February 19, 1942: The Bombing of Darwin

February 19, 1942: Japanese planes bomb Darwin Harbour and their adjoining airfields, in Darwin, in the Northern Territory. It becomes known as "Australia's Pearl Harbor," and remains the largest attack on that country by a foreign opponent.

Imperial Japan knew that, as a part of the British Empire, Australia was already a part of the Allied effort, and was already aiding American troops evacuating from places that Japan had begun attacking the preceding December 7. Japan knew that, from Australia's north coast, the Allies could launch attacks on Japanese positions in the Dutch East Indies, which would become the nations of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor.

The Allies lost 236 men, 30 aircraft, and 11 ships; while the Japanese lost 2 men and 4 planes. Nevertheless, as with Pearl Harbor 11 weeks earlier, Japan would pay dearly for what they had done.

The city of Darwin was named for British naturalist Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary theory.

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February 19, 1942 was a Thursday. This was also the day that President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an Executive Order providing for the internment of Japanese-Americans for the duration of World War II. I have a separate entry for that event. Also, British rock singer Graham Nash, of The Hollies, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, was born on this day.

Baseball and football were out of season. The NBA hadn't yet been founded. There were 2 games played in the NHL. The Brooklyn Americans beat the Boston Bruins, 6-4 at Madison Square Garden. And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 6-1 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

Changing their name from the New York Americans to the Brooklyn Americans for the 1941-42 season didn't help the Amerks get more fans from Brooklyn. Continuing to play at the building that would eventually be known as "The Old Garden" didn't help, but there was no available building in Brooklyn. And, with World War II on, there wasn't likely to be one in the near future.

The Amerks finished last, and suspended play for the duration of The War. The NHL refused to reinstate them, and so the 1942-43 season began a quarter century of what has erroneously been called "The Original Six Era."