Bombing of Darwin: Myths of the First Darwin Air Raid
Event Details
- DateWednesday 28 October from 5.30pm
- LocationLibrary & Archives NT, Level 2, Danala, 54 Cavanagh Street, Darwin City
- CostFree (bookings required)

As the fame of the first air attack on Australia has grown in the nation’s consciousness, so too have a number of myths around it.
- Was a radioed warning from Bathurst Island ignored?
- Did ‘hundreds more’ die than the 236 now thought to be the true number of fatalities?
- Did the government ‘hush up’ the whole thing?
Developed from extensive research into both Allied and Imperial Japanese sources, this talk will reveal the facts behind the bombing of Darwin.
Join Library & Archives NT for this fascinating deep dive into this significant moment in the history of the Territory and Australia, presented by historian and author, Dr Tom Lewis OAM.
Dr Lewis, along with Peter Ingman, is the author of Carrier Attack, the original forensic analysis of the first Darwin air raid. He has also written several other books about Top End WWII history, including The Empire Strikes South, Eagles over Darwin, and Bombers North.
WHEN
Wednesday, 9 October
5.30pm
WHERE
Library & Archives NT
L2, Danala, 54 Cavanagh Street, Darwin City
COST
FREE (Bookings required)
BOOKINGS
Click here
Image credits
Image 2: Robert J. G. Beckett, Ships burning during Darwin bombing raid, 1942, R. J. G. Beckett Collection, Library & Archives NT, PH0428/0003, https://hdl.handle.net/10070/750963.