prevented an invasion. No Americans and it would of been too tempting to the Imperial Empire.

Sorry but a minute ago you stated that there was no plan to invade make up your mind. Oh and learn your history, it was actually the Australian military (not the US) that stopped the Japanese advance in PNG. And stopped the Japanese reaching Port Morseby which if you look at a map you will see is very close to Australia. While grateful to the US we still played a large part in our own defence.

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YuriOtaniFeb. 21, 2012 - 05:55AM JST. These ceremonies are very one sided and remember only the Aussie casualties. It is like the tip of a bigotry against Japaneses people that lies just below the surface, sleeping just waiting to be fully awake. I fear something will happen and the old racism against Japanese and perceived Japanese will be fully awake.

Who is the real victim? Keep defending Japanese military for their action during the WWII. Australians are the true victims of agression by Japanese military. The Australians had a high price to pay if they lost the war. For the Australians, if the country was invaded, the risks involved: losing their freedom, losing the establishment of communications, depletion of the Australian force. An invasion of Australia was a very real threat. The Japanese had bombed Darwin many times. Australia was virtually helpless. So with the Australian force in such a fragile state, the Japanese were in a good position to take over Australia. They reached New Guinea and this time was the height of the threat to Australia. However the American troops were slowly forcing the Japanese back. Japanese military were very nationalistic and believed in their right to dominate the region. This led them to believe in their superiority and an inability to consider peace as an option. Japan had plans to isolate Australia and failed.

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"Wrong, in 1901 the six states, or colonies, of Australia federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia, united under a single federal government"

Thank you for the correction, We have a hard time distinguishing between "colony" and "commonwealth". Probably because of our own history with England. No offense intended.

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arrestpaul, pearl harbor was still during peacetime. Darwin was when the war was over 2 months old. Anyhow it is also a book, old and new versions. This is not kiddie pap like Disney. Anyhow you made a mistake, WWII is pre Commonwealth. They had no choice to fight the war. In fact part of the reason for the Darwin disaster was that so much of the Aussie military was in Egypt and Churchill refused to let them came back and defend Australia.

Anyhow "remembrances" like this to me are just more Japan bashing. Japan has never been forgiven for the Pacific war. These ceremonies are very one sided and remember only the Aussie casualties. It is like the tip of a bigotry against Japaneses people that lies just below the surface, sleeping just waiting to be fully awake. I fear something will happen and the old racism against Japanese and perceived Japanese will be fully awake. I am not sure about Australia but I have been called many racial surs in America. There are many people around the world that hate Japanese and there is NOTHING we can do to stop it. Thus these ceremonies are to spread the hate to the next generation.

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YuriOtani - actually Australia was part of the British Empire. I was wondering if anyone would pick up my one piece of marley. They of course had no choice than to go to war. A piece of truth is Japan had no plans to invade since they did not believe it was possible. While it was an American movie, it was written by an English writer. Truth comes where you find it. I have read the comics which is different but very serious.

It was still a fictional movie and you probably shouldn't mention reading comics if you expect to be taken seriously. "The truth" wouldn't be found in either.

About the remembrance, it was full of itself. Do not know how President Obama can compare it to Pearl Harbor. It has nothing to do with it. They only way they are related is the defense was a charlie foxtrot. Oh Snowden needs to do some reading. A lot more Americans died than the 89 Sailors in their defense. First add the 10 pilots of the P-40's. They owe a debt to the Americans since they prevented an invasion. No Americans and it would of been too tempting to the Imperial Empire.

This was a "remembrance" of a particular event at a particular point in time. Snowden was specifically refering to the 89 crew members of the USS Peary not to "all lives lost" or "all U.S. lives lost". Snowden probably reads history books. On Feb 19, 1942, no one outside of the Imperial military knew if an invasion was planned or not. Australia could only plan for a possible invasion and hope one doesn't materialize. The same could be said for the defenders in Hawaii or San Diego.

Darwin and Pearl Harbour were similar in that they were the first attacks on Australian and U.S. soil. The reference showed that both countries have one more thing in common. The Imperial navy was not impressed with the U.S. navy on Dec 7, 1941. I doubt they would have changed their mind two months later.

