Discover Darwin's military past

THERE is fascinating history to uncover in the tropical city that has a colourful past from its involvement in World War Two.

darwin military history dec 30

MOST people think you need a passport and a seat on a long-haul flight to walk in the footsteps of Australian soldiers on a wartime battlefield.

Gallipoli and the Kokoda Track have been attracting pilgrims for decades, Singapore is always an easy option, the Somme Valley and Long Tan have become popular in recent years, and some intrepid travellers even find their way into places like El Alamein and Kapyong.

But those keen to experience a bit of Australia's military history - to put a poppy on a headstone in a military cemetery, or stand on the spot where a trooper won a medal for bravery - don't need to book a trip to a far-away land with a significant battlefield located right here on home soil.

Australia's Top End was the frontline during the darkest days of World War Two, when Japanese forces occupied so much territory to our north and focused on Australia in an effort to keep our troops occupied at home, and travellers can take a step back in time to the years when air-raid sirens regularly rang out over Darwin.

The Northern Territory capital was a staging post for units bound for the European and Pacific theatres, with every branch of our military building bases in and around Darwin, and the men and women in uniform lived beside those civilians that called the remote settlement home.

Warships of all shapes and sizes dropped anchor in Darwin Harbour, air force fighters and bombers used runways cut into the scrub beside the Stuart Highway, big guns occupied concrete bunkers along the coastline, and clusters of barracks accommodated troops posted to the Top End.

Darwin became a battlefield on January 19, 1942, when 240 Japanese aircraft arrived on a sweltering summer morning to bomb the settlement in what was the first of many aerial attacks that happened right across northern Australia during the next two years.

At least 243 people died that day - including postmaster Hurtle Bald, his wife Alice, their 20-year-old daughter Iris, and most of the post office staff - and Darwin was all-but abandoned with anxious civilians going south and many military units retreating down the Stuart Highway to Adelaide River.

"This is the only place in Australia where you can easily stand on a battlefield," Darwin Military Museum director Tom Lewis explained.

"The Japanese attacked Darwin because it didn't want Australia harassing the Empire - Japan wanted to push us out of the war, hoping that if we were defending we couldn't go on the attack - so the harassment raids were scheduled to tie up men and materiel.

"Darwin was at war for two years, there were 64 raids on the Top End during that time claiming lots of lives, and every Australian should be proud of the men and women in Darwin during that time because they fought hard to defend the place."

Darwin Military Museum

This museum was established in the 1960s by a group of veterans keen to protect the World War Two artefacts around East Point - bunkers, the submarine net, gun emplacements - and over the years more military hardware has been added as well as rooms with photographs, maps, equipment and other wartime paraphernalia.

Defence of Darwin Experience

The Defence of Darwin Experience, which opened in early 2012, is a modern museum at East Point designed to summaries events surrounding that first Japanese attack on the Top End with a variety of interactive displays and multi-media presentations using the words and experiences of those living in the warzone at the time.

East Point Military Complex

The East Point Military Complex was one of northern Australia's most heavily defended areas in 1942 and those who visit today can crawl over the old bunkers and gun emplacements, see crumbling command posts, visit the spot where the submarine net was anchored, and wander the ground where anti-aircraft batteries were set.

USS Peary Memorial

The USS Peary sits at the bottom of Darwin Harbour after being attacked by Japanese torpedoes on January 19 and the memorial at Doctor's Gully, which pays tribute to the 88 American sailors lost that morning, is on land that accommodated a Catalina flying-boat base during the war.

Oil Tunnels

Oil tunnels were built near downtown Darwin in 1944 as an alternative to the above-ground tanks nearby, that were such a tempting target to aircraft attacking the city, and while the subterranean compound was never used visitors can do a self-guided tour of a complex that hasn't changed much since 1945.

Strauss Airfield

This rustic air base was built in 1942, by the side of the Stuart Highway 45km south of Darwin, and travellers can walk on what's left of the strip used by allied aircraft until 1945 and see the structures and parking bays where air crews and support staff lived and worked in the Territory heat.

Adelaide River War Cemetery

The Adelaide River War Cemetery is one of the very few battlefield graveyards on Australian soil and as well as being home to 434 combat casualties, and a memorial to another 292 military people that went missing defending the north, it's the place where the civilians killed in Darwin on January 19 are buried.

The writer was a guest of Canon and Tourism NT.

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Qantas (www.qantas.com.au), Jetstar (www.jetstar.com), Virgin (www.virginaustralia.com) and Airnorth (www.airnorth.com.au) fly between Darwin and every mainland capital as well as a collection of regional centres.

The Holiday Inn Darwin (www.holidayinn.com) is an agreeable hotel right on The Esplanade - book a room at the front to enjoy a view of Darwin Harbour - and if you're in town between April and November save an evening to see a movie at Deckchair Cinema (www.deckchaircinema.com.au).

To find the Top End's World War Two positions see the Defence of Darwin website (www.defenceofdarwin.nt.gov.au), or visit the Travel NT page (www.travelnt.com) for all the facts needed to plan a trip to this fascinating part of Australia.

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