Relics, Ruins and Remembrances

Prior to the air raids on 19 February 1942, Darwin had a military presence, alongside the civilian population, that included soldiers, sailors and airmen from a number of Allied countries, predominantly Australia and the United States.

Darwin was a staging point for troops, aircraft and equipment moving overseas, as well as a Navy port for ships operating to Australia's north.

By the end of 1941, there were a number of camps established in and around Darwin, to host an increasing number of military personnel. There were also numerous defensive structures in place, such as airfields, anti-aircraft gun emplacements and a 6 km anti-submarine boom net (the longest in the world).

Today, the ruins and remnants of some of these structures can still be found around Darwin. Just a few kilometers away from the city centre are the remains of gun emplacements, ammunition stores and, in the case of one building, the machine gun bullet holes from an attacking Japanese Zero fighter.

The majority of the sites have been left to undergo natural erosion and decay. The images in this book are of the sites that are eroding and that, one day, may have disappeared completely.