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arrestpaul, actually Australia was part of the British Empire. I was wondering if anyone would pick up my one piece of marley. They of course had no choice than to go to war. A piece of truth is Japan had no plans to invade since they did not believe it was possible. While it was an American movie, it was written by an English writer. Truth comes where you find it. I have read the comics which is different but very serious.

About the remembrance, it was full of itself. Do not know how President Obama can compare it to Pearl Harbor. It has nothing to do with it. They only way they are related is the defense was a charlie foxtrot. Oh Snowden needs to do some reading. A lot more Americans died than the 89 Sailors in their defense. First add the 10 pilots of the P-40's. They owe a debt to the Americans since they prevented an invasion. No Americans and it would of been too tempting to the Imperial Empire.

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YuriOtani - See V for Vendetta how to subdue a population.

Do you get all of your information from Hollyweird movies?

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YuriOtani - .....So again I do not think this "remembering" is done for the right reasons.

Not your call, is it? You know what would be a good motto for everyone to live by - "If you don't want a Hiroshima, don't start a Pearl Harbour". Unconditional surrender was the only acceptable result in Europe and Asia. Stop the killing, surrender all warships, leave all conqured territory, no more fighting, THE WAR ENDS NOW OR YOU WILL BE DESTROYED - YOUR CHOICE.

If Australia wants to remember the attack on Darwin (finally?), that is up to them.

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jessebaybay - The Japanese unprovoked aerial bombing of Darwin cemented the US-Australian alliance. It's kind of ironic because it's this very alliance that launched an unprovoked aerial bombing of Iraq.

I find that most young Australians and any others that can think for them selves don't like our alliance with the US. (granted a large chunk of the earth don't like america any way).... The people don't really get a say in who we go to war with. The truth is, we (Australia) is Americas little foot soldier. Do you really think we like the fact we have to be involved in every war america gets into?

I don't see why Australian lives need to be lost for the sake of america to continue its power games.

I would like to see Australia become neutral .. just like Switzerland. Sadly we have an incompetent government (just like every other government in the world ;)

What the heck are you taking about? Australia, as part of the British Commenwealth, has repeatedly chosen to fight along side the British. Australia is involved in every war the British get into. Canadians, Welsh, Scotts, Australians, etc all entered WWII because England declared war against Germany over Germany's refusal to leave Poland. (Why no country declared war against Russia, which had also taken parts of Poland two weeks later, escapes me.) Australian land forces were fighting in North Africa and Australian warships were in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

The Australian PM had requested help from England to defend itself against Japanese aggression but Churchill informed him that the British had their hands full and Austrailia would have to carry on alone. The Aussie PM then asked the woefully unprepared U.S. to send military help. The U.S. sent ships, planes, and soldiers to DEFEND Australia.

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Sweat Jesus protect me from the uninformed! The daisy-cutter was a massive bomb made by the Americans some 20 years after the war. More than a million Japanese died from the war and the effects of the war. Can you say famine? At least the Americans did not spoil the food in their garbage like in Germany. I think the number is closer to 10 million. 200,000 people died on Okinawa alone. 700 Aussies died in the war, more people died in my hometown. Oh I was not referring to a natural storm, the typhoon of steel is of course the American invasion. As to the Japanese living in Darwin, are they resident aliens or citizens? If they are citizens why did you label them Japanese? When do they become Aussies? As to the "remembering" it has a rather nasty sound to it. The Americans sent their young men and women to protect Australia and a lot of them died. They died fighting for you and your family. They died fighting for your independence and a lot of them died. The battle of the Coral Sea was a defensive battle of your country. So again I do not think this "remembering" is done for the right reasons.

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PS I was never taught about the bombings of Darwin in school, and the only reason I knew about at least one attack was because my father had a set of books which were "A Pictorial History of World War II" and it features photos of one of the attacks. There were many, by the way - have a look at this link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_raids_on_Australia,_1942%E2%80%9343

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Yuriotani

the_harper, you have a good point but it seems like a least once a week or so there is a story about a bombing or other thing done by the evil Japanese during the war. It makes a great pretense to hate Japanese. There are so many dates, so many wrongs. Only the Allied side is told by them. The Allies say with pride the amount of Japanese killed by their raids. The steel Typhoon killed over a third of Okinawa's population of 330,000, so your argument holds no water. These "remembrances" are an excuse to bash Japan and Japanese. Pearl Harbor day is hell for any Japanese in America.

