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WOW! Bombing of Darwin...

Discussion in 'WWII Today' started by CAC, Feb 18, 2013.

  1. CAC

    CAC Ace of Spades

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    Yes today marks the 71st anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin...Its the FIRST year it will be nationally observed. Working in town and just a couple of hundred feet from the cenotaph, i went down to see the comemoration...WELL! I walk down there and i hear a scary sound...the sound of a radial engine, farting its way overhead, i look up and there, no more than 80 feet above me is a Wirraway, its folded wheels looking down at me...an outline very similar to a Japanese Zero...And chasing hard behind it was a cute little Tiger... : )
    WW2 jazz music was being pumped out by the army band, and the sweat began to run down my face...at 9:58 exactly an air-raid siren groaned into life, splitting the silence down at the esplanade...three 105 Howitzers opened up, booming their resistance across the harbour...simultaneously four F/18s in super tight formation roared no more than 500 feet above...still the siren screamed, still the guns fired...and a single F/18 dove on our position, reaching 500 feet, the aircraft pulled up hard and rockected straight upward like a spurned rocket, turning turning turning as it gained altitude. - Im excited! : )
     
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  2. Biak

    Biak Boy from Illinois Staff Member

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    YOU Lucky Aussie you! Feel like this? >>>> [​IMG]
     
  3. TD-Tommy776

    TD-Tommy776 Man of Constant Sorrow

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    Still housebound, Rog? ;)
     
  4. Biak

    Biak Boy from Illinois Staff Member

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    Not only does he get to watch an Air Show with cannon fire, but he gets to do it while (I'm sure) it's in the upper 70's-80's.


    Cabin fever is reaching a fever pitch here.
    did I just type that?


    [​IMG]
     
  5. Fred Wilson

    Fred Wilson "The" Rogue of Rogues

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    I was there in Darwin 20 years ago to this day. Some considerable time after a Cyclone.
    I could have sworn not a stone was moved (since WW2.)
     
  6. CAC

    CAC Ace of Spades

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    Inside yes...outside is just a broad smile...The forces did Darwin and their fallen members proud. The US was well represented as usual, as far as im concerned its partly their day also...
     
  7. belasar

    belasar Court Jester

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    Somebody has found a new source of Smiley's.
     
  8. Biak

    Biak Boy from Illinois Staff Member

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    Not to get off topic but I'm tired of this [​IMG]


    Minnesota Olympics. If you survive - you Win.
     
  9. Skipper

    Skipper Kommodore

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    The whole attack told in smilie language...


    :explosion1: :explosion2: :aa_japan: :w00t::FUallplz::panic::smg::explosion2::explosion2::explosion2: :explosion1::explosion1: :aa_japan:

    Good to see this event has now become a national commemoration
     
  10. CAC

    CAC Ace of Spades

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    This Sunday the 19th of February marks the 75th anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin...just as we find a Japanese fuel tank, sits under a zero, in Darwin this week too...a reminder that its still with us. 75 years since Darwin lost some of its innocence - and gave birth to thousands of stories and personalities.
     
  11. Ken The Kanuck

    Ken The Kanuck Member

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    I imagine that the temperature is much higher than that, 70-80 F is winter weather and it is summer time.

    Fred I was there in the aftermath of cyclone Tracy and worked on some of the re-building. Acres and acres of only the framing to the first floor and the rest gone. BIG WIND.

    KTK
     
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  12. CAC

    CAC Ace of Spades

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    Yep...just the floor and a toilet survived from our house. 200mph plus winds...The cyclone headed for Darwin and then veered off...so everyone drew a sigh of relief...then late at night on Christmas eve as everyone slept...she veered back again and wiped us out.

    Darwin has an average yearly temp of 32C don't know what that is in F...but its the 90% humidity that kills you...don't know humidity? Go sit in a sauna for 20 minutes...
     
  13. CAC

    CAC Ace of Spades

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    Last edited: Feb 18, 2018
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  14. CAC

    CAC Ace of Spades

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    77th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin today...eventually 64 attacks, same group that bombed Pearl Harbour...dropped more bombs on Darwin than Pearl.

    [​IMG]
    Gun brought up from the USS Peary which still lies in Darwin Harbour...this gun is her monument.

    Why doesn't more of Australia know about the bombing of Darwin?

    A scene form the movie Australia - Bombing of Darwin...I like the Larrakeya elder standing watching the carnage...

    <iframe width="640" height="360" src="" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2019
  15. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    I would have liked to have gotten bombed with Darwin.
     
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  16. CAC

    CAC Ace of Spades

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    Say again? over...

    Is bombed American for pissed?
     
  17. Takao

    Takao Ace

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    That's not a scene from Australia...It's a bad hatchet job of several scenes from "Tora Tora Tora"
     
  18. Takao

    Takao Ace

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    Bombed = Drunk
     
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  19. CAC

    CAC Ace of Spades

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    Well you got the bad hatchet job right...Australia was an aweful movie.

    Pissed = Drunk
     
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  20. Takao

    Takao Ace

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    I forget, where were the American battleships in Darwin Harbor during the raid?
     
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