The first raid
Just before 10 am on 19 February 1942, Japanese aircraft reached Darwin. They attacked the ships gathered in the harbour, the wharf, the town and its airfields, and a second raid followed around midday. In all, 242 aircraft took part, and at least 236 people were killed.
The wharf
Ships were sunk or damaged across the harbour, and the Neptuna exploded beside the wharf. At least 21 wharf labourers were killed when the wharf itself was bombed. A memorial on Stokes Hill Wharf, unveiled for the 70th commemoration in 2012, lists the known waterside workers who lost their lives in the two raids.
Remembering
Each year on 19 February, an air-raid siren sounds at the Darwin Cenotaph at 9.58 am, the time of the first attack. Inside the facility, a life-size hologram of Rear Admiral Etheridge Grant, who commanded the USS William B. Preston, recalls the morning in the harbour.