Yuri, have you ever been to Darwin? Or Australia for that matter? There's quite a few Japanese people who live in Darwin these days and they are a happy, productive part of the city's population. The point of remembering the attack on Darwin has NOTHING to do with bashing Japan and Japanese people. It has EVERYTHING to do with remembering the people who gave their lives trying to defend their home against an aggressive invader, especially because their sacrifice has largely been forgotten by the majority of Australians - or worse, never mentioned in the first place to be able to forget it. So it's about celebrating the people of Darwin and their efforts in defending their country, as well as the Americans who were killed during the attack (and subsequent attacks). Most Australians these days are mature enough to know that today's Japanese population doesn't have to be blamed for the actions of the government in WW2. My post had nothing to do with natural disasters, so I don't see why you mention a typhoon.

If you have never been to Darwin, you can't possibly know what the motivation of the remembrance was. If you have no idea of the impact the attack had on the people who were there, you can hardly claim to know that the remembrance is about stirring anti-Japanese sentiment. Japan is one of Australia's major trading partners, so please try to take the blinkers off.

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Australia could of remained neutral in the war and it would never have been attacked.

This one made me LOL too! Unbelievable ignorance...

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Why invoke the name of Pearl Harbor? The war was over 2 months old by the time of the attack. So Japan bombed Darwin, it was war. mimitchy, Japan was at war with Australia it had every right to bomb an enemy city. In comparison with the allied raids on Japan not many people died. The allies killed over a million Japanese civilians in air attacks.

So, YuriOtani - you are saying it is no big deal? Us Aussies have no right to commemorate our countrymen, women and children being killed in an attack? I seriously don't know what kind of world you live in...

The Japanese did not carpet bomb the city. They did not use incendiaries or other weapons of mass destruction.

No - they used "daisy-cutter" bombs. You would not understand what they are, but look them up. You seem pretty tough behind your keyboard - I would just love you to go down to Darwin and "have a pint" with the locals and tell them your views. Would make for an interesting few seconds you would be in the pub. People up there do not tolerate fools...

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YuriOtani

Cletus, I have zero sympathy for the Aussies.

No-one is asking for sympathy Yuri. My point was we can commemorate a day that is infamous in Australian history if we wish. And for the record the whole point of the day is not a blame Japan day but rather to mark the day in which the war actually came to Australia. It remembers the attack but also the failings that led to the attack. So believe it or not its not all about Japan or Japan bashing.

The Japanese were bombing military targets, the Americans bombed civilian targets.

So would you consider the center of a civilian city a military target, was the Darwin post office a military target? Yes the Japanese did bomb the docks and airfields and yes they where military targets but they also bombed civilian areas just like they did in every other city they bombed. But you know what that happens in war especially back then, l can accept that fact can you?

I wonder how many of the Aussies think the killing of a few hundred unfortunate people justified the unrestrained killing of Japanese civilians. The truth is hard for the Allies to believe. The Americans, Aussies and British killed Japanese civilians without thought is because they were embarrassed in the early days of the war. They reduced them to being not human and killed them.

Just hang on a minute. In true Japanese style you are rewriting history as usual. Here are a few facts for you to consider. The breakup of deaths for WW2 is this Allied civilians 58%, allied military 25%, axis military (and thats you and Germany, Italy and others) 13%, axis civilian 4%. Yes Yuri a whole 4% civilian death toll compared to 58% on the Allied side. What's more Japans total civilian death toll is estimated at around 1 million people during and after the war, yet you Japanese inflicted over 400,000 deaths on the Koreans, 6 million Chinese, 250,000 Burmese, 3-4 million in Dutch East Indies, 1 million in Indo-China, 50,000 in Singapore. So you are complaining about the allies attacking Japan causing the death of 1 million Japanese, yet you remain silent and defend your nations actions in killing many millions of allied civilians. Yuri the allies didnt kill Japanese because of embarrassment they killed Japanese because of Japans actions. You as a nation can rewrite and downplay your history as much as you want (that is an embarrassment) but the facts remain you started this conflict now you dare complain on the outcome. Yuri shame on you.

Australia could of remained neutral in the war and it would never have been attacked.

Wow how naive are you. So Japan honored neutrality. Yuri your forces invaded Indo-China a territory belonging to an ally of yours and you expect me to believe you would respect neutrality. Thats funny Yuri.

