Tunnels with a wartime story.

Darwin stands on the country of the Larrakia people, its traditional owners.

The tunnels are one recent chapter in a much longer history of this harbour and its people.

On 19 February 1942, two Japanese air raids struck Darwin, its harbour and its airfields, and at least 236 people were killed. Northern Australia was bombed about 100 times before the last raid, on 12 November 1943.

In the raids of 19 February, 16 March and 16 June 1942, seven of the eleven oil tanks on Stokes Hill were destroyed. The loss led to the decision to store fuel underground.

• Read the history of the tunnels→

From 1943 about 400 men of the Civil Constructional Corps dug the tunnels into the cliffs below the town, in secret, and lined them with concrete and steel. Water seeped in, and the tunnels never held oil during the war; in the 1950s Tunnels 5 and 6 stored jet fuel for about three years.

Tunnels 5 and 6 opened to visitors on 19 February 1992 and are listed on the Northern Territory Heritage Register as the Naval Oil Tunnels No. 5 & 6. The History page offers a longer introduction, and the timeline gives a short route through selected milestones.

• Read the history of the tunnels→
• Explore the timeline→