Oil tanks in Darwin on fire after bombing, 1942

After the fall of Singapore in February 1942, the focus of the Pacific War moved further east. Japanese forces invaded Timor on 20 February 1942 and, in a move to disrupt the supply lines necessary for a counter-attack, bombed Darwin the day before. The raid, which involved 54 land-based bombers and 188 aircraft launched from carriers in the Timor Sea, left 243 people dead, up to 400 wounded, and most of the city’s civilian and military infrastructure destroyed. Japanese forces bombed Darwin another 63 times during the war.