It’s a significant week in Australian military history, so Luke Grant speaks with Mat McLachlan, war historian & founder of Australian Battlefield Tours, as we commemorate 80 years since war came to Australia with the fall of Singapore (15 February 1942) and the bombing of Darwin (19 February 1942).

The Fall of Singapore was one of the worst military disasters to befall Australia, and one of the greatest defeats in British history. When the Japanese attacked Singapore on 8 February 1942 there were over 130,000 Commonwealth troops on the island – including Singapore-based troops, and those that had withdrawn from Malaya following the Japanese invasion, however they lacked naval or air support.

With one million citizens trapped in the city and water supplies at critical levels, British commander Lieutenant General Arthur Percival surrendered at 8:30pm on 15 February 1942.  Over 130,000 troops, including 15,000 Australians, surrendered to the Japanese. 7000 of the captured Australian POWs would die before the war’s end.

Then on the 19th February 1942, mainland Australia came under attack by the Japanese. The first air raid on Darwin involved over 260 enemy aircraft bombing military bases, the city and the harbour sinking several ships including a US destroyer.  Hundreds of people were killed and wounded.

Incredibly, there were 64 air raids on Darwin, the last occurring on 12 November 1943.

Download this podcast here