Today we have visited the 'Darwin Military Defence Museum' at East Point.  The displays and the information on the bombing of Darwin are very good.  After sitting and watching the 13 minute video on a screen the width of the room, bombs dropping everywhere, piercing sirens, and devastation everywhere, the reality that this part of Australia was bombed in WW2, really hits home.  Modern technology very much takes you back in time.  To see all those areoplanes with red dots on their wings, leaving the aircraft carrier, knowing they were headed for the northern shores of Australia, very much stirs the emotions.  This part of Australia is so isolated and vulnerable.  The video finishes with the Prime Minister John Curtin saying "Darwin has been bombed, but it has not been conquored"!  I feel everywhere we went today there was a memorial or a sign relevant to the bombing of Darwin.  The first bombing was on the 19th February 1942.  The date is now firmly engrained in my mind.  I wonder how many people visit the city each year and do go to the 'Military Defence Museum'?  It is a must if you have the opportunity. The 'Military Defence Museum' has developed to what it is today, through the initial efforts of a man by the name of Captain Neil Benton.  He was a founding member, when the Museum was established on the waste land at East Point, during the 1960's.  Tangled wire, broken glass, heaps of fill and holes in the ground, were what was being seen in the area.  The 'Artillery Association' became concerned that the 9.2-inch gun emplacements and the 6-inch guns were becoming vandalised and would eventually be destroyed.  Taking the initiative, members of the 'Royal Australian Artillery Association' including Neil, fenced off a section of land and worked on finding discarded war materials around the Northern Territory.  Neil planted all of the trees which now exist in the grounds.  He was a 'Regular' and 'Reserve' soldier within the Army for 30 years.  As the Museum grew and began opening to the public, Neil accepted office bearer positions.  There is a walkway in the grounds that is named in his honour and the display board says that Neil feels "That when you believe in something - such as the preservation of the Northern Territory's military history and heritage - then you need to accept the burden of serving".   Volunteering can be a burden, but it can also be very satisfying and rewarding (my words).  As you walk around reading displays, there is much to set you thinking.  Like the board that provided information on the Japanese.  Part of the information was entitled 'Maps'.  Many people ask how the Japanese obtained such accurate information about the Northern Australian coastline to conduct their raids.  The answer is simple.  Before the commencement of hostilities during WW2, the Australian Government used Japanese topographers to chart the northern coastline due to their extensive knowledge of the area.Then there was the information about the Japanese aircraft that was shot down at 'Bathurst Island' on the 15th February by an American fighter pilot.  Four days later 188 carrier-borne aircraft struck Darwin, followed by 54 land-based bombers.  This information was the opening paragraph on a display board entitled 'The Top End's Air War' and the infoormation had been taken from a book written on 'Darwin's Air War'.   I suspect it was included to set one thinking, but in wartime it is about catching the enemy (or the seen to be enemy) off guard.Since the war, the relationship between the Northern Territory and the American Military has remained strong.  Each year the NT hosts US aircraft at its air-bases and weapons ranges, and US ships into Darwin Harbour.  Joint training exercises have been conducted for decades between Australian and US Military forces across the Top End.  Many US ex-servicemen return to Darwin to commemorate lost comrades and renew old friendships.  In 2012, Darwin hosted the first contingent of US Marines to be based in Australia, carrying out training exercises alongside Australian defence personnel.  This heralds the beginning of a new and exciting phase in the relationship between the 'United States' and the people of the 'Top End'.Always there are touchy feely stories. The prime exhibit at the Museum in 2014 is a key to a room of the old Darwin Hotel.  The story is:  The key on display was accidentally taken by a young US Army Officer named Bobb Glen.

Memorabilia on display at Darwin Military Museum

  He had arrived in Darwin on the 18th February 1942, returning from Java.  He was preparing to leave Darwin with other personnel when the first Japanese air raid struck.  The group were driven to the RAAF Base just as the second raid hit.  The plane they had travelled in from Java was destroyed, but they managed to get to Katherine via a command vehicle.  From there they were taken by aircraft to Daly Waters and then Sydney.  Once in Sydney Bobb discovered he still had the Darwin Hotel key to Room No 2, in his pocket.  He thought it was of little use trying to return it, so he put it away for safekeeping.  The key remained with Bobb, who was promoted to Captain and then Major during the war.  In 2014 he graciously donated it to the 'Darwin Military Museum'.  The 'Darwin Hotel' was destroyed by its owners in the early 1990's, so all that is left of that iconic Darwin landmark, and significant piece of Darwin's wartime history, is a key to a room and a photograph of the old hotel. 

In the afternoon we parked on the Esplanade and walked to a number of memorials along the waters edge.   Not that the ocean is clearly visible.  Trees grow very well in the 'Top End'.  Peter says Darwin could be called the 'City of Foliage'.  The War Memorial or 'Cenotaph' as it is called in the brochures, is 'Darwin's Official Memoria' to those members of the armed services, rescue services and civilian personnel who lost their lives in the service of their country.  Its present site was once the Darwin Oval and the location of the 14th Anti-Aircraft Battery which fired some of the first shots against Japanese aircraft.  The monument has withstood major cyclones.  It was severely damaged by an earth tremor in 1966 and required repairs.  I found the 'Deck Chair Cinema' which is a tourist attraction.  To walk to the cinema there are a number of steps down through the trees.  The reviews say you need plenty of insect repellent if you do go to a movie, so that is not on our 'Bucket List'.  A photo and a walk up and down the steps was enough for me!The wharf area is very nice.  There are two wharfs on the point, both not far from the CBD area.  'Fort Hill Wharf' is on one side and this is the 'Cruise Ship Terminal'.  On the other side is 'Stokes Hill Wharf' and this is where tourism cruises or charters leave from.  'Stokes Hill Wharf' also has many restaurants and cafes.  

To finish our 'Day 5 in Darwin' we visited the Mindil Markets.  We didn't stay for the sunset, but we enjoyed wandering around for a while and talked with a few stall holders.  One stall had a number of didgeridoos for sale. There was a young chap from France playing and he was pretty good.  He said he was helping out and told us he makes didgeridoos in France!  He is on holiday in Australia and he has been spending some time with the aboriginals, learning how they make them.  Unbelievable!  Now we've lost the didgeridoo to Europe!  12 photos.