Forgetting and Remembering the Darwin Bombings

On 19 February 1942 Japanese warplanes struck Darwin harbour, where an important section of the American fleet was at anchor, with a force greater than that hurled against Pearl Harbour, causing the death of over 300 people and extensive damage to the harbour, airfields and city. Despite the extent...

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Main Author: Elizabeth RECHNIEWSKI
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Laboratoire d’Etudes et de Recherches sur le Monde Anglophone (LERMA) 2012-12-01
Series:E-REA
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/erea/2861
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author Elizabeth RECHNIEWSKI
author_facet Elizabeth RECHNIEWSKI
author_sort Elizabeth RECHNIEWSKI
collection DOAJ
description On 19 February 1942 Japanese warplanes struck Darwin harbour, where an important section of the American fleet was at anchor, with a force greater than that hurled against Pearl Harbour, causing the death of over 300 people and extensive damage to the harbour, airfields and city. Despite the extent of this attack  - the most serious ever launched against Australian territory - it received comparatively little recognition in the post-war era outside of Darwin until November 2011 when Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced, during the visit of President Obama to Darwin, that 19 February would become an official national day of commemoration. This article considers whether the bombings were in fact ‘forgotten’ in the post-war era, and if this was the case, why it was so, and seeks to establish the reasons for the recent re-emergence of memory at the national and even international levels.
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publisher Laboratoire d’Etudes et de Recherches sur le Monde Anglophone (LERMA)
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spelling doaj-art-d4ed470223cd48b0ba6b18deb4a004052025-01-09T12:52:39ZengLaboratoire d’Etudes et de Recherches sur le Monde Anglophone (LERMA)E-REA1638-17182012-12-0110110.4000/erea.2861Forgetting and Remembering the Darwin BombingsElizabeth RECHNIEWSKIOn 19 February 1942 Japanese warplanes struck Darwin harbour, where an important section of the American fleet was at anchor, with a force greater than that hurled against Pearl Harbour, causing the death of over 300 people and extensive damage to the harbour, airfields and city. Despite the extent of this attack  - the most serious ever launched against Australian territory - it received comparatively little recognition in the post-war era outside of Darwin until November 2011 when Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced, during the visit of President Obama to Darwin, that 19 February would become an official national day of commemoration. This article considers whether the bombings were in fact ‘forgotten’ in the post-war era, and if this was the case, why it was so, and seeks to establish the reasons for the recent re-emergence of memory at the national and even international levels.https://journals.openedition.org/erea/2861commemorationBombing of Darwinpolitics of memory
spellingShingle Elizabeth RECHNIEWSKI
Forgetting and Remembering the Darwin Bombings
E-REA
commemoration
Bombing of Darwin
politics of memory
title Forgetting and Remembering the Darwin Bombings
title_full Forgetting and Remembering the Darwin Bombings
title_fullStr Forgetting and Remembering the Darwin Bombings
title_full_unstemmed Forgetting and Remembering the Darwin Bombings
title_short Forgetting and Remembering the Darwin Bombings
title_sort forgetting and remembering the darwin bombings
topic commemoration
Bombing of Darwin
politics of memory
url https://journals.openedition.org/erea/2861
work_keys_str_mv AT elizabethrechniewski forgettingandrememberingthedarwinbombings