Monday, March 25, 2013 at 10:05AM 18 Jap bombers raid Moresby’d 7-Mile airstrip and the 3-Mile hospital area but cause little damage. Later in the day 2 RAAF Kittyhawks shoot down an enemy reconnaissance plane which crashes into the sea off Bootless Bay.
Monday, March 25, 2013 at 10:04AM Jap aircraft continue their assaults, with attacks on Wyndham in Qld, and Port Moresby, while RAAF bombers attack the airfield at Dili in Portuguese Timor.
At Moresby 19 Jap bombers hit the 7-Mile Airport area, dropping many bombs but causing little damage. Soon after, 3 Jap Zeros strafe the airstrip. A-A fire brings one Zero down, which crashes into Morris Hill. Pilot’s body is located in nearby gully.
In Moresby officers stress to 39th Bn troops the importance of stating only their name, rank and serial number if captured. This follows report that captured Jap pilot gave up a vast array of information.
Friday, March 22, 2013 at 9:37AM Another Japanese bombing raid flies over Darwin and continues on to Katherine where they drop 90 bombs on the airfield. The raid kills one local Aboriginal man, Dodger Kodjalwal, and wounds two others. There are no Allied planes on the airfield.
In Moresby, 2 RAAF Kittyhawks attack a Japanese recce plane and shoot it down in flames. Diggers report no enemy survivors. Later in the day 9 Kittyhawks take off on a raid. Only 7 return to base.
Thursday, March 21, 2013 at 8:36AM First fighter planes arrive to help defend Moresby as RAAF’s 75 Squadron Kittyhawks fly in and, within two hours, they are off on their first combat sortie.
Gen Douglas MacArthur steps off train arriving at Melbourne’s Spencer Streey Station at 9.30am with a flourish “like a grand entry in opera”. Aust PM John Curtin greeted him with a handshake and “Hello Doug!”
The Japanese Navy establishes a base at Phuket in Thailand.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at 9:41AM Japanese bombers attack Broome on the West Australian coast. Dutch pilot, Gus Winckel, waiting to be refueled at the airstrip, brings down a Jap Zero by grabbing a Colt machine gun from his plane and firing it from the shoulder.
In Terowie, South Australia, Gen MacArthur transfers trains and says: "The President of the United States ordered me to break through the Japanese lines and proceed from Corregidor to Australia for the purpose, as I understand it, of organizing the American offensive against Japan, a primary object of which is the relief of the Philippines. I came through and I shall return.”