19th February 1942
more than 188 Japanese aircraft attacked Darwin's harbour and airfield. It was the first and the largest foreign attack ever mounted on Australia.
The Darwin Military Museum (DMM) was founded in the mid 1960s by Lieutenant Colonel Jack Haydon and members of the
Northern Territory branch of the Royal Australian Artillery Association (RAAA)
Darwin Military Museum: A place where history lives today and for tomorrow
forward to another 50 years of telling the story of the Territory’s rich military history .
Copper Pencil Sharpners
These are a bargin and some of our most popular items in store. Buy them all as a set of (10) and save on postage today.
DMM Key chain bottle opener
Handy soild key chain and bottle opener with the Darwin Military Museum emblem.
From Frontier to Frontline by Author Norman Cramp
Hardback Book: From Frontier to Frontline by Author Norman Cramp Northern Territorian's in the Great War 1914-1918, Over 400,000 Australians served in the military during the First World War. Of these, over 60,000 men lost their lives and another 137,000 were wounded. This had a massive impact on the young Australian nation with a population of just a few million.In each Australian state battalions were formed which became closely associated with men of that state or region. In this way the military history of most parts of Australia can be readily traced. The Northern Territory, however, was too small to have its own unit. Indeed there was not even a recruiting centre in the N.T. Men left to enlist in other states. For these reasons the WWI history of Territiorians has remained obscure.There were less than 1,000 European adults in the N.T. at the time war broke out, and as many as 300 enlisted
Jugdement in Darwin, Japanese War Crimes Trials, Darwin 1946.
It is not commonly known that shortly after the cessation of hostilities in World War Two, 19 Japanese military personnel were tried in Darwin for war crimes perpetrated against Allied service personnel. The trials, conducted in the Officers’ Mess, Larrakeyah Army Base between March and April 1946, covered war crimes carried out on the island of Timor between 1943 and 1945 and were the only such trials conducted on Australian soil.
Soft cover book Author by Norman Cramp, Director of Darwin Military Museum.
The Silence of the Guns, A History of Fortress Darwin, East Point
In 1945 Darwin was one of the most heavily defended sites in Australia - alongside of Sydney and Fremantle. It boasted 9.2-inch guns, the largest such guns available in the Commonwealth arsenal. Mounted in concrete fortifications, these guns were a powerful deterrent against enemy surface forces. Such defences were a massive investment in Darwin, and required a great number of men and resources to keep them operational. However, just a decade earlier Darwin had been almost defenceless. The story of the development of Darwin's defences is a fascinating one. Indeed Australian authorities had been debating the defence needs of the northern port since colonial times.
Hard Back book by Author Norman Cramp.
Worth fighting for : Territorian indigenous military service from the great war to Vietnam
The history of Territorian indigenous military service is as long and rich as the history of the Australian military since Federation. Many hundreds of men and women have served in a number of conflicts spanning over a century. In addition, many thousands were employed by the armed forces in the Northern Territory itself during the Second World War. The tradition continues to the present day with units such as NORFORCE which rely heavily on indigenous personnel. However research is made difficult by the fact that the military does not categorise personnel records by race, so a definitive history of indigenous military service will never be written. Hence the purpose of this booklet is to commemorate a broad range of Territorian indigenous military service by highlighting a number of personal stories identified by the author. Soft cover book, Author Norman Cramp.
Darwin 1942 The Japanese Attack on Australia by Bob Alford and Jim Laurier
Following the devastating raids on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, lightning advances by Japanese forces throughout the Pacific and the Far East, and a desperate battle by the Allied command in the Dutch East Indies, it became evident that an attack on Australia was more a matter of "when" and not "if."
On February 19, just eleven weeks after the attacks on Pearl Harbor and two weeks after the fall of Singapore, the same Japanese battle group that had attacked Hawaii was ordered to attack the ill-prepared and under-defended Australian port of Darwin.
Publishing 75 years after this little-known yet devastating attack, this fully illustrated study details what happened on that dramatic day in 1942 with the help of contemporary photographs, maps, and profiles of the commanders and machines involved in the assault.
An Awkward Truth The bombing of Darwin, February 1942 by Peter Grose
Special 75th anniversary edition of the compelling and very human story of the first foreign assault on Australian soil since settlement - the attack on Darwin by the Japanese in February, 1942.
'Grose's compassionate, honest and vivid account . deserves to be widely read.'-Sun-Herald
The bombing of Darwin on 19 February 1942 is the battle Australia tries to forget. Although there was much to be proud of that day - courage, mateship, determination and improvisation - the dark side of the story lingers: looting, desertion and a calamitous failure of Australian leadership.
The Japanese struck with the same carrier-borne force that devastated Pearl Harbor only ten weeks earlier. There was a difference: they dropped more bombs on Darwin, killed more civilians in Darwin, and sank more ships in Darwin than in Pearl Harbor. It remains the single deadliest event in Australian history. Yet the story has remained in the shadows.
Absorbing, spirited and fast-paced, An Awkward Truth is a compelling and revealing story of the day war first came to Australia, and of the under-armed and unprepared soldiers and civilians who faced their toughest test on home soil.
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Darwin Military Museum
OPENING TIMES & TICKETS
Please note: We are closed on the 25, 26, 27, 28 December 2020 and 1 January 2021
OPENING TIMES 7 days a Week
10am - 3:30pm Monday - Sunday
We recommend you allow at least 1.5hrs
for your visit.
ADMISSION FEES & ONLINE TICKETS
ADULTS (16 years +): $20.00
CHILDREN (5 - 15 years): $10.00
CHILDREN (under 5 years): FREE
NT SENIORS (65 years +): $10.00
TERRITORY PASS is available to NT residents
DMM Membership (Friend of the Museum) - Only available for purchase online - One year entry and 15% off merchandise including the cafe - $25
INTERSTATE/INTERNATIONAL SENIORS (65 YEARS +): $15.00
FAMILY PASS (2 ADULTS, 3 CHILDREN U16): $45.00
UNIVERSITY/TAFE STUDENT: $10.00
CARER OF PERSON WITH A DISABILITY: $12.00
SERVING MILITARY MEMBERS: $15
SCHOOL GROUPS: Northern Territory students on excursion
Students 16 years and under during school hours: $2.00 per student
1 adult per 10 students: FREE
EXTRA ADULTS: $18.00
SCHOOL GROUPS: Non-NT students on excursion
Students 16 years and under during school hours: $10.00 per student
1 adult per 10 students: FREE
EXTRA ADULTS: $18.00
Please note we are closed on Good Friday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
For hotels nearby, check with HotelsCombined