DARWIN HAS CHANGED

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 June 1942, Page 6

DARWIN HAS CHANGED

ALERTNESS AND EFFICIENCY.

Since the first Japanese bomb dropped on Darwin a remarkable change has taken place throughout the Northern Territory. Disastrous though the first Australian raid was, it also did a lot of good. It placed Australia’s north on a complete war footing and probably did more to stiffen the morale of troops than six months of propaganda. The Japanese killed Darwin as a civilian town, but they put new life into the fighting forces, writes Alex Olsen, “The Argus” special correspondent in Darwin.

Effects of the changed outlook are becoming evident everywhere. There is a new air of alertness and efficiency. A tremendous amount of defence work is being done, and jobs that would previously have taken months are now finished in as many weeks.

Darwin has always been a problem town with a long history of failures. Vestey’s meatworks cost more than £.100,000 and closed after three years; the railway was operated at a loss; mining was seldom profitable; and Government experimental farms cost £50,000 only to fail after seven years. The civil population had many grievances that with the outbreak of war and influx of troops were accentuated and enlarged. Before the first air raid Darwin was probably one of the worst towns in Australia in which to live. It had all the disadvantages of the tropics and few of its comforts. With the Army in complete control, Darwin is a different place. The town itself is a city of the dead since the evacuation, but in military camps there is a quickening of new spirit. If a job is to be done troops “go to it,” and results soon show. Once a hole in the road remained a hole, while cars made a detour and formed a new track. To-day somebody fills the hole.

Although in some quarters it is considered that an invasion is unlikely, every possible move of the Japanese over the vast area of Northern Australia has been taken into consideration and nothing is being left to chance. Everywhere there are signs of the unpleasant welcome that awaits an invader; everywhere troops are seen training day after day to repel any attack, whether it come from the sea, air or on land. Much of the groundwork for the present defences was begun several years ago, but it was based largely on a peacetime plan and relied to some extent on the impregnability of Singapore. With Singapore’s surrender and the Japanese menace drawing nearer changes had to be made. Remote possibilities became immediate probabilities, and steps had to be taken immediately to counteract them.

NEW AIR PLANS. In air defence, too, much has been achieved and is in process of achievement. After the first raid on 19th February, when the R.A.A.F. aerodrome was one of the targets singled out for the full fury of Japanese bombs, much reorganisation was necessary, but even as the smoke was rising from the last bomb plans were being made to carry on services vital to air defence. That the work was carried out so successfully is both a tribute to the men who did it and a proof of the ineffectiveness of later attacks on the aerodrome. Activity increases hourly and is fast reaching impressive and extremely heartening proportions. Much ol the work, although primarily of immediate defensive value, is based on a longrange policy aimed at the time when even more offensive tactics than at present are adopted. When that time comes the importance of the present work will become evident. Allied planes in their attacks on enemy bases and in their defence of Darwin are already doing magnificent work. As the flow of l planes increases they will do better.

Morale of the troops has also changed. It has been a gradual process, beginning in fear as the first bombs fell, changing to rage when it was seen what the bombs had done, and then growing into a realisation that the havoc was not after all so widespread as had been imagined. If bombs were falling there was no danger except in the immediate vicinity and slit trenches provided a remarkable degree of immunity from blast and shrapnel. Nowadays when the alarm is sounded there is a momentary pause while the troops locate the plane, decide whether they are “ours” or “his,” make a few ribald remarks, and get on with their jobs.

Gun crews who once used to complain that they were sick of firing imaginary ammunition at imaginary targets now run a sweep on the possible day’s bag, and when the alarm goes wait with deadly calmness for the enemy to come within range, and “let him have it.” They have done splendid work. Perhaps the best indication of the new outlook is the fact that the “moaner” is now a member of a dying race. Conditions are obviously worse than in pro-blitz days Comforts are fewer, letters and parcels are often delayed, beer is a rare luxury, there is little entertainment, and leave is useless, as there is no where to go. Despite all the drawbacks, however, there is not the previous bitterness in the complaints. Troops complain, of course, but they now have somebody new to blame — the Japanese. The adjectival “Japs” are blamed for everything, even for the cook’s mistakes.