Past Programs
History - 2008
Australia and the war in the Pacific
14/08/2008
Was there ever a comprehensive plan for Japan to invade Australia during World War Two? No doubt if you were standing at the edge of Darwin Harbour on February 19th 1942 when a fleet of 188 Japanese plans attacked you would have thought so...but even 65 years on, the narrative of the Pacific War and Australia's place in it remains contentious.
In a comprehensive new volume, author Peter Thompson places the Australian experience at the heart of his narrative of the Pacific theatre during World War Two. The book refocuses accounts of the war to the period when Australia was under direct attack. Thompson sets out to redress what he sees as historical inaccuracies regarding Australia's role; perpetuated by accounts strongly weighted towards the British and American viewpoints.
How should we view the Pacific War and Australia's role in it?