The truth you can not face is Australian forces without provocation attacked Japanese forces. They were defending the colonies of their masters.

Im sorry but your grasp on reality is flimsy at best. It was Japanese troops that attacked Malaysia and other areas around the time of Pearl Harbor. It was these forces that first attacked and fought Australian troops defending the area from your aggression.

The Imperials governments first victims were their own population.

Funny, yet your imperial government lives on through your emperor and your continued refusal to tell the truth. One only needs to visit your museums and read your version of the events and believe me l have visited MANY Japanese museums and read your version of what happened and have laughed at your version of events. Your history in respect to the events is a joke. And the sad bit is by your pp attempts at arguing today shows that people like you that only accept one version actually believe this tripe.

So how does Darwin fit in? Well it was a military base and was being used to attack Japanese troops. Without the politics in a pure military way the attack was proper. The Japanese did not carpet bomb the city. They did not use incendiaries or other weapons of mass destruction.

Yes l can see and do agree that Darwin was a logical target. I have never argued otherwise. Just as many Japanese cities where legitimate targets. Nagoya, Kure, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki. These where all legitimate targets because of war production, military units housed there or infrastructure, we need to remember these facts WW2 was a nasty war where both sides through out the rule book, back then precision weapons didnt exist and the easiest way to attack a target was to destroy the whole area.

So in the end leave us alone to remember your attack on our soil, l dont expect you to understand as your grasp on the realities is obviously and sadly affected by your nations version of history and victim mentality. But remember this when we commemorate the attacks on Australia we are not being anti Japanese or selective in our memories but rather we are remembering a dark part of our history inflicted on us by your aggressive nation

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although we aren't shown the evidence for many reasons - and racially discriminated as being an inferior race of humans.

Thats how they want you to perceive people.. at the end of the day you should not judge anyone by race, skin colour or faith.. no one is inferior in this world.. anyone with a brain can accomplish anything. I feel sorry for the Aboriginals... because Is till feel they are being neglected.. they really should have broadband in the country areas, better education, computers in all schools also. Hopefully they do put the fiber optic network being implemented in the bush also, even though the terrain etc is difficult to get to, but it can still be done.

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Looked at my post again, the killing of hapless civilians makes me sad. Also most Americans are good people and they are giving up more and more power to the government because,

I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense.

promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent.

The above is from V for Vendetta. The above is how Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan and others came about. I ask people of all nations to think about what you are giving up.

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But we do know part of, if not the full extent of the mistreatment of Aborigines through policies such as the Assimilation Act. We learn this in high school, and we learn of how most were abused, physically or sexually - although we aren't shown the evidence for many reasons - and racially discriminated as being an inferior race of humans.

Part of is NOT DETAILED... openness, transparency and not bias is what history lessons should be about.. not whitewashing and lies.. learn a lot on your own accord if you want to know the truth about anglo convicts, how they treated the Irish when they were brought here, Aboriginal slavery and the hidden truths..

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I 100% agree with YuriOtani ... and im Australian, who (I might add) enjoys learning about history immensely.

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The Japanese unprovoked aerial bombing of Darwin cemented the US-Australian alliance. It's kind of ironic because it's this very alliance that launched an unprovoked aerial bombing of Iraq.

I find that most young Australians and any others that can think for them selves don't like our alliance with the US. (granted a large chunk of the earth don't like america any way).... The people don't really get a say in who we go to war with. The truth is, we (Australia) is Americas little foot soldier. Do you really think we like the fact we have to be involved in every war america gets into?

I don't see why Australian lives need to be lost for the sake of america to continue its power games.

I would like to see Australia become neutral .. just like Switzerland. Sadly we have an incompetent government (just like every other government in the world ;)

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Cletus, I have zero sympathy for the Aussies. The Japanese were bombing military targets, the Americans bombed civilian targets. I wonder how many of the Aussies think the killing of a few hundred unfortunate people justified the unrestrained killing of Japanese civilians. The truth is hard for the Allies to believe. The Americans, Aussies and British killed Japanese civilians without thought is because they were embarrassed in the early days of the war. They reduced them to being not human and killed them. Australia could of remained neutral in the war and it would never have been attacked. The truth you can not face is Australian forces without provocation attacked Japanese forces. They were defending the colonies of their masters.

