When War came to Australia

Sinking of HMAS Sydney 19 November, 1941

HMAS Sydney

In May 1940, HMAS Sydney joined the British Mediterranean Fleet for an eight month deployment, during which she sank two Italian warships, took part in number of shore bombardments, and provided support to the Malta Convoys, their were no casualties. On 19 November 1941, HMAS Sydney was involved in a battle with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran, off the coast of Western Australia, the Sydney was sunk and all 645 aboard died.

The Kormoran was also sunk, and 80 of its crew died, 317 survivors of the Kormoran's crew were picked up.The Sydney's sinking and all crew lost compared to the survival of most of the Germans have resulted in controversy, with some alleging that the German commander used illegal tatics to lure Sydney into range, that a Japanese submarine was involved. Both ships were found not until 2008.

Japanese midget submarine attacks on Sydney, 1942

During World War II, in May and early June 1942, Japanese submarines made a number of attacks on the cities of Sydney and Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia. On the night of 31 May – 1 June, three midget submarines, each had a crew of two, entered Sydney Harbour. Two of the midget submarines were detected and attacked before they could successfully engage any Allied vessels, the crews scuttled their Submarines and committed suicide. The submarines were later recovered by the Allies. The third submarine attempted to torpedo the heavy cruiser USS Chicago, but instead hit and sank the ferry HMAS Kuttabul, killing 21 sailors. It was not know what happened to this submarine. In 2006 scuba divers discovered the wreck off Sydney's northern beaches.

Bombing of Darwin 1942-43

Bombing of Darwin by Japan February 19, 1942

On 19 February 1942, Australia came under attack for the first time. Japanese forces mounted two air raids on Darwin. The two attacks were led by the commander responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbour ,they involved 54 land based bombers and 188 attack aircraft which were launched from four Japanese aircraft-carriers in the Timor Sea.It was the largest Japanese attack since Pearl Harbour. Twenty military aircraft were destroyed, eight ships in the harbour were sunk, and most civil and military facilities in Darwin were destroyed.

The air attacks on Darwin continued until November 1943, the Japanese had bombed Darwin 64 times.At the time, there were many rumours to the Australian Government's suppression of information about the bombings, it was thought that reports of casualty numbers were made smaller to maintain national morale. Local sources estimated that between 900 and 1100 Australians were killed. 235 Allies were killed and between 300 and 400 wounded.There were air raids on Broome at least 88 Allied civilians and military personnel were killed and 24 aircraft were lost.There were almost 100 Air raids against Australia in WWII.

Cowra breakout August 5, 1944

On the 5th August 1944, 1,104 Japanese prisoners of war attempted to escape from a Prisoner of War camp near Cowra, in New South Wales, Australia. 4 Australian soldiers and 231 Japanese soldiers were killed.Privates Benjamin Gower Hardy, Ralph Jones and Charles Henry Shepherd were killed during the breakout, Lieutenant Harry Doncaster was killed when ambushed during the recapture of the prisoners. Private Hardy and Private Jones were posthumously awarded the George Cross. It was the largest POW breakout in WW11 this became known as the Cowra breakout.

Sunday Telegraph - Headlines reporting the mass breakout of Japanese POWs at Cowra.

sources

• Wikipedia - Battle between HMAS Sydney and German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran
• Australia.gov - Australia attacked Sydney Harbour
• Australian War Memorial -Bombing of Darwin
• National Archives of Australia - Cowra breakout