Australia may seem far removed from the battlegrounds of the Second World War, but for Darwin the war was anything but remote. It bore the brunt of little-publicised attacks by the Japanese – raids which left hundreds dead and the town destroyed. The recently completed Defence of Darwin Experience is a museum that tries to get across the horror of those days in 1942, and to explain how the “little town at the Top End” became a pivotal battlefront in the Pacific War.
The museum is also an attempt to heal wounds caused by the official government efforts to hush up what happened in Darwin, for fear of undermining Australian morale. The Defence of Darwin Experience opened in 2012, 70 years after the most devastating attacks struck on 19 February 1942. Interactive displays and video and voice recordings bring the experiences of that day vividly to life.
The attacks on Darwin came after the Japanese had conquered most of the Pacific in 1942. They were intent on seizing New Guinea, and cutting Australia off from the US. Darwin, with its airbase and naval docks, was an obvious target. On 19 February, 188 Japanese aircraft flew from aircraft carriers and attacked the city and its docks. At least 243 people were killed, 23 planes destroyed and 10 ships sunk.
The museum makes use of 60 objects from the time around the air raid, including a gas mask, ship models, an anti-aircraft shell and a Japanese bomb. The stories of 40 different characters who were present that day can be tracked, using character cards that plug into each display. And the sheer terror of being bombed is recreated, complete with noise and flashes, in the Bombing of Darwin Experience Gallery.
It may be one of history's forgotten tragedies, but a visit to the Defence of Darwin Experience museum will bring it fully into the light – and be an experience you're unlikely to forget.