Now having said that, I still say Japan was not justified in the war. They let their paranoia take control over their reasoning. The more control they took actually feed their paranoia which led to taking control of Korea and latter the invasions of Manchuria and China. This lead to the embargo and the Japanese attack. They fought the war out of paranoia and insecurities. See V for Vendetta how to subdue a population. The Imperials governments first victims were their own population.

So how does Darwin fit in? Well it was a military base and was being used to attack Japanese troops. Without the politics in a pure military way the attack was proper. The Japanese did not carpet bomb the city. They did not use incendiaries or other weapons of mass destruction.

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YuriOtani

So Japan bombed Darwin, it was war. mimitchy, Japan was at war with Australia it had every right to bomb an enemy city. In comparison with the allied raids on Japan not many people died. The allies killed over a million Japanese civilians in air attacks.

So in your opinion it is ok for Japan to attack a civilian city because your at war with that nation. Well using your own logic then you Japanese have nothing to complain about when it comes to attacks on your cities afterall you where at war remember.

They were NOT neutrals and thus bombing them was proper. They screwed up by not providing a proper defense of Darwin or were the Japanese suppose to provide warning of their attack?

Agreed, as Japan was not a neutral but rather an instigator then again by your own logic the attacks against Japan which you are so critical of where completely justified then

Today were have been at peace for 67 years and the Aussies have to take responsibility for the failings of their military. However despite my words, I would love to visit Australia and down a pint of bitter with new friends. The Pacific war was our ancestors war not ours.

Yes we have been at peace for many decades yet your nation continues to downplay, lie and whitewash its role in this war. Have you ever been to your own museums, the few that there are that mention this war? Read the commentary, if it wasnt so pathetic and one sided and lacking fact it would be a joke. You say the war was your ancestors not yours yet you refuse to even no tell the truth about the war to tell the truth about your actions and to blame others. Every year this site asks the question was the ABomb a war crime yet you complain when another nation remembers your nations attacks on it.

Nobody warns the other side about their attacks.

Funny but the US warned the Japanese of the A bombs before they where dropped, they warned of the fire bombings beforehand. That is why many many Japanese fled the cities for the country before the bombings. But your right the Japanese loved their little surprise attacks, but complained when payed back in kind.

you have a good point but it seems like a least once a week or so there is a story about a bombing or other thing done by the evil Japanese during the war.

So Yuri what do you want, do you want us to forget about the darkest hour in our history? Are you prepared to come clean about your actions, are you prepared to stop the nonsense every year about the A bombs? No l think not, you see every place l have been in Japan that mentions the war portrays Japan as the victim. It tells the sob story of how Japan was trying to save Asia from the evil white man and how you suffered for your actions. Maybe we can make a deal, when you get serious about your own history and actions then you can lecture us on what we can and cannot remember. Until then you can complain all you like no-one is listening because after so long people see you for what you really are.

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the_harper, you have a good point but it seems like a least once a week or so there is a story about a bombing or other thing done by the evil Japanese during the war. It makes a great pretense to hate Japanese. There are so many dates, so many wrongs. Only the Allied side is told by them. The Allies say with pride the amount of Japanese killed by their raids. The steel Typhoon killed over a third of Okinawa's population of 330,000, so your argument holds no water. These "remembrances" are an excuse to bash Japan and Japanese. Pearl Harbor day is hell for any Japanese in America.

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anglootaku.

How do we really know what it was like for the native Aboriginals? we don't know if they suffered the same consequences of slavery, rape etc.

But we do know part of, if not the full extent of the mistreatment of Aborigines through policies such as the Assimilation Act. We learn this in high school, and we learn of how most were abused, physically or sexually - although we aren't shown the evidence for many reasons - and racially discriminated as being an inferior race of humans.

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@Yuri

Why invoke the name of Pearl Harbor? The war was over 2 months old by the time of the attack. So Japan bombed Darwin, it was war. mimitchy, Japan was at war with Australia it had every right to bomb an enemy city. In comparison with the allied raids on Japan not many people died. The allies killed over a million Japanese civilians in air attacks

Please get the attacks in perspective - the direct raids on Japan (with the exception of the Doolittle raid) were years after the attack on Darwin. At the time of the first attack on Darwin (there were many), the Allies had not killed "a million Japanese civilians", and Australians had killed exactly zero. Pearl Harbour was invoked because it was the same carrier group that attacked both Pearl and Darwin, and because Darwin was the first attack by the Japanese on Australian soil, just as Pearl Harbour was the first attack on US soil.

