An Awkward Truth The Bombing of Darwin, February 1942

The bombing of Darwin on February 19, 1942 is the battle Australia tries to forget. Although there was much to be proud of that day—courage, 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 10 weeks earlier. There was a difference: they dropped more bombs on Darwin, killed more civilians, and sank more ships than in Pearl Harbor. It remains the single deadliest event in Australian history. Absorbing, spirited, and fast-paced, this is a story of the day war first came to Australia, and of the soldiers and civilians who faced their toughest test on home soil.

Peter Grose is the author of A Good Place to Hide.