ABC - When the War Came to Australia (1991) Part 2 Our Darkest Hour The War Hits Home

This four part series, as seen on ABC TV, tells the story from the point of view of ordinary Australians on the Home Front during World War II. Personal recollections, rare archival footage and the music of the time combine to create an evocative and haunting picture of this unique picture in Australian history. This social history of the impact of World War II on Australia focuses on how the war was greeted on the homefront; the reaction to the arrival of the Americans; the fears generated by the bombing of Darwin and Japanese submarines in Sydney Harbour; the PoW experience; and the roles and challenges the war presented to women. Although more Australians were killed in the World War I than in World War II, many more Australians were directly affected by the World War II. It continued two years longer, it was closer to home, the enemy actually attacked Australian soil and greater demands were made upon the economy. This ABC television series contains the recollections of hundreds of people interviewed about their feelings and experiences of war in Australia. “When the War Came to Australia” presents the shared experiences of millions of Australians who did not serve overseas, but contributed in their own ways to the war effort.

Part 2 Our Darkest Hour The War Hits Home

Little did Australians realise that the War would soon come to our shores, following the Japanese attack on the US Pacific Fleet berthed at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii on December 7th 1941. The true horror of war hits home. For the first time Australia was bombed by an enemy as bombs fell on Darwin, Broome and other northern Australian towns. Sydney was shelled from offshore. The same Japanese aircraft and pilots that bombed Pearl Harbour now attack the north of Australia and Darwin is devastated. Britain's failure to defend Singapore betrays Australia's long held belief that the Mother Country will always come to her defence. Our nation was forced to turn to the United States, as Malaya and 'fortress' Singapore were captured by the rapidly advancing Japanese. Prime Minister John Curtin rallied the Nation behind the war effort and the men serving overseas. This is Australia's darkest hour.

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