ABSTRACT
While the of approximately 243 casualties is relatively small in comparison to other concurrent battles in Europe, Africa and the Pacific, the momentous Darwin bombings proved essential in rallying the public and in legitimating Australia’s war efforts. Soon after the attacks the bombings became an integral part of the collective memory of the region, and over the past three decades, coinciding with the revival of the Anzac tradition, it has increasingly become part of the national narrative of Australia (Roberts and young 2008, Powel 2013). The immediacy of the conflict, the state of unpreparedness and huge uncertainty in the immediate aftermath of the conflict ensured that it was perceived as an ‘invasion’, profoundly shocking the young nation (Powel 2013). Although there are claims that the seriousness of the conflict was exaggerated, both during and after the war, in order to foster the creation of social memory and negotiate national cohesion (Roberts and young 2008: 67, Stanley 2005), one image remains crystal clear: in 1942 the war came to Australia. And in contrast to Australia’s participation in World War I, now Australia had its own home front, fought on its own soil and had a flexible and mobile enemy that could strike at any time. Because of the nature of the raids and unpredictability of the enemy, the air war was, and still is, especially remembered as a period of uncertainty.
