4 March 1942

Japanese air raid number 5 on Moresby: around 2.15pm 15 Jap bombers and 3 fighters line up and fly straight in to bomb 7-Mile Aerodrome, dropping about 55 bombs in 39th Battalion area alone.

Although the bombs were 250 & 500 lbs each, inaccuracy means they cause no casualties and only superficial damage.

3 March 1942

Japanese aircraft again attack Port Moresby and also attack Wyndham & Broome. In New Guinea, RAAF bombers launch an attack on Japanese positions at Gasmata on New Britain Island.

In Broome nine Jap Zeros strafe the port and aerodrome, destroying 20 Allied aircraft and killing about 90 people, including Dutch women and children who had been evacuated from the Dutch East Indies.

2 March 1942

Controversial Australian General Gordon Bennett arrives in Melbourne after escaping from Singapore. He decided he had to leave his command – and his men to their fate as POWs – to return to Australia to pass on what he saw as vital intelligence that would help in future fighting against the Japanese.

The Australian Government officially declares war on Thailand and also approves a massive expansion of the RAAF – to 73 squadrons.

1 March 1942

The Japanese submarine I-25 continues to terrorise the Australian east coast, now sending its float plane on a reconnaissance flight over Hobart. Again the flight is completed before the anti-aircraft defences can react.

In the Battle of the Sunda Strait, HMAS Perth, along with the US Navy cruiser Houston, attempt to attack Japanese transport ships off Bantam Bay.

Both Allied ships are trapped by an overwhelming force of Japanese cruisers, destroyers and submarines. The Allied pair fight until they run out of ammunition. Both are sunk. The Perth loses 353 killed, including her skipper Hec Waller. Around 320 become POWs (of these one third will die in captivity).

28 February 1942

Moresby is hit by a second Japanese daylight bombing raid. Some success for the defenders as they shoot down one Jap fighter and capture its pilot.

In Java, the Japanese invasion troops land on northern and eastern coasts of Java. And in the Sunda Strait, the RAN's cruiser HMAS Perth is caught by large Japanese naval detachment and is sooon fighting for its life.