Darwin tour operator Garry Gallagher takes Japanese bomb to show tourists
TOUR operator Garry Gallagher loads a Japanese bomb into his bus before he takes out visitors to show them Darwin’s World War II heritage.
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WHEN he is feeling strong enough, tour operator Garry Gallagher loads a heavy Japanese bomb into his bus before he takes out visitors to show them Darwin’s World War II heritage.
A friend found the bomb buried in his backyard in Stuart Park during renovations on his property two years ago.
“I have it in the back of the bus sometimes rolling around and people cack themselves.”
Mr Gallagher has yet to have the bomb identified and is uncertain of its type.
But there’s one thing he does know: “It’s pretty heavy.”
The bomb was defused before his friend and fellow tourism operator Adam Bowman unearthed it.
Mr Bowman sometimes uses it as a garden ornament.
Mr Gallagher has yet to have the bomb identified and is unsure of its type but he is convinced it was dropped during one of the 64 wartime raids on Darwin.
He will join Darwin tourism operators and industry members tomorrow afternoon at SkyCity Casino for Tourism Top End’s trade show.
Tourism Top End general manager Trevor Cox said the trade show was an opportunity for operators to showcase their product or service to other operators and members and the industry.
About 90 operators are expected to have their products on show.
Mr Gallagher will be there with his bomb plus a flag stolen by Australian soldiers who were part of the post-war occupation force in Japan.
He was given the flag a couple of years ago by a woman on one of his Bombing of Darwin Tours.
“This flag has got Aussie guys’ signatures and the date they stole it on it. The flag was stolen in Japan in 1947 when the Allies were occupying the country,” Mr Gallagher said.
“The people who gave it to me said it was their uncle’s and it was stolen on his 21st birthday party in Tokyo.
“They went out on the piss and they climbed a flagpole and knocked off the flag and there are signatures from Subiaco, Victoria and Sydney.”
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