Maritime Museum - 'Australia Under Attack' Ron checks out this exhibition in the Adelaide Coast region of South Australia

From the distance of memory and time, the notion that Australians were readying themselves for an imminent invasion seems a little unreal...

But back in 1942, as Japanese fighters and bombers strafed our northern coastline, Australians from Hobart to Darwin knew their lives of safe isolation on the other side of the world were over.

Darwin harbour and town were badly damaged. More than two hundred and fifty people were killed and another thousand injured. It was the first and most severe of the air attacks on Australia.

At the Maritime Museum in Port Adelaide, the Australian War Memorial Travelling Exhibition, "Australia Under Attack" brings to life those grim days.

"Sydney Harbour, naval depot and vital shipping centre, chosen as the scene of Japan's daring assault on the night of May the 31st. The subs fired two torpedos, the explosion wrecking an old ferry boat nearby."

Eight men lost their lives that night when it was revealed the Harbour City also harboured deadly Japanese midget subs. A week later larger mother subs fired on Sydney and Newcastle.

The threat of invasion was real.

"People in South Australia were digging trenches in their backyards," according to Bill Seager, Curator at the Maritime Museum. "The fathers of Adelaide were working out where to hide the state's treasurers, the art works, the museum collections should the city ever be bombed.

"The Home Guard, the voluntary Defence Corps were formed all over South Australia and were doing things like blowing up jetties and watching for aircraft and for Japanese submarines along the Australian coastline.

"My uncle even remembers being given an identity tag in the case of an emergency evacuation. Children were part of the effort they were given the job of collecting materials that were really needed for the war effort. Things like metals, fabrics, and plastics all that sort of stuff that could be recycled and reused.

Steel was at a premium and if you could get it you might build yourself a backyard bomb shelter or buy one similar to the model on display in the exhibition.

The war touched everyone no matter how remote the circumstances. Little Freda Glyn from a settlement near Darwin was evacuated and on arrival at Spencer Street Station in Melbourne got a companion for her troubles.

The exhibition is full of personal insights into the impact of war on the Australian community. But no story is more personal and painful than that of young bride and groom Alan and Violet Glover of Melbourne who were married in 1941.

Unfortunately Alan went off to war and Violet didn't know what was happening to him. He was sent to Southeast Asia and eventually captured. Violet kept writing to Alan for three years with no reply.

"It was 1944 before she actually found out that he had been executed in a prison camp for trying to escape. That was in Borneo. It was unfortunately on the eve of their wedding anniversary three years earlier."

Violet, who never remarried, kept her wedding dress as a reminder of the man she loved. It's now one of many poignant reminders of the impact of war on show at the Maritime Museum. 'Australia Under Attack, 1942 - 1943' is on until October. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au

Australia Under Attack 1942 - 1943
SA Maritime Museum
126 Lipson Street
Port Adelaide
Exhibition ends Oct 15th

Published 17th Sept 2006