ACTION PLAN   

To what extent did the government censor information about the Darwin bombing? 
 
We have to investigate the reasons why the government withheld information 
about the Darwin bombing that had taken place on 19th February 1942 (WW2). 
The aims for the investigation is to collect information about the Darwin 
bombing, find secondary and primary sources regarding the bombing, bring all 
my research together to create the newspaper article and write a letter addressed 
to the editor regarding the Darwin bombing situation. This issue is important to 
investigate because we have the right to know what really happened during the 
Darwin bombing and why the information is being withheld from us. The Darwin 
bombing was an extremely serious event that had taken place in Australian 
history. For some time after the war, information such as the bombing and the 
losses had been concealed by the government.  
 
The questions I will be focused on when doing my newspaper article are: 
● What happened during the Darwin bombing? 
● When did it happen? 
● How many have died during the Darwin bombing? 
● What is the government covering up? 
 
 
Primary sources: 

 
  
 
1. The first source (left) represents the aftermath of the Darwin 
bombing. Houses were destroyed and numerous lives have been lost.  
2. The second source (right) shows an image of a Japanese plane that 
has been used to bomb Darwin.   
3. The thirds source (bottom left) is an image of the Australian Army 
bomb disposal experts recovering an unexploded Japanese aerial 
bomb.  
 
Secondary sources: 
● https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/1942-bombing-of-darwin 
The first source is an Australian War Memorial website which gives us an insight 
on remembering the Darwin bombing by Dr Peter Stanley. This source only talks 
about how it all happened.  
 
● https://journals.openedition.org/erea/2861 
The second source is a journal website which tells us about remembering and 
forgetting about the Darwin bombing. It tells us how it all happened and how the 
government has concealed the evidence. This journal is written by Elizabeth 
Rechniewski.  
 
● https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-19/curious-darwin-bombing-of-darwi
n-learn-history-books/10820858 
The third source is a news article which gives us an understanding of why don’t 
more Australians know about the Darwin bombing and talking about whether or 
not there was a cover-up. This news article was written by Mitchell Abram.  
 
● https://www.smh.com.au/world/as-it-happened-japanese-bombers-attack-d
arwin-20170215-gudaql.html 
The fourth source is another news article which states a lot of the prime 
minister's sayings. The prime minister addresses the public in a way where he is 
giving Australia hope, For example by saying; “​We, too, in every other city can 
face these assaults. Let it be remembered, that Darwin has been bombed, but it 
has not been conquered.​”  
 
 
 
The implications of publishing something that is an accurate account of a 
significant event in public. I need to make sure to avoid these rules: 
http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/risks-associated-publication/ 
● When publishing information, I need to take into consideration whether or 
not the information will harm a person or an organization’s reputation.  
● If publishing private or personal information without the person’s 
permissions, this can display the person in “legal liability” even if the 
information is correct.  
● If you publish or utilize the original work of others, their brands or certain 
confidential information regarding business without the permission of the 
owner, the person may be exposed to “legal liability”.  
The reasons my article shouldn’t be censored are because: 
● It talks about what really happened on the day of the Darwin bombing. 
● Information like the Darwin bombing shouldn’t be censored from the 
public. 
● If more people got to know more about the Darwin bombing, people may 
have links to the Darwin bombing.   
 
 
Issues that have come in my way of doing research were not finding the sources 
that tell us about the events that took place on the day of the Darwin bombing 
and some of the website were misleading.