It the end the Aussies have to blame themselves, the defense of Darwin was a complete Charlie Foxtrot. Today were have been at peace for 67 years and the Aussies have to take responsibility for the failings of their military.

Before you blithely put the fault at the feet of the Australian military, study some history. Most of Australia's fighting forces were elsewhere at the request of the UK and the US, and large numbers had already been captured in the attacks on South East Asia. When an attack on mainland Australia was imminent, the government requested to bring back troops that were under British command elsewhere but Churchill denied the request. Australia simply didn't have the manpower or resources at the time to adequately defend Darwin; in fact the Government at the time had only planned to try to limit a Japanese invasion on Northern Australia to the New South Wales border (the "Tenterfield Line").

At the time, Australia had a population of around 7 million people. The number of civilian deaths was small, but the number of military casualties in proportion to the population was high. Don't belittle those losses. Japan's civilian losses at the end of the war would have been far fewer if the Government hadn't held out so long before surrender. Personally I think the fire bombings of Japan were horrific and the atomic bombings unnecessary, but it really doesn't make much sense to compare them to the situation in 1942.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Yes Japan slammed darwin in 1942, a good pretext to kicks off anti-asian sentiment in that country....all asian were the same, australian ideologies!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

excuse typos.. :P

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Curriculums change all the time, though more detail and insight into everything is better..

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The article it self event states it...

The scale of the bombing of Darwin was covered up by Australian authorities during the war but even after hostilities ceased the event was not well known or understood in Australia despite its significance.

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Just to reiterate as its easy to have assumptions on online forums etc.. they did teach vaguely about the bombing of Darwin and Sydney.. but vaguely, it was in the text books, but as I said NOT IN FULL DETAIL same goes with Australia's colonial past, convicts and Aboriginal natives..

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They did teach about world history and Aboriginals in general, dreamtime etc but never about the REAL history and about Australia's convict past..

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@Neneswsw

So you are to assume that? having been to a pompous private school in Sydney in the North Shore they didn't teach it in the 90s.. maybe today they may have changed it recently.

Though mind you even if its an expensive private school, not all schools teach the same thing.. and history in all countries IS WHITEWASHED.. not just about the Darwin issue but about many things.. they dont event elaborate much on what really happened during colonial times when us anglo saxons came to Australia. Compared to America where they do in full detail teach about slavery etc.. How do we really know what it was like for the native Aboriginals? we don't know if they suffered the same consequences of slavery, rape etc.. So I would imagine they do not teach about that in your history class.. hence some things in history whether our Australian history or foreign history is often bias and whitewashed.. (nothing is accurate.. everything should be researched on your own, not just in high school or university..) We do not know how the British treated Irish convicts in Australia or the Welsh, Scottish and other Europeans and other minorities for that matter...

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and at the time Australia was a British colony.

You are mistaken.

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During WW2, both sides' propaganda dehumanised and demonised the other side. This was particularly the case in the Pacific theatre of that war (For more on this aspect, read John Dower's book War Without Mercy).

Australia was not a British Colony in the 1940s. The six colonies formed a new country in 1901, and in the 1940s the Commonwealth of Australia was a British Dominion -- as were Canada, South Africa and New Zealand.

The Empire of Japan was expanding beyond the archipelago which it had occupied (apart from the occasional attempt to annexe Korea) for nearly 2,000 years. In 1895, Taiwan became a Japanese colony after the Sino-Japanese War. In 1908 Korea again became a Japanese colony and in the 1930s Manchuria became a Japanese colony. However, industrialised and heavily-militiarised Japan also needed to secure access to oil fields, so they expanded their "co-prosperity sphere" to the Indonesian Archipelago. One could assume that the bombing of Darwin, taking place just after the fall of Singapore to Japan, was a pre-emptive move to secure the planned invasion of the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) against counterattack from Holland and its allies.

The bombing of Darwin wasn't widely reported in Australia at the time. Censorship is common in wartime, and any news from Darwin would have first had to be reviewed by the military censors before being released.

