Darwin
- Darwin is the capital of the Northern Territory (NT), one of the constituent parts (but not a ‘state’) of the federation of Australia. The NT is one of the least populated parts of the country so it doesn’t come as a big surprise that Darwin’s population is only around 140,000, and that is more than half of those living in the NT in total!
The city (originally called Palmerston until 1911) is on the northern coast, i.e. in the most tropical part of Australia and as such is subjected to an annual wet season with heavy monsoon-like downpours and occasional cyclone storms. Some of these proved destructive, most recently in 1974 with Cyclone Tracy, which devastated large parts of the city and killed ca. 70 people.
Darwin has a long military history, and in WWII it played a prominent role for Allied forces, with barracks, a naval harbour and several airfields. Being so far north it was expected that Darwin might come under attack by Japan after its raid on Pearl Harbor, so part of the civilian populace were evacuated. Then indeed, on 19 February 1942, the Japanese attacked and bombed Darwin in two massive waves involving 188 warplanes from four aircraft carriers that had taken up position in the sea between Darwin and Timor. The double raid caused massive devastation, sank eight ships in the harbour, destroyed 23 planes and killed at least 243 people (some figures given are much higher). This was the worst of the Japanese bombing of Darwin, though many dozen further air raids were flown across the region around Darwin (often referred to as “the Top End”) until by 1944 the fortunes in the war had turned against Japan.
In the city today there are several memorials to the bombing, including plaques by the old Government House (which was destroyed in the air raids) as well as in the city’s main shopping mall and at Darwin’s cenotaph. More panels about the bombing can be found in an open-air shelter called “Survivors Lookout”.
The bombing of Darwin and the city's general role in WWII are also covered in a few fully commodified museum exhibitions.
The most significant has to be the Darwin Military Museum and its adjacent newer annexe “Defence of Darwin Experience” (as you can guess from that wording it’s a highly “immersive” affair with sound-and-light show installations and interactive screen tables and suchlike). There is now also a Holocaust section. The complex is located a bit out of the centre at the East Point promontory (open Mon-Sat 9:30 to 4 p.m., Sundays and public holidays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; admission 20 AUD, some concessions apply). Nearby is also a historic coastal gun emplacement.
Also of interest in this military context is the Darwin Aviation Museum (formerly known as the Australian Aviation Heritage Centre) near the international airport right by the Stuart Highway. It features numerous military aircraft, including the only genuine B-52 bomber on display in the southern hemisphere (on loan from the US) and it also covers the bombing of Darwin and Australia’s role in WWII. (Open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., admission: 20 AUD, some concessions apply.)
Yet another attraction is more centrally located (very near the “Survivors Lookout”), namely the “WWII Oil Storage Tunnels”, which have been turned into a sort of museum as well, with information panels and yet more light installations, etc. (open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May to September, only to 1 p.m. the rest of the year, closed for much of December; admission: 9.50 AUD, some concessions apply).
I did not manage to include Darwin in my long trip to Australia (it’s such a big country!) in 2024, I only read about the first few sites in this book, and found out about the Oil Storage Tunnels by chance online; so I cannot speak from first-hand experience. But those places mentioned above appear to be the main dark-tourism attractions in this city.
To get to Darwin you can go by train, road, plane or even sea – though the latter is surely the least likely form of tourist arrivals. The train is the legendary luxury train called “The Ghan”, which connects Adelaide and Alice Springs with Darwin – this is expensive and books out well in advance, so road (via the Stuart Highway which runs more or less parallel to the railway line) or plane are the more realistic options. Given the distances involved, flying may be the only workable way unless you have plenty of time on your hands and don’t mind driving very long desolate routes.
Locations:
Darwin Military Museum & Defence of Darwin Experience: [-12.4079, 130.8197]
Darwin Aviation Museum: [-12.42524, 130.8958]
WWII Oil Storage Tunnels: [-12.4675, 130.84512]