Contention - something to discuss

                               

He is coming South: Australian War Memorial Poster Collection

The propaganda poster above refers to the threat of Japanese invasion. A Japanese soldier is striding across the globe towards Australia with the Imperial Japanese flag behind him. He is armed with a submachine gun and is about to stomp on Australia. This work highlights the psychological impact the Japanese advance had upon the Australian population, and the poster was considered so alarmist that it was not released in Queensland or Melbourne. During the Second World War it was assumed that the Japanese would continue their southward advance and invade and conquer Australia. It is now understood that although the Japanese authorities did briefly consider invading the northern part of Australia, they ultimately decided to pursue a plan of isolating Australia as they realised their military recourses would not be strong enough to hold all their conquered territory.

A case study in historical contestability

"He's coming south" screamed the poster, featuring a Japanese soldier poised to trample over a defenceless Australia. It was part of a Curtin government campaign that contributed to a state of panic across the nation in 1942 after the fall of Singapore and air raids on Darwin."

The Age 

June 1, 2002

Dr Peter Stanley

Contestability is a fundamental concept in history and the bombing of Darwin has its good share of contention in relation to the actual motives of the Japanese in bombing Darwin. That is, did they really intend invading Australia regardless of the massive February 1942 bombing of Darwin, the audacious midget submarine attacks in Sydney Harbour in May 1942 and the the invasion of New Guinea via the Kokoda trail in July 1942?  

Australian Historian, Peter Stanley does not think so and says in his article at Japanese invasion a myth: historian (theage.com.au)

 "Japan never intended to invade Australia in World War II. We have been guilty of living on a myth we didn't bother to check."

Have a read of what Peter Stanley has to say and think about what you view as the truth v's myth.  

Alternative views to Peter Stanley can be found at Battle for Australia: Japanese debate Invasion of Australia (pacificwar.org.au) and The Japanese Invasion Threat of Australia (warhistoryonline.com)  Have a read of these detailed articles/sites about the intention of the Japanese High Command re: invading Australia.

We will talk about this quite a lot when we are visiting Darwin bombing sites on the tour - did they really intend to invade? If not, why waste men and equipment bombing Darwin on such a scale in 1942? There probably is not actually a definitive answer to this question but it is historical fun to consider and debate. To contribute to our discussions it is important for you as a participant on this tour to frame your thinking on this issue.

In hindsight, history is never black and white but has many shades of grey.