That the bombing of Darwin took place two days after the fall of Singapore -- a much bigger news story -- also contributed to its not being reported widely at the time.

anglootaku:

The war against Japan was a significant chapter in Australia's national history, and many of its aspects are widely told today, not only through the school syllabus but also through annual commemoration and memorial ceremonies as well as personal and family histories.

That the bombing of Darwin wasn't widely known of in Australia for some years after the war probably is due to a few factors:

One. Darwin, even today, is a long way away from most of the Australian population. In 1942, to get to Darwin from any other major city in Australia would involve a journey of two or three days in an aeroplane, a couple of weeks on a ship or a couple of months travelling overland. Because of Darwin's isolation, it isn't very high in the average Australian's consciousness of things "familiar".

Two. There were many, many things that happened during WW2 in the Western Pacific after the bombing of Darwin that had more effect on people and more significance to the war. The Battle of the Coral Sea was one. The Papua-New Guinea campaign was another.

Three. After the war ended, the news about other events that took place to Australian soldiers in captivity was revealed. The Thai-Burma Railway construction and the Sandakan death marches were but two of them.

To say that recent "Greenpeace incidents" (and, one assumes, coverage of the mid-ocean protests against Japan's whaling fleet) have anything to do with the commemoration of an air raid that happened 70 years ago is, to be charitable, rather an unthinking thing to say.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Back on topic please.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I would call the Japanese government criminally insane. (Yuri Otani)

Hindsights a wonderful thing Yuri, but it took the reality check of American steel and incendiary fire to dampen your compatriots martial ardour for territorial conquest and imperial grandeur. The brutality and dehumanization unleashed by war should not be confused with the cause.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Al Stewart, Darwin was a supply point for the allies. The allies never hesitated to attack a Japanese supply point, why is this different? Anyhow the war had been going on for over 2 months. Nobody warns the other side about their attacks. It would of been a form of suicide to the attacking forces. Anyhow Japan never had any plans to invade only isolate. So again why are Aussie lives more valuable than Japanese? The revenge was over 1000 to 1 perhaps up to 10000 to 1.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Aqualung, I agree with you! We all need to sit down and settle this over a pint :)

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@Yuri I'm sorry but very seldom do you see Japanese war deaths as being seen as vermin in the news. Specially with the event of Hiroshima. Japan is often seen as one of the biggest victims of WWII even though Japan was one of the instigators of that war.

To add to one of your previous post, yes a country is suppose to give warning to a mass attack like that. Japan did send warning to the US about Pearl Harbor but, from what many history books say, they technically did not take translation time into consideration before launching the attack. So the attack was technically a surprise. Whereas on the other hand the US did send ample notification about the bombing before they did it including dropping pamphlets on the sites. So in a way the blame for the number of deaths from the Hiroshima bombing technically falls on the gov. administration at that time for not acting on the notification.

In the case of Darwin, i dont know if it was a surprise attack or not, but power of the military is never to blame in the case of being attacked. The Attacker is to blame for the deaths.

innocent people are victims of any war, but the blame for the death of innocence always goes to the instigator of that war. Not the defender or the retaliator.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Can't we all get along? RIP to the dead of all wars. The new war is financial, manipulate the exchange rates and buy up all the assets of your foe.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

ObviousDemon, you are correct but the Aussie dead are considered victims while the Japanese dead are often compared to killing vermin. Also who said they were "justified"? They were a group of paranoid people who failed their own people in every possible fashion but Japanese are people too. They had no choice and any dissidence was brutally handled. I would call the Japanese government criminally insane. So why do you think of the allied civilians as people and Japanese as not? Oh sorry, God was on your side. Get this dude, I am a Christian too!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

So Japan was purely justified, and it's "just part of war"?

Then this same logic would make Hiroshima fine & dandy?

Japan attacked Australia (among others), and in return, got bitchslapped.

Today's anniversary did NOT demonise Japan, present or past, in any way shape or form. I think posters here could show similar respect.

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Australia was a member of the Commonwealth, it provided aid and support to the allies. Australian ships were in the war from the start. Australian troops were in the war from the start. They were NOT neutrals and thus bombing them was proper. They screwed up by not providing a proper defense of Darwin or were the Japanese suppose to provide warning of their attack? The Americans can argue about the surprise attack at Pearl even though they KNEW war was coming. It does not matter who bombed who first, that was war. I am sure they were aiming at military targets, why "waste" them on civilians? It the end the Aussies have to blame themselves, the defense of Darwin was a complete Charlie Foxtrot.

Today were have been at peace for 67 years and the Aussies have to take responsibility for the failings of their military. It is ah so possible it will happen again. Is question can Australia defend itself from a ruthless enemy? The Charlie Foxtrot happened before and it can happen again. However despite my words, I would love to visit Australia and down a pint of bitter with new friends. The Pacific war was our ancestors war not ours.

-8 ( +0 / -8 )

Please add years and preferably months to any events described - it should add some clarity to arguments.

When was Pearl Harbour? When was Darwin? ( Feb 1942) When did the US start bombing Japanese cities? When was Hiroshima? When did Australia get on with peaceful friendship with Japan? (early 1960s)

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Japan ATTACKED Australia. Not in defence. Not to Liberate the locals from tyrannous non-democratic government. Not due to an inferred risk from a neighbour.

This much should be blindly obvious from the distances involved.

Any statements made that do not come from this basis have little credibility.

4 ( +5 / -2 )

OssanAmerica

at the time Australia was a British colony

Wrong, in 1901 the six states, or colonies, of Australia federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia, united under a single federal government.

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Japan was at war with Australia it had every right to bomb an enemy city. In comparison with the allied raids on Japan not many people died. The allies killed over a million Japanese civilians in air attacks.

Well, Japan and the US were at war with each other, too. So following your logic there was "every right" to "bomb and enemy city", right? Or does the right change when it comes to how many people are killed?

2 ( +4 / -2 )

@marcelito

"Wanna have a look at Japanese history textbooks and tell me they are objective about WW2 history?"

And what do YOU know about WWII history? You know what you know from the version of history that you have chosen to accept as fact.

History is written by the victors and the losers become the villains. At least be aware of this before you declare things with absolute certainty.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

YuriOtani, While I agree with you that Pearl was old news by the time of the Darwin bombing, I believe Japan bombed Australia because it was at war with England, and anyone feel free to correct me, and at the time Australia was a British colony. As for civilian deaths in Japan at the hands of the allies that was the way WWII was handled, particularly as the Allies gained complete air superiority and the targets were first the factories that put out military equipment and then the entire industrial base which included all the factory workers surrounding it. Least you think this only happened to Japan, we did the same thing to Germany. Except they got bombed twice, by the US in daytime and the British at night. The fact today is that be it Peal Harbor or Darwin this is history and currently there exists a defense alliance between the US, Australia anfd Japan as we have mutual "potential" enemies.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

anglootaku.

I've no idea what nonsense you're splurting out, but history classes in Australia are fine, and does not "suck" or cover up anything. And how do I know this? Because I did history and am still in high school. The main reason why Australia covered it up was to prevent the drop in morale of the troops stationed somewhere else.

To accuse the Australian educational system of deception when you have not even experienced it first hand, and then relating it to Greenpeace for some reason, it seems to me that you are the "biased" one and truly ignorant. Also, to ask for more "facts" and "transparency" makes you sound like a hypocrite.

3 ( +5 / -3 )

Why invoke the name of Pearl Harbor? The war was over 2 months old by the time of the attack. So Japan bombed Darwin, it was war. mimitchy, Japan was at war with Australia it had every right to bomb an enemy city. In comparison with the allied raids on Japan not many people died. The allies killed over a million Japanese civilians in air attacks.

-8 ( +3 / -11 )

Editors,

The city's name in the caption has one too many Vs and not nearly enough Ws, in my opinion.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

They probably want to elaborate more on this event due to the escalation of the Greenpeace incidents recently..

-13 ( +1 / -13 )

The scale of the bombing of Darwin was covered up by Australian authorities during the war but even after hostilities ceased the event was not well known or understood in Australia despite its significance.

I wonder why that is.. history in high schools in Australia sucks and whitewashed.. more facts and transparency is what is needed then whitewashing bias.

-8 ( +2 / -10 )

The Japanese unprovoked aerial bombing of Darwin cemented the US-Australian alliance. It's kind of ironic because it's this very alliance that launched an unprovoked aerial bombing of Iraq.

-9 ( +2 / -10 )

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